10 Nor scrip for your journey, | town ye shall enter, enquire who in neither two coats, neither shoes, it is worthy; and there abide till nor yet1 staves: for the workman ye go thence. is worthy of his meat. 11 And into whatsoever city or A staff. Luke x. 7. vent their preparing money for their journey. Pieces of money of small value were made of brass. ¶ In your purses. Literally in your girdles. See Notes, Matt. v. 38-41. A girdle or sash was an indispensable part of the dress. This girdle was made hollow, and answered the purpose of a purse. It was convenient, easily borne, and safe. 10. Neither scrip. That is, knapsack. It was made of skin or coarse cloth, to carry provisions in. It was commonly huug around the neck. As they were to be provided for on their way, it was unnecessary to provide a store of provisions. Neither two coats. See Note, Matt. v. 40. ¶ Neither shoes. The original is the word commonly rendered sandals. See Note, Matt. iii. 11. Mark says, in recording this discourse, "but be shod with sandals." Between this and Matthew there is an apparent contradiction. But there is really no difference. According to Matthew, Jesus does not forbid their wearing the sandals, which they probably had on, but only forbids their supplying themselves with more, or with superfluous ones. Instead of making provision for their feet when their present shoes were worn out, they were to trust to Providence to be supplied, and go as they were. And the meaning of the two evangelists may be thus expressed: "Do not procure anything more for your journey than you have on. Go as you are, shod with sandals, without making any preparation." Nor yet staves. In the margin, in all the ancient versions, and in the common Greek text, it is in the singular number, nor yet a staff. But Mark says that they might have a staff: "Jesus commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only." To many this would appear to be a contradiction. Yet the spirit of the instruction, the main thing that the writer aims at, is the same. That was, that they were to go just as they were, to trust to Providence, and 12 And when ye come into an house, salute it.3 3 1 Pet. ii. 17; iii. 8. not to spend any time in making preparation for their journey. Some of them, probably, when he addressed them had staves, and some had not. To those who had he did not say that they should throw them away, as the instructions he was giving might seem to require, but suffered them to take them. (Mark.) To those who had not, he said they should not spend time in procuring them; (Matthew,) but all go just as they were. workman is worthy of his meat. This implies that they were to expect proper supply for their wants from those who were benefited. They were not to make bargain and sale of the power of working miracles, but they were to expect competent support from preaching the gospel ; and that not merely as a gift, but because they were worthy of it, and had a right to it. The 11. Who in it is worthy. That is, who in it sustains a fair character will be able and disposed to show you hospitality, and will treat you kindly. This shows that they were not suddenly and needlessly to throw themselves in the way of insult or want. And there abide. There remain; as Luke adds, "Go not from house to house." They were to content themselves with one house; not to wander about in the manner of vagrants and mendicants; not to appear to be men of idleness, and fond of change; not to seem dissatisfied with the hospitality of the people; but to show that they had regular, important business; to show that they valued their time, were disposed to give themselves to labour, prayer, and meditation; and to be intent only on the business for which he had sent them. ministers of the gospel are useful, it will be by not spending their time in idle chitchat, and wandering about as if they had nothing to do; but in an honest and laborious improvement of every moment in study, prayer, preaching, and religious visiting their people. If 12. And when you come into a house, 13 And if the house be worthy, or city, shake3 off the dust of your let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house 1 P. xxxv. 13. Ver. 40, 41. John xiii. 20. 1 Thess. iv. 8. salute it. The word house, here, evidently means family, as it does in the following verse. See also Matt. xii. 25, and John iv. 53: "And himself behieved and his whole house." The apostles were directed to salute the family, to show them the customary tokens of respect, and to treat them with civility. Religion never requires or permits its friends to outrage the common rules of social intercourse. It demands of them to exhibit to all the customary and proper tokens of respect, according to their age and station. Phil. iv. 8. 1 Pet. ii. 12-25; iii. 8-11. For the mode of salutation, see Note, Luke x. 4, 5. 15. If the house be worthy. That is, if the family be worthy, or be willing to receive you as my disciples. Let your peace come upon it. That is, let the peace or happiness which you seek, or for which you pray, in saluting it, see Luke x. 5, come upon it; or seek their peace and happiness by prayer, instruction, by remaining with them, and imparting to them the blessings of the gospel. But if it be not worthy, &c. If the family be unwilling to receive you; if they show themselves unfriendly to you and your message; let your peace return to you. This is a Hebrew mode of saying that your peace shall not come upon it. Psa. xxxv. 13. It is a mode of speaking derived from bestowing a gift. If people were willing to receive it, they derived the benefit from it; if not, then of course the present came back, or remained in the hand of the giver. So Christ figuratively speaks of the peace which their labour would confer. If received kindly and hospitably by the people, they would confer on them most valuable blessings. If rejected and persecuted, the blessings which they sought for others would come upon themselves. They would reap the benefit of being cast out and persecuted for their Master's sake. Matt. v. 10. feet. 15 Verily I say unto you, It' shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city. 16 Behold, I send you forth 8 Neh. v. 13. Acts xiii. 51; xviii. 6. Ch. xi. 22, 24. 14. Shake off the dust of your feet. The Jews taught uniformly that the dust of the Gentiles was impure, and was to be shaken off. To shake off the dust from the feet, therefore, was a significant act, denoting that they regarded them as impure, profane, and heathenish, and unworthy of their instruction, and that they declined all further connexion with them. It is recorded that this was actually done by some of the apostles. See Acts xiii. 51; xviii. 6. 15. It shall be more tolerable for Sodom, &c. The cities here mentioned, together with Admah and Zeboim, were destroyed by fire and brimstone, or by a volcanic eruption, on account of their great wickness. They occupied the place afterwards covered by the Dead Sea, bounding Palestine on the south-east. Gen. xix. 24, 25. Christ said that their punishment will be more tolerable-that is, more easily borne-than that of the people who reject his gospel. The reason is, that they were not favoured with so much light and instruction. See Matt. xi. 23, 24. Luke xii. 47, 48. Sodom and Gomorrah are often referred to as signal instances of divine vengeance, and as sure proofs that the wicked shall not go unpunished. See 2 Pet. ii. 6. Jude 7. 16. As sheep in the midst of wolves. That is, I send you inoffensive and harmless, into a cold, unfriendly, and cruel world. Your innocence will not be a protection. Be wise as serpents, &c. Serpents have always been an emblem of wisdom and cunning. Gen. iii. 1. The Egyptians used the serpent in their hieroglyphics as a symbol of wisdom. Probably the thing in which Christ directed his followers here to imitate the serpent, was in its caution in avoiding danger. No animal equals the serpent in the rapidity and skill which it evinces in escaping danger. So said Christ to his disciples, You need caution and wisdom, as sheep in the midst of wolves: | sake, for a testimony against them be ye therefore 'wise as serpents, and the Gentiles. and harmless3 as doves. 17 But beware of men for5 they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge6 you in their synagogues; 18 And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my 1 Rom. xvi. 19. Ephes. v. 15. 2 Or, simple. Phil. iii. 2. 3 Phil. ii. 15. 4 Mark xiii. 9. 6 Acts v. 40. Acts xxiv.; xxv. 5 Ch. xxiv. 9. 2 Cor. xi. 24. in the midst of a world that will seek your lives. He directs them also to be harmless, not to provoke danger, not to do injury, and thus make their fellow men justly enraged against them. Doves are, and always have been, a striking emblem of innocence. Most men would destroy a serpent, be it ever so harmless; yet few are so hard-hearted as to kill a dove. 17. But beware of men. That is, be on your guard against men who are like wolves. Ver. 16. Do not run unnecessarily into danger. Use suitable prudence and caution, and do not unnecessarily endanger your lives. Councils. The word here used, commonly signifies the great council of the nation, the Sanhedrim. See Note, Matt. v. 22. Here it seems to refer to any judicial tribunal, of which there were some in every village. They will scourge you in their synagogues. Scourging, or whipping, is often mentioned in the New Testament as a punishment. The law of Moses directed that the number of stripes should not exceed forty, but might be any number less, at the discretion of the judge. Deut. xxv. 2, 3. The person who was sentenced to scourging was formerly laid upon the ground, and the blows inflicted on his back in the presence of the judge. Afterwards, the criminal was tied to a low post. Scourging is still practised in the east; but the blows are commonly inflicted on the soles of the feet. It is called the bastinado. The instrument formerly used was a rod. Afterwards they employed thongs or lashes attached to the rod. To make the blows severe and more painful, they sometimes fastened sharp points of iron, or pieces of lead, in the thongs. These 19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak for it shall be given you in that same hour what shall speak. ye 20 For it is not ye that speak, but the9 Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. Mark xiii. 11. Luke xii. 11; xxi. 14, 15. 9 2 Sam. xxiii. 2. Acts iv. 8; vi. 10. were called scorpions. 1 Kin. xii. 11. The law was express that the number of stripes should not exceed forty. The Jews, to secure the greater accuracy in counting, used a Scourge with three lashes, which inflicted three stripes at once. With this the criminal was struck thirteen times, making the number of blows thirty-nine. Paul was five times scourged in this way. See 2 Cor. xi. 24. The Romans did not feel themselves bound by the law of the Jews in regard to the number of stripes, but inflicted them at pleasure. Thus our Saviour was scourged till he was so weak as not to be able to bear his cross. Scourging often took place in the synagogue. See Matt. xxiii. 34. Acts xxii. 19; xxvi. 11. 18. And ye shall be brought, &c. This prediction was completely and abundantly fulfilled. Acts v. 26; xii. 1-4; xxiii. 33; xxvi. 1, 28, 30. Peter is said to have been brought before Nero, John before Domitian, Roman emperors; and others before Parthian, Scythian, and Indian kings. They were to stand there to bear a testimony against them; or, as it might be rendered, to them. That is, they were to be witnesses to them of the great facts and doctrines of the christian religion; and, if they rejected Christianity, they would be witnesses against them in the day of judgment. The fulfilment of this prophecy is a signal evidence that Christ possessed a knowledge of the future. Few things were more improbable when this was uttered, than that the fishermen of Galilee would stand before the illustrious and mighty monarchs of the east and the west. 19, 20. Take no thought. That is, be not anxious, or unduly solicitous. See 21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. 22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but 1he 1 Dan. xii. 12, 13. Rev. ii. 10. that endureth to the end shall be saved. 23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. 2 Acts viii. 1. 3 Or, end, or, finish. the gospel. Such is the opposition of the heart of man to the gospel! That hos of natural affection, and which will be satisfied with nothing else to show its power, can be no slight opposition to the gospel of God. Note, Matt. vi. 25. God would inspire them. This was a full promise that they should be inspired, and was a most sea-tility which will overcome the strong ties sonable consolation. Poor, and ignorant, and obscure fishermen would naturally be solicitous what they should say before the great men of the earth. Eastern people regarded kings as raised far above common mortais, as approaching to divinity. How consoling, then, the assurance that God would aid them, and speak within them. 22. Ye shall be hated of all men. That is, of all kinds of men. The human heart would be opposed to them, because it is opposed to Christ. But he that endureth to the end, &c. That is, to the 21. And the brother shall deliver up end of life, be it longer or shorter. He the brother, &c. Were there no evidence that bears all these unspeakable sufferthat this had been done, it could scarcely ings, and who does not shrink and aposbe credible The ties which bind bro- tatize, will give decisive evidence of thers and sisters, and parents and chil-attachment to me, and shall enter into dren together, are so strong that it could heaven. See Rev. iii. 21, 22. scarcely be believed that division of sentiment on religious subjects would cause them to forget these tender relations. Yet history assures us that this has been done. If this be so, then how inexpressibly awful must be the malignity of the human heart by nature against religion! Nothing else but this dreadful opposition to God and his gospel, ever has induced, or ever can induce men to violate the most tender relations, and consign the best friends to torture, racks, and flames. It adds to the horrors of this, that those who were put to death in persecution, were tormented in the most awful modes that human ingenuity could devise. They were crucified, were thrown into boiling oil, were burnt at the stake, were roasted slowly over coals, were compelled to drink melted lead; were torn in pieces by beasts of prey, were covered with pitch, and burnt, to give light in the gardens of Nero. Yet dreadful as this prediction was, it was fuified; and incredible as it seems, parents and children, and husbands and wires, were found wicked enough to deliver up each other to these cruel modes of death, on account of their attachment to 23. When they persecute, &c. They were not permitted to throw away their lives. Where they could preserve them without denying their Lord, they were to do it. Yet all the commands of Christ, as well as their conduct, show that they were rather to lay down their lives, than deny their Saviour. We are to preserve our lives by all proper means; but rather die than save ourselves by doing anything wrong. Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, &c. That is, in fleeing from persecutors, from one city to another, you shall not have gone to every city in Judea, till the destruction of Jerusalem, and the end of the jewish economy. See Note on Matt. xxiv. 28-30. By the coming of the Son of man, that is, of Christ, is probably meant the destruction of Jerusalem, which happened about thirty years after this was spoken. The words are often used in this sense. See Matt. xxiv. 30. Mark xiii. 26. Luke xxi. 27, 32. 24, 25. The disciple is not above his Master, &c. That is, you must expect the same treatment which I have received. They have called me, your Master and 1 24 The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. 25 It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house 3 Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? 26 Fear them not therefore: for+ there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. John xiii. 16; xv. 20. 2 John 4 Mark iv. 22. Luke xii. 1 Luke vi. 40. viii. 48. 3 Beelzebul. 2, 3. 1 Cor. iv. 5. Teacher, Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. See Matt. xii. 24. Luke xi. 15. John viii. 48, and you must expect that they will call all of the family by the same name. Beelzebub, or Beelzebul, was a god of the Ekronites. See 2 Kin. i. 2. The word literally means the god of flies, so called because the idol was supposed to protect from the numerous swarms of flies with which that country is supposed to have abounded. The word also signified, among the Jews, the god of filth, and was esteemed as the most low and offensive of all the idol gods. Hence the name was given to the leader, or prince of all the devils. Mark iii. 22. Luke xi. 15. By giving the name to Christ, they poured upon him the greatest possible abuse and contempt. 26. Fear them not, &c. He encouraged them by the assurance that God would protect them, and that their truth and innocence should yet be vindicated. It is probable that the declaration, there is nothing covered, &c. was a proverb among the Jews. By it our Saviour meant, that their innocence, their principles, and their integrity, though then the world might not acknowledge them, in due time would be revealed; or God would vindicate them, and the universe would do them justice. They were then to be willing to be unknown, despised, persecuted, for a time, with the assurance that their true characters should yet be understood, and their sufferings appreciated. 27. What I say to you in darkness, 27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the house-tops. 28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. 5 Isa. viii. 12, 13; li. 7, 12. 1 Pet. iii. 14. 6 In value, halfpenny farthing, a tenth part of the Roman penny. Ch. xviii, 28. &c. That is, in secret, in private, in confidence. The private instructions which I give you while with me, do you proclaim publicly, on the house-top. The house top, the flat roof, was a public conspicuous place. See 2 Sam. xvi. 22. See also Notes, Matt. ix. 2. 28. Them which kill the body. That is, men, who have no power to injure the soul, the immortal part. The body is a small matter, in comparison with the soul. Temporal death is a slight thing, compared with eternal death. He directs them, therefore, not to be alarmed at the prospect of temporal death; but to fear God, who can destroy both soul and body for ever. This passage proves that the bodies of the wicked will be raised up to be punished for ever. ¶ In hell. See Note on Matt. v. 22. 29-31. Are not two sparrows, &c. He encourages them not to fear by two striking considerations: first, that God took care of sparrows, the smallest and least valuable birds; and secondly, by the fact, that God numbered even the very hairs of the head. The argument is, if he takes care of birds of the least value; if he regards so small a thing as the hair of the head, and numbers it, he will certainly protect and provide for you. You need not, therefore, fear what man can do to you. Sparrows. Birds of very small kind and value, with a black throat, and brown temples. They were used for food among the Jews; and were an image of sorrow, solitude, and wretchedness. Psa. cii. 7, "I am a sparrow |