Matthew 10:5–15

Footnotes

1. 13 Grk “instructing them, saying.”
2. 14 Grk “on the road of the Gentiles.” That is, a path that leads to Gentile regions.
3. 15 Grk “town [or city] of the Samaritans.”
4. 16 Grk “But go.” The Greek μᾶλλον (mallon, “rather, instead”) conveys the adversative nuance here so that δέ (de) has not been translated.
5. 17 The majority of Byzantine minuscules, along with a few other witnesses (C3 K L Γ Θ 700* al), lack νεκροὺς ἐγείρετε (nekrous ejgeirete, “raise the dead”), most likely because of oversight due to a string of similar endings (-ετε in the second person imperatives, occurring five times in v. 8). The longer version of this verse is found in several diverse and ancient witnesses such as א B C* (D) N 0281vid f1, 13 33 565 al lat; P W Δ 348 have a word-order variation, but nevertheless include νεκροὺς ἐγείρετε. Although some Byzantine-text proponents charge the Alexandrian witnesses with theologically-motivated alterations toward heterodoxy, it is interesting to find a variant such as this in which the charge could be reversed (do the Byzantine scribes have something against the miracle of resurrection?). In reality, such charges of wholesale theologically-motivated changes toward heterodoxy are immediately suspect due to lack of evidence of intentional changes (here the change is evidently due to accidental omission).
6. 18 Or “no traveler’s bag”; or possibly “no beggar’s bag” (L&N 6.145; πήρα).
7. 19 Grk “two tunics.” See the note on the word “tunic” in .
8. 20 Mark 6:8 allows one staff. It might be that Matthew’s summary (cf. Luke 9:3) means not taking an extra staff or that the expression is merely rhetorical for “traveling light” which has been rendered in two slightly different ways.
9. 21 Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
10. 22 Grk “Into whatever town or village you enter.” This acts as a distributive, meaning every town or village they enter; this is expressed more naturally in English as “whenever you enter a town or village.”
11. 23 Grk “in it” (referring to the city or village).
12. 24 Grk “there.” This was translated as “with them” to avoid redundancy in English and to clarify where the disciples were to stay. Jesus telling his disciples to stay with them in one house contrasts with the practice of religious philosophers in the ancient world who went from house to house begging.
13. 25 This is a metonymy; the “house” is put for those who live in it.
14. 26 The response to these messengers determines how God’s blessing is bestowed—if the messengers are not welcomed, their blessing will return to them. Jesus shows just how important their mission is by this remark.
15. 27 To shake the dust off represented shaking off the uncleanness from one’s feet; see Luke 10:11; Acts 13:51; 18:6. It was a sign of rejection.
16. 28 Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amēn), I say to you.”
17. 29 The allusion to Sodom and Gomorrah, the most wicked of OT cities from Gen 19:1–29, shows that to reject the current message is even more serious than the worst sins of the old era and will result in more severe punishment.