The invention relates to a cutting unit for an agricultural harvesting machine, comprising: a drive (1, 21, 41, 61), a transmission assembly (2, 22, 42, 62) which has an input element (4, 28, 48, 68) that is drivingly connected to the drive (1, 21, 41, 61) and is driven back and forth along an input path by the drive, and a knife (3, 23, 43, 63, 105) with a plurality of blades (109, 110). The knife (3, 23, 43, 63, 105) is drivingly connected to an output element (8, 31, 49, 69) of the transmission assembly (2, 22, 42, 62) and is driven back and forth along an output path, which is longer than the input path, by the output element such that each of the blades (109, 110) of the knife (3, 23, 43, 63, 105) passes by at least two counter blades (111, 112) of the cutting unit along the entire output path during a movement in one direction (S1, S2).
