Luke 10:1-8

Context

The Mission of the Seventy-Two

10:1 After this¹ the Lord appointed seventy-two² others and sent them on ahead of him two by two into every town³ and place where he himself was about to go. 10:2 He⁴ said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest⁵ to send out⁶ workers into his harvest. 10:3 Go! I⁷ am sending you out like lambs⁸ surrounded by wolves.⁹ 10:4 Do not carry¹⁰ a money bag,¹¹ a traveler’s bag,¹² or sandals, and greet no one on the road.¹³ 10:5 Whenever¹⁴ you enter a house,¹⁵ first say, ‘May peace¹⁶ be on this house!’ 10:6 And if a peace-loving person¹⁷ is there, your peace will remain on him, but if not, it will return to you.¹⁸ 10:7 Stay¹⁹ in that same house, eating and drinking what they give you,²⁰ for the worker deserves his pay.²¹ Do not move around from house to house. 10:8 Whenever²² you enter a town²³ and the people²⁴ welcome you, eat what is set before you.

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

[10:1] ²tc 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] ³tn Or “city.”

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

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

[10:2] ⁶tn Grk “to thrust out.”

[10:3] ⁷tn 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] ⁸sn On the imagery of lambs see Isa 40:11, Ezek 34:11-31, and John 10:1-18.

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

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

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

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

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

[10:5] ¹⁵tn 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] ¹⁶sn 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] ¹⁷tn 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] ¹⁸sn 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.

[10:7] ¹⁹tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:7] ²⁰tn Grk “eating and drinking the things from them” (an idiom for what the people in the house provide the guests).

[10:7] ²¹sn On the phrase the worker deserves his pay see 1 Tim 5:18 and 1 Cor 9:14.

[10:8] ²²tn Grk “And whatever town you enter,” but this is more often expressed in English as “whenever you enter a town.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[10:8] ²³tn Or “city.” Jesus now speaks of the town as a whole, as he will in vv. 10-12.

[10:8] ²⁴tn Grk “and they”; the referent (the people who live in the town) has been specified in the translation for clarity.