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But some of the Pharisees said to them, “Why do you do that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath day?”
Luke 6:2 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days?
  • BSB But some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
  • NKJV And some of the Pharisees said to them, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?”
  • NASB But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
  • NLT But some Pharisees said, “Why are you breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?”

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 14

  • Matt 12:2But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said to him, “Behold, your disciples do what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”
  • John 5:16For this cause the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill him, because he did these things on the Sabbath.
  • Luke 6:7–9The scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against him.
  • Mark 2:24The Pharisees said to him, “Behold, why do they do that which is not lawful on the Sabbath day?”
  • Exod 35:2‘Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of solemn rest to Yahweh: whoever does any work in it shall be put to death.
  • John 5:9–11Immediately, the man was made well, and took up his mat and walked. Now it was the Sabbath on that day.
  • John 9:14–16It was a Sabbath when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.
  • Num 15:32–35While the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day.
  • Exod 22:10“If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies or is injured, or driven away, no man seeing it;
  • Luke 5:33They said to him, “Why do John’s disciples often fast and pray, likewise also the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink?”
  • Exod 31:15Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to Yahweh. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall surely be put to death.
  • Matt 23:23–24“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.
  • Isa 58:13“If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy of Yahweh honorable; and shall honor it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words:
  • Matt 15:2“Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat bread.”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Luke videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Luke 6:2YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on LukeMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.

How Luke 6:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.