Luke 6:2

But some of the Pharisees ¹  said, “Why are you ²  doing what is against the law ³  on the Sabbath?”

Some of the Pharisees asked, "Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?"

But some of the Pharisees said, "Why do you do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?"

But some Pharisees said, "You shouldn’t be doing that! It’s against the law to work by harvesting grain on the Sabbath."

Some Pharisees said, "Why are you doing that, breaking a Sabbath rule?"

But some of the Pharisees said, Why do you do what it is not right to do on the Sabbath?

But some of the Pharisees said, "Why are you doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?"

And some of the Pharisees said to them, "Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?"

But some of the Pharisees ¹  said, “Why are you ²  doing what is against the law ³  on the Sabbath?”

¹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

² tn Note that the verb is second person plural (with an understood plural pronominal subject in Greek). The charge is again indirectly made against Jesus by charging the disciples.

³ sn The alleged violation expressed by the phrase what is against the law is performing work on the Sabbath. That the disciples ate from such a field is no problem given Deut 23:25, but Sabbath activity is another matter in the leaders’ view (Exod 20:8-11 and Mishnah, m. Shabbat 7.2). The supposed violation involved reaping, threshing, winnowing, and preparing food. This probably explains why the clause describing the disciples “rubbing” the heads of grain in their hands is mentioned last, in emphatic position. This was preparation of food.