Luke 6:1-2 And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields… This is a very difficult phrase, and all explanations of it must be conjectural, as there is apparently no Sabbath designated by this name in any Rabbinical writing. One of the two following explanations seems most likely: 1. Either that it was the Sabbath which occurred during the Octave of Pentecost — the greatest Sabbath of the year being the Passover Sabbath ("that Sabbath day was an high day" — John 19:31); and the one occurring at the next greatest feast, that of Pentecost, would be the next greatest, or next-first, or "second-first," the Passover Sabbath being the first-first, or by far the greatest. The feast of Tabernacles would be the third. 2. But very many take it to be a Sabbath at the Passover, either the first Sabbath after the second day of that festival, from which the Sabbaths to Pentecost are numbered, or the last day of the feast, which was to be observed as a Sabbath. Whichever of these is the true meaning, it appears to me that St. Luke does not designate this day as the second-first, to mark the date when the transaction occurred, but to mark the peculiar holiness of the day. The disciples were, in their estimation, breaking no ordinary Sabbath, but one of the most sacred of all. (M. F. Sadler, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields; and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands. |
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