Luke 6

See notes on Matt. xii. 1-13, and on Mark ii. 23-28; iii. 1-6.

1 on the second sabbath after the first. Lit., “on the second-first sabbath.” The best authorities are so divided as to whether the adjective δευτεροπρώτων (deuteroproto) forms part of the text, and if it does, what it means, that it seems profitless to discuss it here. It is enough for us that it was a sabbath, as in Matt. and Mark.

11 madness. A senseless rage, which rejects all evidence.

12-49. These verses relate the call of the Twelve and the Sermon on the Mount. On the question whether the substance of this sermon was twice given on different occasions (“The Sermon on the Mount” and “The Sermon on the Plain”), see notes on Matt. v. 1, 2.

12-19. See notes on Matt. x. 1-4, and on Mark iii. 13-19.

12 continued all night in prayer. See notes on ch. v. 16; Matt. v. 1.

17 in the plain. Rather, “on a level place.”

19 virtue. power.

20-49. See notes on Matt. v.-vii. The discourse is here given in abridged form; excepting that four “woes” are added to the beatitudes.

21 ye shall laugh. That is, “ye shall rejoice”: see Psa. cxxvi. 2.

22 shall separate you. That is, “excommunicate you.”

24 woe unto you. Our Lord now turns to the classes of men that had shown themselves foremost in opposing and maligning Him, the Pharisees and Sadducees of the period. They consisted in great measure of the prosperous members of the community.

that are rich. That is, who trust in your wealth: cp. xviii. 24, 25 with Mark x. 24, and see note on Matt. xix. 23.

ye have received your consolation. “You get all the comforts you ever get” (Moffutt).

26 shall speak well of you. Our Lord here points out the danger of seeking popularity at the expense of conscience.

29 thy cloke . . . [thy] coat. The order in which the two garments are mentioned in Matthew is here inverted, the suggestion being of that which would be seized first.

35 hoping for nothing again. Or, as R.V., “never despairing.”

36. Be ye therefore merciful. See note on Matt. v. 48.

38 shall [men] give. Luke here preserves a portion of our Lord’s discourse not found in Matthew; exhibiting the benefits which a man derives from his charitable treatment of others (38); and then illustrating the incapacity of the censorious man for guiding others aright; because he is “blind” himself (39), and his disciples cannot, at their best, become better than he (40); see note on Matt. vii. 1. Some writers see no connexion between vers. 38 and 39. But surely the exhortation to generosity in 38 is appropriately followed by the warning against the censorious spirit mentioned in 39 and 41.

40. The disciple, etc. A saying used, Matt. x. 24, with a different application.

43-49. The following verses are connected not so much with those immediately preceding, as with the whole foregoing discourse: see Matt. vii. 18.

45. A good man, etc. See Matt. xii. 34, 35, and notes.

48 for it was founded upon a rock. The R.V. prefers the reading, “because it was well built.” But a good deal is still to be said for the A.V. text, on the weight of the MSS.

strongly attached to the Jewish worship and people; and to have inferred, from the miracles of which he had heard, that Jesus must be the Messiah, whose authority he humbly acknowledges (7, 8).