Luke 10:8-12

10:8 Whenever ¹  you enter a town ²  and the people ³  welcome you, eat what is set before you. 10:9 Heal ⁴  the sick in that town ⁵  and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God ⁶  has come upon ⁷  you!’ 10:10 But whenever ⁸  you enter a town ⁹  and the people ¹⁰  do not welcome ¹¹  you, go into its streets ¹²  and say, 10:11 ‘Even the dust of your town ¹³  that clings to our feet we wipe off ¹⁴  against you. ¹⁵  Nevertheless know this: The kingdom of God has come.’ ¹⁶  10:12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom ¹⁷  than for that town! ¹⁸ 

[10:8]  ¹ tn 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]  ² tn Or “city.” Jesus now speaks of the town as a whole, as he will in vv. 10-12.

[10:8]  ³ tn Grk “and they”; the referent (the people who live in the town) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:9]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[10:9]  ⁵ tn Grk “in it”; the referent (that town) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:9]  ⁶ sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21.

[10:9]  ⁷ tn Or “come near to you,” suggesting the approach (but not arrival) of the kingdom. But the combination of the perfect tense of ἐγγίζω (engizw) with the preposition ἐπί (epi) most likely suggests that the sense is “has come upon” (see BDAG 270 s.v. ἐγγίζω 2; W. R. Hutton, “The Kingdom of God Has Come,” ExpTim 64 [Dec 1952]: 89-91; and D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 2:1000; cf. also NAB “is at hand for you”). These passages argue that a key element of the kingdom is its ability to overcome the power of Satan and those elements in the creation that oppose humanity. Confirmation of this understanding comes in v. 18 and in Luke 11:14-23, especially the parable of vv. 21-23.

[10:10]  ⁷ tn Grk “whatever town you enter,” but this is more often expressed in English as “whenever you enter a town.”

[10:10]  ⁸ tn Or “city.”

[10:10]  ⁹ tn Grk “and they”; the referent (the people who live in the town) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:10]  ¹⁰ sn More discussion takes place concerning rejection (the people do not welcome you), as these verses lead into the condemnation of certain towns for their rejection of God’s kingdom.

[10:10]  ¹¹ tn The term πλατεῖα (plateia) refers to the “broad street,” so this refers to the main roads of the town.

[10:11]  ¹⁰ tn Or “city.”

[10:11]  ¹¹ sn See Luke 9:5, where the verb is different but the meaning is the same. This was a sign of rejection.

[10:11]  ¹² tn Here ὑμῖν (Jumin) has been translated as a dative of disadvantage.

[10:11]  ¹³ tn Or “has come near.” As in v. 9 (see above), the combination of ἐγγίζω (engizw) with the preposition ἐπί (epi) is decisive in showing that the sense is “has come” (see BDAG 270 s.v. ἐγγίζω 2, and W. R. Hutton, “The Kingdom of God Has Come,” ExpTim 64 [Dec 1952]: 89-91).

[10:12]  ¹³ sn The allusion to Sodom, 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. The noun Sodom is in emphatic position in the Greek text.

[10:12]  ¹⁴ tn Or “city.”