Matthew 10:9-15

10:9 Do not take gold, silver, or copper in your belts, 10:10 no bag ¹  for the journey, or an extra tunic, ²  or sandals or staff, ³  for the worker deserves his provisions. 10:11 Whenever ⁴  you enter a town or village, ⁵  find out who is worthy there ⁶  and stay with them ⁷  until you leave. 10:12 As you enter the house, give it greetings. ⁸  10:13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come on it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. ⁹  10:14 And if anyone will not welcome you or listen to your message, shake the dust off ¹⁰  your feet as you leave that house or that town. 10:15 I tell you the truth, ¹¹  it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom and Gomorrah ¹²  on the day of judgment than for that town!

[10:10]  ¹ tn Or “no traveler’s bag”; or possibly “no beggar’s bag” (L&N 6.145; BDAG 811 s.v. πήρα).

[10:10]  ² tn Grk “two tunics.” See the note on the word “tunic” in Matt 5:40.

[10:10]  ³ sn Mark 6:8 allows one staff. It might be that Matthew’s summary (cf. Luke 9:3) means not taking an extra staff or that the expression is merely rhetorical for “traveling light” which has been rendered in two slightly different ways.

[10:11]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:11]  ² tn Grk “Into whatever town or village you enter.” This acts as a distributive, meaning every town or village they enter; this is expressed more naturally in English as “whenever you enter a town or village.”

[10:11]  ³ tn Grk “in it” (referring to the city or village).

[10:11]  ⁴ tn Grk “there.” This was translated as “with them” to avoid redundancy in English and to clarify where the disciples were to stay.

[10:12]  ¹ tn This is a metonymy; the “house” is put for those who live in it.

[10:13]  ¹ sn The response to these messengers determines how God’s blessing is bestowed – if the messengers are not welcomed, their blessing will return to them. Jesus shows just how important their mission is by this remark.

[10:14]  ¹ sn To shake the dust off represented shaking off the uncleanness from one’s feet; see Luke 10:11; Acts 13:51; 18:6. It was a sign of rejection.

[10:15]  ¹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[10:15]  ² sn The allusion to Sodom and Gomorrah, 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.