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Matthew 10

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Jesus Commissions the Twelve Apostles 1–4

1
And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. ​
2
Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; ​
3
Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; ​
4
Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. ​

Instructions for the Limited Mission 5–15

5
These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: ​
6
But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ​
7
And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. ​
8
Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. ​
9
Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,
10
Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat. ​
11
And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.
12
And when ye come into an house, salute it.
13
And if the house be worthy, 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 or city, shake off the dust of your feet. ​
15
Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. ​

Warnings of Persecution 16–23

16
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. ​
17
But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
18
And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. ​
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 ye shall speak.
20
For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. ​
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 he 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. ​

Fear God, Not Man 24–33

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 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. ​
27
What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
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. ​
30
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31
Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
32
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. ​
33
But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

The Demands of Loyalty 34–39

34
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. ​
35
For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
36
And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
37
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. ​
38
And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. ​
39
He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. ​

Rewards for Receiving the Messengers 40–42

40
He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. ​
41
He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.
42
And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Matthew 10

Verse 1

power against unclean spirits — Exousia is authority, the right to act, the word of Mark 1:22. Matthew has just shown the Lord exercising it, 'healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people' (4:23), the same words as here. The commission is told again in Mark 6:7 and Luke 9:1.

Verse 2

the twelve apostles — Apostolos is 'one sent', from apostello, the verb of 'These twelve Jesus sent forth' (v.5) and 'I send you forth' (v.16). This is the only place in Matthew's Gospel where he uses the noun. Simon is 'the first', and the names then run in pairs: Peter and Andrew, James and John.

Verse 3

Matthew the publican — Only in his own list does the tax-gatherer carry the title; Mark 3:18 and Luke 6:15 give only the name. It recalls 9:9, 'a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom', whom Mark 2:14 calls 'Levi the son of Alphaeus'. 'Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus' is the Thaddaeus of Mark 3:18.

Verse 4

who also betrayed him — Paradidomi, to deliver up, the verb of John 'put in prison' (Mark 1:14) and of the Son of man 'delivered into the hands of men' (Mark 9:31); it returns in vv.17, 19, 21 for the disciples. 'Canaanite' is Kananites, 'zealous'; Luke 6:15 calls the same Simon 'Zelotes'.

Verse 5

the way of the Gentiles — 'Gentiles' is ethnos, the word translated 'nations' in 28:19: 'Go ye therefore, and teach all nations.' The Samaritans were settled by 'the king of Assyria' from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath and Sepharvaim (2 Kgs 17:24), and 'the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans' (John 4:9).

Verse 6

the lost sheep of the house of Israel — 'Lost' is apollumi, the verb for 'destroy' in 2:13. The words follow 9:36, 'as sheep having no shepherd', and Jer 50:6: 'My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray.' The Lord says it of his own sending in 15:24; Paul keeps the order, 'to the Jew first' (Rom 1:16).

Verse 7

The kingdom of heaven is at hand — The words are John's (3:2) and the Lord's own (4:17), now given to the Twelve. 'At hand' is eggizo, to draw near, in the perfect tense, as in Mark 1:15; 'preach' is kerusso, to proclaim as a herald. Luke 10:9 gives the message as 'The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.'

Verse 8

freely ye have received, freely give — Dorean is 'as a gift, without payment', the word of 'justified freely by his grace' (Rom 3:24) and 'take the water of life freely' (Rev 22:17). The healing is to be given without charge, as Peter says to the lame man, 'Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee' (Acts 3:6).

Verse 10

the workman is worthy of his meat — 'Meat' is trophe, food, and the 'scrip' is a travelling bag for it; the provision comes with the work. Luke 10:7 has 'the labourer is worthy of his hire'. Paul sets the saying beside 'Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn' and introduces both as 'the scripture' (1 Tim 5:18).

Verse 14

shake off the dust of your feet — 'Receive' is dechomai, the verb of vv.40–41: 'He that receiveth you receiveth me'. Paul and Barnabas do this at Antioch in Pisidia: 'they shook off the dust of their feet against them' (Acts 13:51). Luke 10:11 gives the message that goes with it: 'the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.'

Verse 15

more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha — Anektos, 'bearable', occurs only in comparisons of judgment (here; 11:22, 24; Mark 6:11; Luke 10:12, 14). The Lord sets Capernaum beside Sodom in 11:23–24. The two cities stand as the example: 'turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes… making them an ensample' (2 Pet 2:6).

Verse 16

wise as serpents, and harmless as doves — 'Wise' is phronimos, discreet; 'harmless' is akeraios, unmixed, found also in Rom 16:19 ('simple concerning evil') and Phil 2:15. The dove is the form in which the Spirit descended on Christ (3:16). 'I send you forth' is apostello, the verb behind 'apostles' (v.2).

Verse 18

governors and kings for my sake — The Acts bear it out: Paul stands before Felix and Festus the governors and before King Agrippa (Acts 24–26), having been told, 'he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings' (Acts 9:15). 'Testimony' is marturion, evidence given by a witness.

Verse 20

the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you — David's testimony stands behind the promise: 'The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue' (2 Sam 23:2). It is borne out in Acts 6:10, where Stephen's opponents 'were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake'. Luke 12:12 has 'the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour'.

Verse 22

he that endureth to the end shall be saved — Hupomeno, to remain under, to hold one's ground. The Lord says it again in 24:13 and Mark 13:13, in the same setting of being 'hated of all men for my name's sake'. Jas 1:12 and Rev 2:10 give the promise of 'the crown of life' to the one who stands.

Verse 23

flee ye into another — Pheugo, the verb of 'flee into Egypt' (2:13). The Lord himself withdrew when sought (John 11:54), and Paul and Silas were sent away 'by night unto Berea' (Acts 17:10). 'Gone over' is teleo, to finish. The coming of 'the Son of man' is read of different events; 16:28 uses the same expression, 'coming in his kingdom'.

Verse 25

Beelzebub — The name is the charge made in 12:24 (9:34 has the same charge without the name): 'This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.' It is Baalzebub, 'the god of Ekron' (2 Kgs 1:2). 'The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you' (John 15:20) is the same saying.

Verse 26

nothing covered, that shall not be revealed — 'Revealed' is apokalupto, to uncover, the verb of which 'Revelation' (apokalupsis) is the noun. The saying appears in Mark 4:22 and Luke 8:17, and Paul uses it of the day when the Lord 'will bring to light the hidden things of darkness' (1 Cor 4:5). Here it grounds the command 'Fear them not'.

Verse 28

fear him which is able to destroy — Isa 8:13 is the root: 'Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.' 'Destroy' is apollumi, as in v.6; 'hell' is Gehenna, the word of 5:22, 29, 30. 'Soul' is psyche, the 'life' of v.39. Luke 12:5 adds that he has 'power to cast into hell'.

Verse 29

two sparrows sold for a farthing — The assarion was a small coin; in Luke 12:6, 'five sparrows' are sold 'for two farthings', so a fifth is thrown in, and 'not one of them is forgotten before God'. Matthew adds that 'one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father'; verse 30 numbers the hairs of the head.

Verse 32

confess me before men — Homologeo, to say the same thing, to acknowledge, the verb of Rom 10:9–10: 'with the mouth confession is made unto salvation'. Christ answers in kind: 'him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven', and in Rev 3:5, 'I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels'. Verse 33 gives the reverse.

Verse 34

I came not to send peace, but a sword — Machaira, a short sword. The Lord at once explains it from Mic 7:6: 'a man's enemies are the men of his own house' (vv.35–36). Luke 12:51 states the saying as 'Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division.' The peace he gives is of another kind: 'my peace I give unto you' (John 14:27).

Verse 37

more than me — The comparison is of love, and the verb is phileo, affection, not the agapao of 22:37. 'Worthy' (axios) is the word repeated through vv.37–38. Luke 14:26 puts the same demand in the sharpest form: 'If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children'.

Verse 38

taketh not his cross — The first mention of the cross (stauros) in Matthew, spoken before the Lord has foretold his own; it returns in 16:24, 'let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me'. Luke 14:27 has 'whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple'.

Verse 39

findeth his life… loseth his life — 'Life' is psyche, the word rendered 'soul' in v.28, and 'lose' is apollumi, as in vv.6, 28. The saying recurs in 16:25, Mark 8:35 and Luke 17:33, and John 12:25 completes it: 'he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal'.

Verse 40

He that receiveth you receiveth me — Dechomai, to receive as a guest, as in vv.14, 41. It is the rule of the one sent (apostolos, v.2): 'He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me' (John 13:20). John 20:21 adds, 'as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.'

Verse 42

a cup of cold water only — The gift is the least that hospitality can give, given 'in the name of a disciple'; Mark 9:41 has 'in my name, because ye belong to Christ'. 'Reward' is misthos, the word of 5:12 and 6:1. The King counts it as done to himself: 'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me' (25:40).