Luke 6:1 (KJV)

What does Luke 6:1 mean?

Luke 6:1 sets the scene for a question about what people could do on the Sabbath, the Jewish day of rest. Jesus is walking through grainfields, and his disciples pick grain and eat it as they go.

The disciples rub the heads of grain between their hands to separate the edible kernels from their coverings. In the KJV, “corn” means grain, not necessarily the maize commonly called corn today.

The Greek behind Luke 6:1

• “second sabbath after the first” — δευτερόπρωτος (deuteroprōtos): This rare word combines ideas of “second” and “first.” Its exact meaning as a Sabbath date is uncertain, so the KJV’s phrase is difficult to place on a calendar.
• “ears of corn” — στάχυς (stachys): This means heads of grain, the parts of grain plants that contain the kernels. The disciples are picking food directly from standing plants.

Why Luke 6:1 matters

• The setting matters to the question that follows. Luke specifies that the grain was picked on a “sabbath,” and in verse 2 some Pharisees question the disciples about doing this on that day.
• The concern in the passage is Sabbath practice rather than taking grain from a field. Deuteronomy 23:25 allowed people to pick grain by hand from a neighbor’s standing grain.
• The wording of the Sabbath date has a textual history. Some ancient Greek copies include the rare word translated “second sabbath after the first,” while others simply say “a sabbath”; many modern translations follow the shorter reading.