Luke 6 — Clausal Layout (English)

independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecomparativecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended

Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)

Lord of the Sabbath — the grainfields 6:1–5

vv. 1–2 — the plucking and the challenge

Now it happened on a Sabbath that he was going through the grainfields,independent — Lukan ἐγένετο + infinitive frame; the Byzantine adds δευτεροπρώτῳ ('second-first'), treated as expansion

and his disciples were pluckingindependent — iterative imperfect — plucking as they walked

and eating the heads of grain,independent — the coordinate imperfect — the act the Pharisees will construe as reaping

rubbing them with their hands.participial — means participle — ψώχω a NT hapax; the 'threshing' that aggravates the charge

But some of the Pharisees said:independent — the objection — the speech-frame

'Why are you doingcontent — the challenge put to the disciples, aimed at the master

what is not lawful on the Sabbath?'relative — ἔξεστιν — the legal verb that will run through both controversies (vv. 4, 9)

vv. 3–5 — the David precedent and the pronouncement

And answering them,participial — preposed Semitic 'answered and said' — leans on εἶπεν

Jesus said:independent — the counter-question begins

'Have you not even read this,content — οὐδέ sharpens the rebuke — their own Scripture turned against their ruling

what David didrelative — 1 Sam 21:1–6 — the precedent-setting king

when he was hungry, he and those who were with him —conditional — temporal ὅτε (typed cnd; backward, so anchored) — hunger, the need that justifies

how he entered the house of God,content — ὡς unpacks the τοῦτο of the question — the entry into the sanctuary at Nob

and taking the bread of the Presence,participial — preposed aorist participle leaning on ἔφαγεν — the showbread of Exod 25:30

he ate itcontent — the forbidden eating — one bare verb

and gave it to those with him,content — David shares as Jesus' disciples share — the parallel is exact

which it is not lawful to eat except for the priests alone?'relative — on ἔδωκεν — the antecedent is τοὺς ἄρτους above; Lev 24:9, ἔξεστιν again

And he said to them:independent — imperfect ἔλεγεν introducing the weighty saying

'The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.'content — Κύριος fronted for emphasis — the Danielic Son of Man claims authority over the Law's institution

The withered hand — doing good on the Sabbath 6:6–11

vv. 6–8 — the scene, the watchers, the man set in the midst

Now it happened on another Sabbath that he entered the synagogue and was teaching,independent — the second ἐγένετο-frame — ἑτέρῳ, a distinct Sabbath occasion

and a man was there,independent — existential imperfect — the plight introduced

and his right hand was withered.independent — only Luke specifies ἡ δεξιά — the working hand, heightening the loss

And the scribes and the Pharisees were watching him closely,independent — παρατηρέω middle — lying in wait; the watching is forensic

whether he would heal on the Sabbath,content — indirect question — vivid present θεραπεύει retained

so that they might find a reason to accuse him.purpose — the purpose of the surveillance — κατηγορεῖν, the courtroom verb

But he knew their thoughts,independent — emphatic αὐτός — the watcher watched; διαλογισμοί, the suspicious inner reasonings (cf. 2:35)

and he said to the man with the withered hand:independent — Jesus takes the initiative — the act staged in full view, not avoided

'Rise,content — the summons — ἐγείρω, the raising verb

and stand in the midst.'content — εἰς τὸ μέσον — the center, where every watcher can see

And rising,participial — preposed aorist participle — leans on ἔστη

he stood.independent — the command obeyed verbatim — one word

vv. 9–11 — the question, the healing, the fury

And Jesus said to them:independent — the counter-question — the frame

'I ask you:content — the formal posing — Jesus becomes the interrogator

is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?'content — ἔξεστιν reframed — the Sabbath's true alternative is good vs. harm, saving vs. destroying

And looking around at them all,participial — preposed circumstantial — the sweeping gaze confronting every onlooker; leans on εἶπεν

he said to him:independent — the healing word follows the silence

'Stretch out your hand.'content — the command that occasions the cure — no touch, no 'work'

And he did so,independent — ὁ δέ pronominal — the man's ποιέω answers the ποιεῖτε of v. 2

and his hand was restored.independent — double-augmented divine passive — restoration complete in the telling

But they were filled with senseless fury,independent — ἄνοια — mindless rage at the good done, not mere folly

and discussed with one anotherindependent — progressive imperfect — the back-and-forth plotting begins

what they might do to Jesus.content — potential optative with ἄν — Luke's literary deliberative touch; the shadow of the passion

The night of prayer and the choosing of the Twelve 6:12–16

vv. 12–13 — the vigil and the choice

Now in those days it happened that he went out to the mountain to pray,independent — the third ἐγένετο-frame — Luke's pattern: prayer precedes the decisive act

and he spent the whole night in prayer to God.independent — periphrastic imperfect — διανυκτερεύω a NT hapax; objective genitive, prayer to God

And when day came,conditional — temporal ὅτε (typed cnd) — forward-leaning on προσεφώνησεν; daybreak after the vigil

he called his disciples,independent — the wider company summoned, from whom twelve are drawn

and choosing from them twelve,participial — middle ἐκλεξάμενος — chosen for himself; the participle never reaches a finite verb: the roster hangs from it (anacoluthon)

whom he also named apostles:relative — the title conferred — ἀπόστολοι, sent ones; twelve for the tribes of restored Israel

vv. 14–16 — the roster, Peter to the traitor

Simon,phrase modifier — the roster opens — every list of the Twelve begins with him

whom he also named Peter,relative — the renaming — Πέτρος, 'Rock' (= Cephas); ὠνόμασεν echoing v. 13

and Andrew his brother,phrase modifier — the first pair of brothers

and Jamesphrase modifier — the son of Zebedee — of the inner three

and Johnphrase modifier — James's brother — the inner three complete

and Philipphrase modifier — a Greek name — 'lover of horses'

and Bartholomew,phrase modifier — 'son of Tolmai' — often identified with Nathanael

and Matthewphrase modifier — the tax-collector of 5:27–28 (there called Levi)

and Thomas,phrase modifier — Aramaic 'twin' (= Didymus)

and James the son of Alphaeus,phrase modifier — the patronymic separates the second James

and Simon who was called the Zealot,phrase modifier — Ζηλωτής — nationalist partisan or simply 'zealous one'; distinguishing the second Simon

and Judas the son of James,phrase modifier — the first Judas — distinct from the betrayer (cf. John 14:22)

and Judas Iscariot,phrase modifier — Ἰσκαριώθ, probably 'man of Kerioth' — last in every list

who became a traitor.relative — ingressive ἐγένετο — he 'turned' traitor; the dark note closing the roll

The descent to the level place — the crowds and the power 6:17–19

And coming down with them,participial — preposed circumstantial — from the mountain of prayer to the plain; leans on ἔστη

he stood on a level place,independent — πεδινός a NT hapax — the 'plain' that names the sermon

with a great crowd of his disciples,phrase modifier — verbless nominative of attendant circumstance — the inner audience

and a great multitude of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon,phrase modifier — the outer audience — reaching from the covenant heartland to the Gentile coast

who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases;relative — plural relative on the collective (constructio ad sensum) — hearing and healing, the double purpose

and those troubled by unclean spirits were being cured.independent — iterative imperfect — cure after cure before the words begin

And all the crowd kept seeking to touch him,independent — singular collective with plural verb — the whole crowd pressing for contact

because power was going out from himcause — δύναμις continuously issuing (cf. 8:46) — the reason for the press

and healing them all.cause — coordinate within the ὅτι clause — πάντας, unbounded scope

The Sermon on the Plain — blessings and woes, the love of enemies, judging, and the two builders 6:20–49

vv. 20–23 — the four beatitudes, addressed to 'you'

And he, lifting up his eyes to his disciples,participial — preposed circumstantial — the raised gaze addresses the disciples directly; leans on ἔλεγεν

said:independent — inceptive imperfect — the anchor of the whole sermon: every spoken line below hangs here

'Blessed are you who are poor,content — the first beatitude, verbless — Luke's stark 'the poor,' not Matthew's 'poor in spirit'

for yours is the kingdom of God.cause — present ἐστίν and second-person ὑμετέρα — the kingdom already theirs, said to their faces

Blessed are you who hunger now,content — the second — literal hunger, with νῦν marking the present age against the reversal

for you shall be satisfied.cause — divine passive future — the messianic banquet's plenty

Blessed are you who weep now,content — the third — present tears, the same νῦν

for you shall laugh.cause — γελάσετε — laughter, the joy of the coming age

Blessed are youcontent — the fourth breaks into explicit copula and second person — the persecuted disciples themselves

when men hate you,conditional — temporal ὅταν (typed cnd; backward, so anchored) — the first of four verbs of rejection

and when they exclude youconditional — ἀφορίζω — separation, perhaps synagogue expulsion

and revile youconditional — the third verb — public reproach

and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man.conditional — the name slandered — ἕνεκα τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, allegiance to Jesus the cause

Rejoice in that daycontent — the response commanded — joy on the very day of persecution

and leap for joy,content — σκιρτάω — exuberant, bodily joy (the Baptist's leap, 1:41)

for behold, your reward is great in heaven;cause — verbless γάρ-ground with ἰδού — the recompense stored where the persecutors cannot reach

for so their fathers did to the prophets.cause — the second γάρ — suffering aligns the disciples with the persecuted prophets; refrain returning at v. 26

vv. 24–26 — the four woes, inverting the beatitudes one for one

But woe to you who are rich,content — πλήν pivots to the woes — the prophetic οὐαί against the counterpart of the poor

for you have received your consolation in full.cause — ἀπέχετε — the commercial receipt-term: comfort paid out and done

Woe to you who are full now,content — the second woe — perfect participle, the settled satedness; νῦν again

for you shall hunger.cause — the exact inversion of v. 21a

Woe to you who laugh now,content — the third woe — bare οὐαί, the formula compressing as it repeats

for you shall mourn and weep.cause — double future — the inversion of v. 21b, with mourning added

Woe to youcontent — the fourth woe, reduced to the bare cry

when all men speak well of you,conditional — temporal ὅταν (typed cnd; backward, anchored) — universal acclaim as the danger sign; πάντες read with the majority

for so their fathers did to the false prophets.cause — the refrain of v. 23 inverted — the applauded share the lot of the flattered counterfeits

vv. 27–31 — love your enemies: the command catena under Jesus' own λέγω

But I say to you who hear:content — the strong ἀλλά pivot — Jesus' own λέγω becomes the anchor of the enemy-love catena

Love your enemies,content — the heart of the sermon's ethic — the first of four commands

do good to those who hate you,content — love made concrete in beneficence — μισοῦσιν answering the μισήσωσιν of v. 22

bless those who curse you,content — blessing for cursing — the third command

pray for those who mistreat you.content — prayer for abusers completes the fourfold catena

To the one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also;content — the commands turn singular (σε) — non-retaliation made vivid; the offered second cheek

and from the one who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.content — cloak before tunic — Luke reverses Matthew's order: robbery, not lawsuit

Give to everyone who asks you,content — παντί — giving without restriction of person

and from the one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.content — μὴ ἀπαίτει — no reclaiming; possessions held loose

And as you wishcomparative — fronted comparative leaning forward on ποιεῖτε — the Golden Rule's measure stated first

that men would do to you,content — ἵνα-content of the wish — the treatment desired

do so to them likewise.content — the positive Golden Rule — the active norm beneath all the commands

vv. 32–36 — beyond the sinners' reciprocity: sons of the Most High

And if you love those who love you,conditional — protasis leaning forward — the first of three reciprocity cases

what credit is that to you?content — χάρις as 'credit' — the refrain-question of the triad

For even sinners love those who love them.cause — the foil — reciprocal love is no distinctive virtue

And if you do good to those who do good to you,conditional — second protasis, leaning forward — beneficence to benefactors

what credit is that to you?content — the refrain repeats

Even sinners do the same.cause — the same foil, tightened

And if you lendconditional — third protasis, leaning forward — lending, the case Luke alone adds

to those from whom you hope to receive,relative — headless relative — the calculated loan, repayment expected

what credit is that to you?content — the refrain a third time

Even sinners lend to sinners,cause — the foil — sinners' lending is mere commerce among their own

to receive back the same amount.purpose — τὰ ἴσα — full repayment, the sinners' calculus

But love your enemies,content — πλήν resumes the command of v. 27 — the resolution of the triad

and do good,content — the three verbs of vv. 32–34 recommanded, now without conditions

and lend,content — lending without the sinners' ἵνα

expecting nothing in return;participial — ἀπελπίζω a NT hapax and the chapter's lexical crux — 'expecting nothing back' or 'despairing of no one'

and your reward will be great,content — the μισθός of v. 23 promised again

and you will be sons of the Most High,content — ὕψιστος — the Elyon-title Luke favors; family likeness shown in indiscriminate kindness

for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.cause — the ground of sonship — God's χρηστότης toward the undeserving, the model imitated

Be merciful,content — the capstone — Luke's counterpart to Matthew's 'be perfect' (Matt 5:48)

even as your Father is merciful.comparative — οἰκτίρμων — the LXX's word for God's compassion (Exod 34:6); the Father the measure

vv. 37–38 — do not judge: paired imperatives and divine-passive promises

And do not judge,content — the first prohibition — censorious judgment renounced

and you will certainly not be judged;content — emphatic οὐ μή with divine passive — God the unnamed judge

and do not condemn,content — καταδικάζω — stronger than κρίνω: the judicial verdict

and you will certainly not be condemned.content — the matching emphatic promise

Forgive,content — ἀπολύω — release, let go; the positive turn

and you will be forgiven.content — divine passive future — release answered with release

Give,content — the fourth pair — open-handedness

and it will be given to you;content — divine passive again — the giver receives

good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will put into your lap.content — the grain-measure heaped by four piled participles — impersonal 'they' for the divine giver; κόλπος, the garment-fold pouch

For with the measure you use,relative — incorporated-antecedent relative leaning forward on ἀντιμετρηθήσεται

it will be measured back to you.cause — γάρ-ground of the overflowing return — the requital matches one's own measure

vv. 39–42 — the blind guide, the teacher, the speck and the log

And he also told them a parable:independent — the narrator's frame resurfaces inside the sermon — the parables below hang from this Εἶπεν

'Can a blind man lead a blind man?content — μήτι expects 'no' — the unreformed judge as blind guide

Will they not both fall into a pit?content — οὐχί expects 'yes' — the paired rhetorical questions share one ruin

A disciple is not above his teacher,content — the maxim drawn from the image — the pupil cannot outsee his guide

but everyone when fully trained will be like his teacher.content — καταρτίζω — the finished pupil reproduces the teacher, blindness or sight alike

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye,content — κάρφος — the splinter-speck; the censorious eye's small find

but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?content — δοκός — the absurd beam; κατανοέω, the deeper noticing that fails at home

How can you say to your brother,content — the hypocrisy dramatized — speech inside the speech

'Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,'content — the ironically affectionate Ἀδελφέ — permissive ἄφες with subjunctive

while you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye?participial — concessive participle on δύνασαι — emphatic αὐτός, the self-blindness named

You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye,content — ὑποκριτά — the play-actor rebuked; πρῶτον, self before brother

and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.content — διαβλέπω — sight restored for genuine help; correction not forbidden but reordered

vv. 43–45 — the tree and its fruit; the heart and the mouth

For there is no good tree that bears bad fruit,cause — γάρ grounds the log-first demand — clear sight and good fruit alike require the sound tree

nor again a bad tree that bears good fruit.cause — the converse — character determines conduct in both directions

For each tree is known by its own fruit.cause — the diagnostic principle — ἐκ τοῦ ἰδίου καρποῦ, the fruit betrays the tree

For figs are not gathered from thorns,cause — first proof from the harvest — gnomic 'they'

nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.cause — second proof — βάτος, the bramble; no one harvests what the plant cannot bear

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good,content — the image applied — the heart as θησαυρός, the accumulated store

and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil;content — the matching negative — the same verb προφέρει, opposite store

for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.cause — περίσσευμα — the overflow; the mouth as the heart's spillway

vv. 46–49 — 'Lord, Lord' and the two builders

Why do you call me,content — the hinge to the close — confession weighed against obedience

'Lord, Lord,'content — the doubled vocative of profession — quoted address, verbless

and not docontent — the adversative καί — the lip's lordship, the life's refusal

what I say?relative — ἃ λέγω — Jesus' words demand doing; the test the builders dramatize

Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them —phrase modifier — casus pendens leaning forward on ὑποδείξω — the threefold profile: coming, hearing, doing

I will show youcontent — the resumption after the suspended subject

what he is like:content — indirect question — the ὅμοιος-formula that shapes both halves of the parable

He is like a man building a house,content — the first comparison — the hearer-and-doer

who dug and went deeprelative — hendiadys 'dug deep' — ἐβάθυνεν a NT hapax; the labor Matthew's builder is spared

and laid a foundation on the rock;relative — the third coordinate verb — θεμέλιος on πέτρα, bedrock reached by digging

and when a flood arose,participial — genitive absolute leaning forward on προσέρηξεν — πλήμμυρα a NT hapax

the river burst against that housecontent — προσρήγνυμι — the torrent's assault; the swollen wadi in spate

and could not shake it,content — οὐκ ἴσχυσεν — the flood's strength fails

because it had been well built.cause — διὰ τό + perfect infinitive — the critical text's ground; the Byzantine assimilates to Matt 7:25 ('founded on the rock')

But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation;content — the second comparison — hearing without doing; χωρὶς θεμελίου, the one thing lacking

against it the river burst,relative — the same verb, the same flood — only the foundation differs

and immediately it collapsed,content — συμπίπτω a NT hapax — εὐθύς, the suddenness of the fall

and the ruin of that house was great.'content — ῥῆγμα a NT hapax — total wreckage; μέγα, the sermon's final, sobering word

Analysis. Luke 6 is narrative for nineteen verses and discourse for thirty, and the layout shows the seam. The two Sabbath controversies (vv. 1–11) run at the flush-left margin under Lukan Ἐγένετο-frames, preposed circumstantial participles leaning forward anchor-less on the verbs below them, and all speech hanging blue beneath its verb of saying — the David precedent (1 Sam 21) nested as a rel-ὅτε-ὡς chain under ἀνέγνωτε, answered by the pronouncement Κύριός ἐστιν τοῦ σαββάτου ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. The choosing of the Twelve (vv. 12–16) turns on a Lukan anacoluthon: ἐκλεξάμενος ('choosing twelve') never reaches its finite verb, and the roster hangs from δώδεκα as a coordinate verbless column — Simon renamed Πέτρος at its head, Judas ὃς ἐγένετο προδότης at its foot. After the descent to the level place (vv. 17–19, the crowd from Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon standing as verbless nominatives beside ἔστη), the Sermon on the Plain fills one long section on the matthew5 pattern: every spoken clause hangs as a coordinate cnt line beneath the ἔλεγεν of v. 20, so the anchor never orphans however long the discourse runs. What the shape then shows is Luke's symmetry that Matthew lacks: four second-person beatitudes each dragging its ὅτι-ground one step deeper, answered by four matching οὐαί woes; then Ἀλλὰ ὑμῖν λέγω τοῖς ἀκούουσιν re-anchoring the enemy-love catena one level deeper beneath Jesus' own λέγω, the three ποία-ὑμῖν-χάρις questions at catena depth with their sinner-foils grounding them, resolved by the πλήν of v. 35 into υἱοὶ ὑψίστου and capped by Γίνεσθε οἰκτίρμονες; the judging and measure sayings as paired imperative-and-divine-passive-promise lines; and at v. 39 the narrator's own frame (Εἶπεν δὲ καὶ παραβολὴν αὐτοῖς) resurfacing at the margin inside the sermon, so that the closing parables — blind guide, speck and log, tree and fruit, and the two ὅμοιός-ἐστιν builders — hang beneath Εἶπεν. Cruxes flagged rather than hidden: at v. 1 the printed text reads simply ἐν σαββάτῳ, treating the Byzantine δευτεροπρώτῳ ('second-first Sabbath') as secondary expansion; ἀνοίας (v. 11) is glossed as senseless fury, not mere folly; μηδὲν ἀπελπίζοντες (v. 35), a NT hapax and the chapter's lexical crux, is rendered 'expecting nothing in return' with 'despairing of no one' noted; and at v. 48 the critical διὰ τὸ καλῶς οἰκοδομῆσθαι αὐτήν ('because it had been well built') stands where the Byzantine text assimilates to Matt 7:25 ('for it was founded on the rock').