Luke 10:1-6

The Mission of the Seventy-Two

10:1 After this ¹  the Lord appointed seventy-two ²  others and sent them on ahead of him two by two into every town ³  and place where he himself was about to go. 10:2 He ⁴  said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest ⁵  to send out ⁶  workers into his harvest. 10:3 Go! I ⁷  am sending you out like lambs ⁸  surrounded by wolves. ⁹  10:4 Do not carry ¹⁰  a money bag, ¹¹  a traveler’s bag, ¹²  or sandals, and greet no one on the road. ¹³  10:5 Whenever ¹⁴  you enter a house, ¹⁵  first say, ‘May peace ¹⁶  be on this house!’ 10:6 And if a peace-loving person ¹⁷  is there, your peace will remain on him, but if not, it will return to you. ¹⁸ 

[10:1]  ¹ tn Grk “And after these things.” Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:1]  ² tc There is a difficult textual problem here and in v. 17, where the number is either “seventy” (א A C L W Θ Ξ Ψ Ë^1,13 Ï and several church fathers and early versions) or “seventy-two” (Ì⁷⁵ B D 0181 pc lat as well as other versions and fathers). The more difficult reading is “seventy-two,” since scribes would be prone to assimilate this passage to several OT passages that refer to groups of seventy people (Num 11:13-17; Deut 10:22; Judg 8:30; 2 Kgs 10:1 et al.); this reading also has slightly better ms support. “Seventy” could be the preferred reading if scribes drew from the tradition of the number of translators of the LXX, which the Letter of Aristeas puts at seventy-two (TCGNT 127), although this is far less likely. All things considered, “seventy-two” is a much more difficult reading and accounts for the rise of the other. Only Luke notes a second larger mission like the one in 9:1-6.

[10:1]  ³ tn Or “city.”

[10:2]  ⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:2]  ⁵ sn The phrase Lord of the harvest recognizes God’s sovereignty over the harvest process.

[10:2]  ⁶ tn Grk “to thrust out.”

[10:3]  ⁷ tn Grk “Behold I.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[10:3]  ⁸ sn On the imagery of lambs see Isa 40:11, Ezek 34:11-31, and John 10:1-18.

[10:3]  ⁹ sn This imagery of wolves is found in intertestamental Judaism as well; see Pss. Sol. 8:23.

[10:4]  ¹⁰ sn On the command Do not carry see Luke 9:3. The travel instructions communicate a note of urgency and stand in contrast to philosophical teachers, who often took a bag. There is no ostentation in this ministry.

[10:4]  ¹¹ tn Traditionally, “a purse.”

[10:4]  ¹² tn Or possibly “a beggar’s bag” (L&N 6.145; BDAG 811 s.v. πήρα).

[10:4]  ¹³ tn Or “no one along the way.”

[10:5]  ¹⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:5]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “Into whatever house you enter.” This acts as a distributive, meaning every house they enter; this is expressed more naturally in English as “whenever you enter a house.”

[10:5]  ¹⁶ sn The statement ‘May peace be on this house!’ is really a benediction, asking for God’s blessing. The requested shalom (peace) is understood as coming from God.

[10:6]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “a son of peace,” a Hebrew idiom for a person of a certain class or kind, as specified by the following genitive construction (in this case, “of peace”). Such constructions are discussed further in L&N 9.4. Here the expression refers to someone who responds positively to the disciples’ message, like “wisdom’s child” in Luke 7:30.

[10:6]  ¹⁸ sn The response to these messengers determines how God’s blessing is bestowed – if they are not welcomed with peace, their blessing will return to them. Jesus shows just how important their mission is by this remark.