Luke 6:7

The experts in the law ¹  and the Pharisees ²  watched ³  Jesus ⁴  closely to see if ⁵  he would heal on the Sabbath, ⁶  so that they could find a reason to accuse him.

Ps 37:32,33; Ps 38:12; Isa 29:21; Jer 20:10; Mt 26:59,60; Mr 3:2; Lu 11:53,54; Lu 13:14; Lu 14:1-6; Lu 20:20; Joh 5:10-16; Joh 9:16,26-29

¹ tn Or “The scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

² sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

³ sn The term translated watched…closely is emotive, since it carries negative connotations. It means they were watching him out of the corner of their eye or spying on him.

⁴ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn This is a first class condition in the Greek text; Jesus’ opponents anticipated he would do this.

⁶ sn The background for this is the view that only if life was endangered should one attempt to heal on the Sabbath (see the Mishnah, m. Shabbat 6.3; 12.1; 18.3; 19.2; m. Yoma 8.6).