Matthewchapter 10
42 verses · Matthew, by tradition · AD 50 to 65 · The Gospels
Key verse
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.
It stands in The Twelve Sent Out With Authority, verses 1 to 15.
The chapter
Chapter summary
Discourse 2. The mission of the Twelve. Names of the apostles. Sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, with authority over unclean spirits. Instructions: take no provision, greet the worthy, shake dust against the unworthy. The cost of confession, the sword not peace, cross-bearing, receiving the disciple is receiving Christ.
Context
Gospel · Matthew · Matthew overview
The world behind this chapter
Matthew 10The history
The travel instructions are specific about money. Gold, silver, and copper were the three metals coins were struck in, so forbidding all three means carrying no money at all. No bag, no spare tunic, no staff, a travelling teacher normally carried all of these. They were to depend on hospitality, which in that culture was a binding duty, not a favour.
The rest of the history, and what it meant to them
Shaking the dust off the feet was a recognised gesture. Jews returning from Gentile territory shook off the dust so as not to carry pagan soil into the land. Doing it to a Jewish village said something shocking about where that village now stood.
The floggings Jesus predicts were a synagogue penalty, not a Roman one, thirty-nine strokes, one short of the forty the Law allowed, administered by the congregation's own officer. Being handed over to governors and kings was the next step up: a provincial governor held the power of death, and a client king like Antipas could imprison and execute on his own account.
Two small coins frame the comfort. Sparrows were the cheapest meat in the market, sold two for the smallest copper coin in circulation, and Jesus says not one falls without the Father.
What it meant to them
This chapter was read as instructions, not history. Matthew's readers were living every line of it, arrested, flogged in the meeting houses they grew up in, betrayed by relatives.
So the hard sayings about a sword rather than peace, and a man's enemies being his own household, were not shocking to them. They were a description of Tuesday. What was new was being told it had been foreseen, and that acknowledging him publicly is answered by his acknowledging them before the Father.
Sources cited
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament
- F. F. Bruce, New Testament History
Where the chapter sits
Matthew 10 falls in Mission of the Twelve (chapters 10). Discourse 2: sending and cost.
Before it: Sermon on the Mount, chapters 5–7. After it: Parables of the Kingdom, chapters 13.
The whole shape of Matthew→The structure of this chapter
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
A. The Twelve Sent Out With Authority
1. (v. 1)
Matthew 10:1
“And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples ... - This account of sending the apostles forth is recorded also in Mar 6:7-11, and Luk 9:1-6. Mark says that he sent them out two and two. This was a kind arrangement, that each one might have a companion, and that thus they might visit more places and accomplish more labor than if they were all together. These twelve were the original number of apostles. The word “apostle” means one that is “sent,” and was given to them because they were “sent forth” to preach the gospel.”
2 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Matthew 10:1
“All faithful ministers are sent of Christ, but they that were first, and immediately, sent by him, are eminently called apostles, the prime ministers of state in his kingdom. Yet this was but the infancy of their office; it was when Christ ascended on high that he gave some apostles, Eph. iv.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Matthew 10:1
“This chapter is one of peculiar solemnity. Here is the record of the first ordination which ever took place in the Church of Christ. The Lord Jesus chooses and sends forth the twelve apostles. Here is an account of the first charge ever delivered to newly ordained Christian ministers. The Lord Jesus himself delivers it. Never was there so important an ordination! Never was there so solemn a charge! There are three lessons which stand out prominently on the face of the first fifteen verses of this chapter. Let us take them in order.”
J.C. Ryle· Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew (1856)Reformed Evangelical
power against unclean spirits: Jesus calls the twelve and gives them power against unclean spirits and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease, the same works he has just performed across chapters 8 and 9 now delegated rather than merely displayed. The verse marks the turn from Jesus healing alone to Jesus sending others to do what he does, the harvest labourers of 9:38 named and equipped in the very next verse. Matthew Henry reads the gift as evidence the mission is his errand, not theirs, since the power comes from him and answers to his name.
2. (vv. 2-4)
Matthew 10:2
“A catalogue of the names of the Apostles is given, that all false Apostles might be excluded. The names of the twelve Apostles are these; First, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother. To arrange them in order according to their merit is His alone who searches the secrets of all hearts. But Simon is placed first, having the surname of Peter given to distinguish him from the other Simon surnamed Chananæus, from the village of Chana in Galilee where the Lord turned the water into wine. The Evangelist couples the names throughout in pairs.”
Jerome· written before 420· Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 10:2
“Now the names of the twelve apostles are these,.... This is the first time these disciples are called "apostles", they were learners before; now being instructed, they are sent forth to preach publicly, and therefore are called apostles, or messengers, persons that were sent: so the elders of the priesthood are called שלוחי בית דין, "the apostles", or messengers "of the sanhedrim" (n), to whom the high priest were delivered, before the day of atonement.”
Matthew 10:2
“Apostles - This is the first place where the word is used. ΑποϚολος, an apostle, comes from αποϚελλω, I send a message. The word was anciently used to signify a person commissioned by a king to negotiate any affair between him and any other power or people. Hence αποϚολοι and κηρυκες, apostles and heralds, are of the same import in Herodotus. See the remarks at the end of chap.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 10:3
“Philip and Bartholomew - These two were probably sent out together. Philip was a native of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. He is not the same as Philip the evangelist, mentioned in Act 6:5; Act 21:8. Bartholomew (literally, “the son of Tolmai”). Thomas - Literally, “a twin,” in reference to which he is also called “Didymus,” Joh 11:16. For his character, see the notes at Joh 20:25. “And Matthew the publican.” See the notes at Mat 9:9. “James the son of Alpheus.” See the note above.”
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 10:3
“Note, It is good for those who are advanced to honour with Christ, to look unto the rock whence they were hewn; often to remember what they were before Christ called them, that thereby they may be kept humble, and divine grace may be the more glorified. Matthew the apostle was Matthew the publican.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Matthew 10:4
“The second part (Mt 10:16-23) contains directions of no such limited and temporary nature, but opens out into the permanent exercise of the Gospel ministry. The third part (Mt 10:24-42) is of wider application still, reaching not only to the ministry of the Gospel in every age, but to the service of Christ in the widest sense.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
the names of the twelve apostles: The list moves from Simon, who is called Peter, named first in every Gospel's roster, down to Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him, named last in every roster, the betrayal appended to his name as though the text cannot mention him without it. The twelve pair off in the list as they were sent two by two in Mark's account, and the group spans a tax collector, Matthew, and a Canaanite, Simon, a title the bench reads as zealot rather than ethnic, meaning a nationalist zealous for the law by force if needed. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note the twelve answer to Israel's twelve tribes, a new Israel gathered around its King before the old commission ever widens to the nations.
3. (vv. 5-6)
Matthew 10:5
“Into the way of the Gentiles - That is, among the Gentiles, or nowhere but among the Jews. The full time for preaching the gospel to the Gentiles was not come. It was proper that it should be first preached to the Jews, the ancient covenant people of God, and the people among whom the Messiah was born. Afterward he gave them a charge to go into all the world, Mat 28:19. And into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not - The Samaritans occupied the country formerly belonging to the tribe of Ephraim and the half-tribe of Manasseh.”
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 10:5
“These twelve Jesus sent forth - Herein exercising his supreme authority, as God over all. None but God can give men authority to preach his word. Go not - Their commission was thus confined now, because the calling of the Gentiles was deferred till after the more plentiful effusion of the Holy Ghost on the day of pentecost.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Matthew 10:5
“Accordingly, when this prohibition was to be taken off, on the effusion of the Spirit at Pentecost, the apostles were told that they should be Christ's witnesses first "in Jerusalem, and in all Judea," then "in Samaria," and lastly, "unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Ac 1:8).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Matthew 10:6
“But go rather to the lost sheep, etc. - The Jewish Church was the ancient fold of God; but the sheep had wandered from their Shepherd, and were lost. Our blessed Lord sends these under-shepherds to seek, find, and bring them back to the Shepherd and Overseer of their souls.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 10:6
“The promulgation of the Law deserved also the first preaching of the Gospel; and Israel was to have less excuse for its crime, as it had experienced more care in being warned. Though they are here called sheep, yet they raged against Christ with the tongues and throats of wolves and vipers.”
Hilary of Poitiers· written before 367· Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Go not into the way of the Gentiles: , and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not, restricts this first sending to the lost sheep of the house of Israel alone, a limit the risen Christ lifts entirely at 28:19, go ye therefore and teach all nations. The bench reads the order as covenantal sequence rather than exclusion: Paul's own pattern of to the Jew first, and also to the Greek in Romans 1:16 follows the same priority without denying the wider harvest. John Gill notes the sheep language ties this charge to the shepherd thread already sounded at 9:36, the scattered flock now finally visited.
4. (vv. 7-8)
Matthew 10:7
“The kingdom of heaven is at hand - Or, more literally, the “reign” of heaven, or of God, draws near. See the notes at Mat 3:2.”
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 10:7
“This proclaims salvation at hand, nigh them that fear God; mercy and truth meet together ( Ps. lxxxv. 9, 10 ), that is, the kingdom of heaven at hand: not so much the personal presence of the king; that must not be doated upon; but a spiritual kingdom which is to be set up, when his bodily presence is removed, in the hearts of men.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Matthew 10:7
“Lest peasants untaught and illiterate, without the graces of speech, should obtain credit with none when they announced the kingdom of heaven, He gives them power to do the things above mentioned, that the greatness of the miracles might approve the greatness of their promises.”
Jerome· written before 420· Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Matthew 10:8
“Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils--(The italicized clause--"raise the dead"--is wanting in many manuscripts). Here we have the first communication of supernatural power by Christ Himself to His followers--thus anticipating the gifts of Pentecost.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
3 more voices on this verse
Matthew 10:8
“The mandate on every believer is to do as Jesus did; we have been given a commission to heal the sick, raise the dead and cast out demons.”
Matthew 10:8
“Those that had power to heal all diseases, had an opportunity to enrich themselves; who would not purchase such easy certain cures at any rate? Therefore they are cautioned not to make a gain of the power they had to work miracles: they must cure gratis, further to exemplify the nature and complexion of the gospel kingdom, which is made up, not only of grace, but of free grace.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Matthew 10:8
“Raise the dead - This is wanting in the MSS. marked EKLMS of Griesbach, and in those marked BHV of Mathai, and in upwards of one hundred others. It is also wanting in the Syriac, (Vienna edition), latter Persic, Sahidic, Armenian, Sclavonic, and in one copy of the Itala; also in Athanasius, Basil, and Chrysostom. There is no evidence that the disciples raised any dead person previously to the resurrection of Christ. The words should certainly be omitted, unless we could suppose that the authority now given respected not only their present mission, but comprehended also their future conduct.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The kingdom of heaven is at hand: The message is the same one John the Baptist and Jesus himself have already preached, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and the works that accompany it, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils, match exactly what Jesus has just done in the preceding two chapters. Freely ye have received, freely give sets the terms for the gift itself: a power given without cost is not to be sold, a principle the bench reads against later abuses of paid healing and paid absolution alike. The disciples are not inventing a new message but carrying his own words and works into towns he has not yet reached.
5. (vv. 9-10)
Matthew 10:9
“See also Mar 6:8-11, and Luk 9:3-5. In both these places the substance of this account is given, though not so particularly as in Matthew. The general subject is the instructions given to the apostles. Mat 10:9 Provide neither gold nor silver, nor brass - This prohibition of gold, silver, and brass is designed to prevent their providing money for their journey. Pieces of money of “small value” were made of brass. In your purses - Literally, in your girdles (belts). See the notes at Mat 5:38-41. A “girdle” or “sash” was an indispensable part of the dress.”
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 10:9
“For if they preach without receiving reward for it, the possession of gold and silver and wealth was unnecessary. For had they had such, they would have been thought to be preaching, not for the sake of men's salvation, but their own gain. As He had cut off riches, which are meant by gold and silver, He now almost cuts off necessaries of life; that the Apostles, teachers of the true religion, who taught men that all things are directed by God's providence, might show themselves to be without thought for the morrow.”
Jerome· written before 420· Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Matthew 10:10
“Nor scrip for your journey - To carry provisions. This was called תורמיל tormil, by the rabbins; it was a leathern pouch hung about their necks, in which they put their victuals. This was properly, the shepherd’s bag. Neither two coats, etc. - Nothing to encumber you. Nor yet staves - Ραβδον, a staff, as in the margin, but, instead of ραβδον, staff, which is the common reading, all the following MSS. and versions have ραβδους, staves, and CEFGKLMPS. V. ninety-three others, Coptic, Armenian, latter Syriac, one of the Itala, Chrysostom, and Theophylact.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 10:10
“He that had one might take it; they that had none, might not provide any. For the workman is worthy of his maintenance - The word includes all that is mentioned in the 9th and 10th verses; all that they were forbidden to provide for themselves, so far as it was needful for them.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Matthew 10:10
“The meaning is, Take no change of dress, no additional articles. neither shoes--that is, change of them. nor yet staves--The received text here has "a staff," but our version follows another reading, "staves," which is found in the received text of Luke (Lu 9:3).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
neither gold, nor silver, nor brass: Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses strips the mission of ordinary provision, and the reason follows at once, for the workman is worthy of his meat, a saying Paul later cites almost verbatim as settled apostolic principle for ministers' support in 1 Timothy 5:18. The bench reads the bareness as trust made visible: the twelve travel light because the towns that receive them are bound to supply them, and refusal to provide becomes itself a verdict on the town, which the next verses make explicit. Luke's later instruction to take a purse and sword before the crucifixion shows the restriction as fitted to this one sending, not a rule for every age.
6. (vv. 11-13)
Matthew 10:11
“Into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter - In the commencement of Christianity, Christ and his preachers were all itinerant. Inquire who in it is worthy - That is, of a good character; for a preacher of the Gospel should be careful of his reputation, and lodge only with those who are of a regular life. There abide till ye go thence - Go not about from house to house, Luk 10:7. Acting contrary to this precept has often brought a great disgrace on the Gospel of God.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 10:11
“And into whatsoever city or town--town or village. ye shall enter inquire--carefully. who in it is worthy--or "meet" to entertain such messengers; not in point of rank, of course, but of congenial disposition. and there abide till ye go thence--not shifting about, as if discontented, but returning the welcome given with a courteous, contented, accommodating disposition.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Matthew 10:12
“And when ye come into an house,.... Or the "house"; that is, the house of an hospitable man, when, upon inquiry, found out: salute it; meaning the inhabitants of it; or, as the Persic version reads, those of the household, especially the master of the family.”
3 more voices on this verse
Matthew 10:12
“And when ye come into an house--or "the house," but it means not the worthy house, but the house ye first enter, to try if it be worthy. salute it--show it the usual civilities.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Matthew 10:12
“Here is a latent allusion to the form of salutation in Hebrew and Syriac; they say Salemalach or Salamalach, for the Greek χαῖρε, or Latin Ave; that is, 'Peace be with you.'”
Jerome· written before 420· Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Matthew 10:12
“Salute it - Λεγουτες, ειρηνη εν τω οικω τουτω, saying, “Peace be to this house.” This clause, which, as explanatory of the word ασπασασθε, is necessary to the connection in which it now stands, is added, by the MSS. D and L, and forty-three others, the Armenian, Ethiopic, Slavonic, Saxon, Vulgate, all the copies of the old Itala, Theophylact, and Hilary. The clause is also found in several modern versions. The modern Greek has λεγοντες· ειρηνη εις το σκηπρι τουτο. The Italian, by Matthew, of Erberg, and of Diodati, renders it thus: Pace sia a questa casa.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 10:13
“If that house be worthy - If that family be proper for a preacher to lodge in, and the master be ready to embrace the message of salvation. Your peace - The blessings you have prayed for shall come upon the family: God will prosper them in their bodies, souls, and substance. But if it be not worthy - As above explained. Let your peace - The blessings prayed for, return to you. Προς υμας επιϚραφητω, it shall turn back upon yourselves. They shall get nothing, and you shall have an increase.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 10:13
“And if the house be worthy,.... If the family, and particularly the master of it, appeared to be civil, courteous, friendly, and hospitable, upon such a salutation, and ready to receive and embrace them, and provide for them, let your peace come upon it, or it shall come upon it; the imperative for the future, which is not unusual; and so read the Syriac and Vulgate Latin.”
Matthew 10:13
“If the house be worthy - of it, God shall give them the peace you wish them. If not, he shall give you what they refuse. The same will be the case, when we pray for them that are not worthy.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
enquire who in it is worthy: sends the disciples to a single household rather than a round of lodgings, staying put once received rather than seeking better quarters, there abide till ye go thence. The peace pronounced at entry is a real transaction in the bench's reading, a Hebrew shalom carrying blessing that either rests on a worthy house or returns to the one who spoke it, unspent and undiminished. John Gill notes the peace cannot be lost by an unworthy house's refusal, only redirected, which removes any thought that rejection cost the messenger something of his own.
7. (vv. 14-15)
Matthew 10:14
“Shake off the dust of your feet - The Jews considered themselves defiled by the dust of a heathen country, when was represented by the prophets as a polluted laud, Amo 7:17, when compared with the land of Israel, which was considered as a holy land, Eze 45:1; therefore, to shake the dust of any city of Israel from off one’s clothes or feet was an emblematical action, signifying a renunciation of all farther connection with them, and placing them on a level with the cities of the Heathen. See Amo 9:7.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 10:14
“Therefore the action here enjoined was a lively intimation, that those Jews who had rejected the Gospel were holy no longer, but were on a level with heathens and idolaters.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Matthew 10:15
“Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable--more bearable. for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city--Those Cities of the Plain, which were given to the flames for their loathsome impurities, shall be treated as less criminal, we are here taught, than those places which, though morally respectable, reject the Gospel message and affront those that bear it.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
3 more voices on this verse
Matthew 10:15
“Because to the men of Sodom and Gomorrah no man had ever preached; but this city had been preached to and had rejected the Gospel. But if it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for that city, hence we may learn that there is difference of degree in the punishment of sinners.”
Jerome· written before 420· Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Matthew 10:15
“Some sinners sink deeper into hell than others, and are beaten with more stripes. [3.] The condemnation of those that reject the gospel, will in that day be severer and heavier than that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Sodom is said to suffer the vengeance of eternal fire, Jude 7 . But that vengeance will come with an aggravation upon those that despise the great salvation.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Matthew 10:15
“In the day of judgment - Or, punishment, - κρισεως. Perhaps not meaning the day of general judgment, nor the day of the destruction of the Jewish state by the Romans; but a day in which God should send punishment on that particular city, or on that person, for their crimes. So the day of judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah, was the time in which the Lord destroyed them by fire and brimstone, from the Lord out of heaven.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
shake off the dust of your feet: against a house or city that refuses to hear is a gesture Jewish travelers used returning from Gentile territory, treating even Gentile soil as defiling, and turning it now against Israelite towns is itself a rebuke, declaring the town as foreign to the kingdom as any pagan land. The judgment named, more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city, sets a scale of accountability by light received: the towns hearing the King's own messengers and refusing them stand under a heavier verdict than the proverbial wickedness of Genesis 19. The bench reads this against any notion that ignorance excuses equally in every case; greater privilege brings greater responsibility.
B. Sheep Among Wolves: What to Expect
1. (v. 16)
Matthew 10:16
“Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves - He who is called to preach the Gospel is called to embrace a state of constant labor, and frequent suffering. He who gets ease and pleasure, in consequence of embracing the ministerial office, neither preaches the Gospel, nor is sent of God. If he did the work of an evangelist, wicked men and demons would both oppose him. Wise (φρονιμοι prudent) as serpents, and harmless as doves - This is a proverbial saying: so in Shir hashirim Rabba, fol.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
4 more voices on this verse
Matthew 10:16
“Behold, I send you forth, as sheep among wolves,.... This, and the following verses, chiefly respect the troubles, afflictions, persecutions, and sufferings which should befall the apostles after the death and resurrection of Christ; when their commission was enlarged, and they afresh sent out by Christ to preach his Gospel; of which he gives a faithful account before hand, that they might be prepared for them, and not be surprised when they came upon them.”
Matthew 10:16
“He calls the Scribes and Pharisees who are the clergy of the Jews, wolves. Wise, that they might escape snares; simple, that they might not do evil to others. The craft of the serpent is set before them as an example, for he hides his head with all the rest of his body, that he may protect the part in which life is. So ought we to expose our whole body, that we may guard our head which is Christ; that is, that we study to keep the faith whole and uncorrupt.”
Jerome· written before 420· Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Matthew 10:16
“We go on His terms, not ours. If we go at all, we go as sheep among wolves.”
Matthew 10:16
“WELL may the text begin with a, "Behold," for it contains some special wonders such as can be seen nowhere else. First, here is a tender and loving Shepherd sending His sheep into the most dangerous position—"I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves." It is the part of a shepherd to protect his sheep from the wolves, not to send them into the very midst of those ravenous beasts!”
wise as serpents, and harmless as doves: I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves states plainly that the mission carries real danger, and the paired virtues answer to it, wise as serpents against being deceived or trapped, harmless as doves against answering deception with deception of their own. The bench reads the pairing as a single balanced character rather than two separate options: shrewdness without innocence turns predatory, and innocence without shrewdness turns careless, and the disciple is called to both together. Chrysostom notes the image itself concedes the danger without softening it, sheep sent among wolves rather than promised safety from them.
2. (vv. 17-18)
Matthew 10:17
“But beware of men; for they will deliver you up to the councils--the local courts, used here for civil magistrates in general. and they will scourge you in their synagogues--By this is meant persecution at the hands of the ecclesiastics.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 10:17
“They must look for trouble, not only from inferior magistrates in the councils, but from governors and kings, the supreme magistrates. To be brought before them, under such black representations as were commonly made of Christ's disciples, was dreadful and dangerous; for the wrath of a king is as the roaring of a lion. We find this often fulfilled in the acts of the apostles.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Matthew 10:17
“But beware of men - That is, be on your guard against people who are like wolves, Mat 10:16. Do not run unnecessarily into danger. Use suitable prudence and caution, and do not needlessly endanger your lives. Councils - The word used here commonly signifies the great council of the nation, the Sanhedrin. See the notes at Mat 5:22. Here it seems to refer to any judicial tribunal, of which there were some in every village. They will scourge you in their synagogues - Scourging, or “whipping,” is often mentioned in the New Testament as a mode of punishment.”
Matthew 10:18
“And ye shall be brought before governors--provincial rulers. and kings--the highest tribunals. for my sake, for a testimony against them--rather, "to them," in order to bear testimony to the truth and its glorious effects. and the Gentiles--"to the Gentiles"; a hint that their message would not long be confined to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 10:18
“And by this their testimony not only was all excuse of ignorance of His divinity taken away from their persecutors, but also to the Gentiles was opened the way of believing on Christ, who was thus devotedly preached by the voices of the confessors among the flames of persecution; and this is that He adds, and the Gentiles.”
Hilary of Poitiers· written before 367· Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Matthew 10:18
“Ye shall be brought before governors, etc. - “This affords a striking proof of the prescience of Christ. Who could have thought, at that time, that these despised and illiterate men could excite so much attention, and be called upon to apologize for the profession of their faith before the tribunals of the most illustrious personages of the earth?” Wakefield. By governors and kings we may understand, the Roman proconsuls, governors of provinces, and the kings who were tributary to the Roman government, and the emperors themselves, before whom many of the primitive Christians were brought.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
deliver you up to the councils: Beware of men widens the warning from towns that merely refuse to hearers who actively deliver up, scourge in their synagogues, and bring before governors and kings for my sake, a sequence that reaches past this immediate mission into the church's later history under both Jewish and Roman authority. For a testimony against them and the Gentiles states the purpose of the suffering itself: the trial becomes the platform, and the verdict against the messenger becomes evidence against the judges. The bench reads verses 17 through 23 as looking beyond the twelve's short circuit of Galilean towns to the apostolic age and beyond, the near mission opening onto a longer one.
3. (vv. 19-20)
Matthew 10:19
“Take no thought - That is, be not anxious or unduly solicitous. See the notes at Mat 6:25. This was a full promise that they should be inspired, and was a most seasonable consolation. Poor, and ignorant, and obscure fishermen would naturally be solicitous what they should say before the great men of the earth. Eastern people regarded kings as raised far above common mortals - as approaching to divinity. How consoling, then, the assurance that God would aid them and speak within them!”
Matthew 10:20
“For it is - the Spirit of your Father, etc. - This was an extraordinary promise, and was literally fulfilled to those first preachers of the Gospel; and to them it was essentially necessary, because the New Testament dispensation was to be fully opened by their extraordinary inspiration. In a certain measure, it may be truly said, that the Holy Spirit animates the true disciples of Christ, and enables them to speak. The Head speaks in his members, by his Spirit; and it is the province of the Spirit of God to speak for God.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 10:20
"For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries will not be able to resist or contradict." As if He openly says to His weakening members: Do not be terrified, do not be afraid; you approach the contest, but I fight; you utter the words, but I am the one who speaks.
Gregory the Dialogist· written before 604· Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 35patristic
take no thought how or what ye shall speak: promises help in the hour of trial itself rather than removing the trial, and the reason given is direct, for it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. The bench is careful to bound the promise to its setting, testimony under arrest for the gospel's sake, and not to extend it into a general excuse for unprepared teaching or careless speech in ordinary life. The verse names the Spirit as the Father's own Spirit speaking through the disciple, an early Trinitarian thread Matthew will draw out fully at 28:19.
4. (vv. 21-22)
Matthew 10:21
“And the brother shall deliver up the brother ... - Were there no evidence that this had been done, it would scarcely be “credible.” The ties which bind brothers and sisters, and parents and children together, are so strong that it could scarcely be believed that division of sentiment on religious subjects would cause them to forget these tender relations. Yet history assures us that this has been often done. If this be so, then how inexpressibly awful must be the malignity of the human heart by nature against religion!”
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 10:21
“The malice of the enemies rages so high as to inflict this; it is the blood of the saints that they thirst after: the faith and patience of the saints stand so firm as to expect this; Neither count I my life dear to myself: the wisdom of Christ permits it, knowing how to make the blood of the martyrs the seal of the truth, and the seed of the church.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Matthew 10:21
“The deep and virulent hostility of the old nature and life to the new--as of Belial to Christ--was to issue in awful wrenches of the dearest ties; and the disciples, in the prospect of their cause and themselves being launched upon society, are here prepared for the worst.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Matthew 10:22
“Ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake - Because ye are attached to me, and saved from the corruption that is in the world; therefore the world will hate you. “The laws of Christ condemn a vicious world, and gall it to revenge.” He that endureth to the end shall be saved - He who holds fast faith and a good conscience to the end, till the punishment threatened against this wicked people be poured out, he shall be saved, preserved from the destruction that shall fall upon the workers of iniquity.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
brother shall deliver up the brother: The brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child names the mission's cost reaching into the closest human bonds, kinship offering no shelter from the division the gospel provokes. Ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake states the reason for the hatred as the name itself, not any failure on the disciple's part, and he that endureth to the end shall be saved sets endurance as the mark of genuine faith under this pressure rather than a separate condition added to grace. The bench reads the promise as assurance for the persevering, not a threat hanging over the fearful.
5. (v. 23)
Matthew 10:23
“But when they persecute you in this city,.... Or any city into which they went, and preached the Gospel; and would not suffer them to go on in their work, they were not to desist, but to go elsewhere, where they might hope for a better reception, and a longer continuance, and so of doing more good: flee ye into another; not so much for their own safety, though this, according to the circumstances of things, is lawful, but for the further spreading of the Gospel.”
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 10:23
"The coming of the Son of man" has a fixed doctrinal sense, here referring immediately to the crisis of Israel's history as the visible kingdom of God, when Christ was to come and judge it; when "the wrath would come upon it to the uttermost"; and when, on the ruins of Jerusalem and the old economy, He would establish His own kingdom.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Matthew 10:23
“When they persecute ... - The apostles were not permitted to “throw away” their lives. Where they could preserve them without denying their Lord, they were to do it. Yet all the commands of Christ, as well as their conduct, show that they were rather to lay down their lives than deny their Saviour. We are to preserve our lives by all proper means, but we are rather to die than save ourselves by doing anything wrong.”
flee ye into another: city instructs strategic withdrawal rather than needless martyrdom, prudence commended alongside courage. Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come is the chapter's hardest saying, and the bench holds several readings rather than one: some take it of the coming at the resurrection and Pentecost, some of the coming in judgment on Jerusalem in AD 70 within that generation's lifetime, and others read it as a near horizon folded into the final coming the way Old Testament prophecy often layers near and far fulfillment together. No single reading is asserted here as settled; the positions are named and the holders left to the reader.
6. (vv. 24-25)
Matthew 10:24
“The disciple is not above his master,.... So far from it, that he is inferior to him; as in knowledge, so in reputation and character; and cannot expect the same honour to be given him, and the same respect shown to him, as to his master; and therefore if his master is not used with that decency, and in that becoming manner he ought to be, he must not think it any hardship if he is treated in the same way.”
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 10:24
“The disciple is not above his master - Or in plainer terms, A scholar is not above his teacher. The saying itself requires no comment, its truth and reasonableness are self-evident, but to the spirit and design we should carefully attend. Jesus is the great teacher: we profess to be his scholars. He who keeps the above saying in his heart will never complain of what he suffers. How many irregular thoughts and affections is this maxim capable of restraining!”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 10:25
“It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master - Can any man who pretends to be a scholar or disciple of Jesus Christ, expect to be treated well by the world? Will not the world love its own, and them only? Why, then, so much impatience under sufferings, such an excessive sense of injuries, such delicacy? Can you expect any thing from the world better than you receive? If you want the honor that comes from it, abandon Jesus Christ, and it will again receive you into its bosom.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 10:25
“They represent them as ringleaders of the interest of the kingdom of darkness, and since every one thinks he hates the devil, thus they endeavour to make them odious to all mankind. See, and be amazed to see, how this world is imposed upon: [1.] Satan's sworn enemies are represented as his friends; the apostles, who pulled down the devil's kingdom, were called devils.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
not above his master: The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord sets the pattern for everything the mission will cost: what happens to the teacher will happen to the taught, and no follower should expect gentler treatment than the one he follows received. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household reaches back to 9:34, where the Pharisees had already made that very charge against Jesus himself. The bench reads the saying as preparing the twelve for slander as much as for violence, since the household's reputation will share the master's own.
C. Do Not Fear Those Who Kill the Body
1. (vv. 26-27)
Matthew 10:26
“Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known--that is, There is no use, and no need, of concealing anything; right and wrong, truth and error, are about to come into open and deadly collision; and the day is coming when all hidden things shall be disclosed, everything seen as it is, and every one have his due (1Co 4:5).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 10:26
“Fear them not - A general direction to all the persecuted followers of Christ. Fear them not, for they can make you suffer nothing worse than they have made Christ suffer; and under all trials he has promised the most ample support. For there is nothing covered, etc. - God sees every thing; this is consolation to the upright and dismay to the wicked; and he will bring into judgment every work, and every secret thing, whether good or bad, Ecc 12:14.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 10:27
“What I say to you in darkness ... - That is, in “secret,” in “private,” in “confidence. The private instructions which I give you while with me do you proclaim publicly, on the “house-top.” The “house-top,” the flat roof, was a public, conspicuous place. See 2Sa 16:22. See also the notes at Mat 9:1-8.”
nothing covered, that shall not be revealed: Fear them not therefore rests on a promise of eventual vindication, for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed, and hid, that shall not be known, the slander of verse 25 destined to be overturned in the end even if it stands unanswered now. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light turns private instruction into public proclamation, the housetops of Palestinian towns serving as a natural platform for a message meant to carry beyond the room where it was first given. The bench reads the verse as commissioning boldness precisely because the truth cannot stay hidden forever, whatever it costs to speak it now.
2. (v. 28)
Matthew 10:28
“And be not afraid - of any thing which ye may suffer for proclaiming it. Be afraid of him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell - It is remarkable, that our Lord commands those who love God, still to fear him, even on this account, under this notion. The particular providence of God is another reason for your not fearing man.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
Matthew 10:28
“Fear not them which kill the body - Των αποκτεινοντων. Those who slay with acts of cruelty, alluding probably to the cruelties which persecutors should exercise on his followers in their martyrdom. But are not able to kill the soul. Hence we find that the body and the soul are distinct principles, for the body may be slain and the soul escape; and, secondly, that the soul is immaterial, for the murderers of the body are not able, μη δυναμενων, have it not in their power, to injure it.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 10:28
“This word is not found in the Old Scriptures, but it is first used by the Saviour. Let us enquire then into its origin. We read in more than one place that the idol Baal was near Jerusalem, at the foot of Mount Moriah, by which the brook Siloc flows. This valley and a small level plain was watered and woody, a delightful spot, and a grove in it was consecrated to the idol.”
Jerome· written before 420· Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Matthew 10:28
“And fear not them which kill the body,.... This is a "periphrasis" of bloody persecutors, who, not content to revile, scourge, and imprison, put the faithful ministers of Christ to death, in the most cruel and torturing manner; and yet are not so to be feared and dreaded by them, as to discourage and divert them from the performance of their important work and office; for, as Luke says, Luk 12:4 "after" that they "have no more than they can do".”
kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul relativizes every human threat against a greater one, fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell, the only verse in the discourse naming hell, gehenna, directly. The bench reads the verse as Jesus' own teaching on the soul's survival of physical death and on final judgment falling on the whole person, body and soul together, rather than the soul alone. The command is not simply to fear God instead of man, but to weigh the two fears rightly, since one threat can only end a life and the other can determine its final state.
3. (vv. 29-31)
Matthew 10:29
“Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?--In Luke (Lu 12:6) it is "five sparrows for two farthings"; so that, if the purchaser took two farthings' worth, he got one in addition--of such small value were they. and one of them shall not fall on the ground--exhausted or killed without your Father--"Not one of them is forgotten before God," as it is in Luke (Lu 12:6).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 10:29
“Are not two sparrows ... - He encourages them not to fear by two striking considerations: first, that God takes care of sparrows, the smallest and least valuable of birds; and, secondly, by the fact that God numbers even the hairs of the head. The argument is, that if He takes care of birds of the least value, if He regards so small a thing as the hair of the head, and numbers it, He will certainly protect and provide for you. You need not, therefore, fear what man can do to you.”
Matthew 10:30
“That He says, The hairs of your head are all numbered, shows the boundless providence of God towards man, and a care unspeakable that nothing of ours is hid from God. Those who deny the resurrection of the flesh ridicule the sense of the Church on this place, as if we affirmed that every hair that has ever been cut off by the razor rises again, when the Saviour says, Every hair of your head—not is saved, but—is numbered. Where there is number, knowledge of that number is implied, but not preservation of the same hairs.”
Jerome· written before 420· Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 10:30
“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered - Nothing is more astonishing than the care and concern of God for his followers. The least circumstances of their life are regulated, not merely by that general providence which extends to all things, but by a particular providence, which fits and directs all things to the design of their salvation, causing them all to co-operate for their present and eternal good. Rom 5:1-5.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 10:31
“Fear ye not - ye are of more value - None can estimate the value of a soul, for which Christ has given his blood and life! Have confidence in his goodness; for he who so dearly purchased thee will miraculously preserve and save thee. Did the poet intend to contradict Christ when he said: - “He sees with equal eye, as God of all, A Hero perish, or a Sparrow fall?” How cold and meagre is this shallow deistical saying!”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
two sparrows sold for a farthing?: names the cheapest creature in the marketplace, and not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father, extending providence down to the least valued life a coin could buy. The very hairs of your head are all numbered pushes the same providence further still, into a count no one keeps for himself, and the conclusion follows without strain, ye are of more value than many sparrows. The bench reads the passage as comfort fitted precisely to the fears just named in verse 28, a Father who numbers hairs is a Father who is not absent from the disciple's worst hour.
4. (vv. 32-33)
Matthew 10:32
“Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men - That is, whosoever shall acknowledge me to be the Messiah, and have his heart and life regulated by my spirit and doctrine. It is not merely sufficient to have the heart right before God; there must be a firm, manly, and public profession of Christ before men. “I am no hypocrite,” says one; neither should you be. “I will keep my religion to myself” i.e. you will not confess Christ before men; then he will renounce you before God.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 10:32
“If to flee, how to suffer? If to suffer, how to flee? In fact, what utter inconsistency in the decrees of One who commands to flee, and yet urges to suffer, which is the very opposite! "Him who will confess Me, I also will confess before My Father." How will he confess, fleeing? How flee, confessing? "Of him who shall be ashamed of Me, will I also be ashamed before My Father.”
Tertullian· written before 220· On Flight in Persecutionpatristic
Matthew 10:32
“Whosoever shall confess me - Publicly acknowledge me for the promised Messiah. But this confession implies the receiving his whole doctrine, Mark viii, 38, and obeying all his commandments.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Matthew 10:33
“Whosoever shall deny me - Whosoever prefers his worldly interest to his duty to God, sets a greater value on earthly than on heavenly things, and prefers the friendship of men to the approbation of God. Let it be remembered, that to be renounced by Christ is to have him neither for a Mediator nor Savior. To appear before the tribunal of God without having Christ for our Advocate, and, on the contrary, to have him there as our Judge, and a witness against us, - how can a man think of this and not die with horror!”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 10:33
“But whosoever shall deny me before men,.... Deny that he is a disciple of Christ, and that Christ is his Lord and master, act contrary to him, deliver things repugnant to his mind and will; which for a disciple to do to his master was a very heinous crime with the Jews: "if (say they (n)) Rabbi Jochanan, יכפור, "deny" Rabbi Eleazar, his disciple, he will not "deny" Rabbi Jannai, his "master".'' Some regard may be had here to Peter's after denial of Christ; and this proviso be supposed, "except he repent", as he did.”
confess me before men: Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven ties the disciple's public loyalty to Christ's own advocacy at the final judgment, and the negative form follows exactly, whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny. The bench reads confess and deny as public, not merely private, matching the setting of trials before governors and kings just described, a courtroom confession answered by a heavenly one. Peter's own denial three times in the courtyard, still ahead of him in the story, makes this saying land with particular weight on the very man being commissioned to speak it now.
D. Not Peace but a Sword; the Cost and the Cup of Water
1. (vv. 34-36)
Matthew 10:34
“Think not that I am come to send peace, etc. - The meaning of this difficult passage will be plain, when we consider the import of the word peace, and the expectation of the Jews. I have already had occasion to remark, (Mat 10:12), that the word שלום shalom, rendered by the Greeks ειρηνη, was used among the Hebrews to express all possible blessings, temporal and spiritual; but especially the former.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 10:34
“In these verses the great head of the church winds up his first charge to those whom he sends forth to make known his Gospel. He declares three great truths, which form a fitting conclusion to the whole discourse. In the first place, he bids us remember that his Gospel will not cause peace and agreement wherever it comes.”
J.C. Ryle· Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew (1856)Reformed Evangelical
Matthew 10:35
“I am come to set a man at variance - The spirit of Christ can have no union with the spirit of the world. Even a father, while unconverted, will oppose a godly child. Thus the spirit that is in those who sin against God is opposed to that spirit which is in the followers of the Most High. It is the spirits then that are in opposition, and not the persons.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 10:35
- QuotingMicah 7:6“For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies are the members of his own household.”
'a man at variance against his father', division saying
Matthew 10:36
“And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. His children, and his servants, such that he has either begotten and brought up, or are daily fed at his table, and maintained by him. This, with the former instances, are borrowed from Mic 7:6 and the times of the Gospel are set forth in the same dismal and black characters, as those in which the prophet lived; and much such a description do the Jews themselves give, of the times of their expected Messiah; which agreeing in words, as well as things, I cannot forbear transcribing.”
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 10:36
“A man’s foes shall be they of his own household - Our Lord refers here to their own traditions. So Sota, fol. 49. “A little before the coming of the Messiah, the son shall insult the father, the daughter rebel against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and each man shall have his own household fur his enemies.” Again, in Sanhedrin, fol.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
not to send peace, but a sword: Think not that I am come to send peace on earth corrects any expectation that the kingdom arrives without cost or conflict; I came not to send peace, but a sword names division as an actual result of his coming, not its purpose in the sense of malice, but its effect wherever some receive him and others in the same household do not. Set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother draws on Micah 7:6's own picture of family betrayal in the last days, applied now to the split loyalty the gospel creates inside families that do not divide evenly. The bench reads the sword as the sword of decision, forcing a choice that peace at any price would have avoided.
2. (vv. 37-39)
Matthew 10:37
“He that loveth father or mother ... - The meaning of this is clear. Christ must be loved supremely, or he is not loved at all. If we are not willing to give up all earthly possessions, and forsake all earthly friends, and if we do not obey him rather than all others, we have no true attachment to him. Is not worthy of me - Is not appropriate to be regarded as a follower of me, or is not a Christian.”
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 10:37
“Because of what He had said, I am not come to send peace but a sword, &c. that none might suppose that family affection was banished from His religion, He now adds, He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. So in the Song of Songs we read, Order love in me. (c. 2:4.)”
Jerome· written before 420· Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Matthew 10:38
“He that taketh not his cross - i.e. He who is not ready, after my example, to suffer death in the cause of my religion, is not worthy of me, does not deserve to be called my disciple. This alludes to the custom of causing the criminal to bear his own cross to the place of execution; so Plutarch, ΕκαϚος των κακουργων εκφερει τον αυτου Ϛαυρον. Each of the malefactors carries on his own cross. See Joh 19:17.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 10:38
“And he that taketh not his cross,.... By the "cross", which was a Roman punishment, whereby malefactors were put to death, are meant all sorts of afflictions, reproaches, persecutions, and death itself; and particularly the ill will, hatred, and persecution, of near relations and friends, which must be expected by such, who bear a faithful testimony for Christ. Every minister of Christ, or professor of his name, has "his" own cross, his own particular afflictions, appointed by God, and laid on him by Christ, and which he should cheerfully take up, and patiently bear, for his sake.”
Matthew 10:39
“He that findeth his life ... - The word “life” in this passage is used evidently in two senses. The meaning may be expressed thus: He that is anxious to save his “temporal” life, or his comfort and security here, shall lose “eternal” life, or shall fail of heaven. He that is willing to risk or lose his comfort and “life” here for my sake, shall find “life” everlasting, or shall be saved. The manner of speaking is similar to that where he said, “Let the dead bury their dead.” See notes at Mat 8:22.”
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 10:39
“Here Jesus calls the departure of life from the body the "loss of life," speaking figuratively. "He who finds his life" refers to anyone who too highly values transitory existence and as it were sells it at a profit. He will face the hands of death when he is sent to unremittable punishment and death.”
Cyril of Alexandria· written before 444· FRAGMENT 128.34patristic
Matthew 10:39
“An entire sacrifice of the lower, with all its relationships and interests--or, a willingness to make it which is the same thing--is indispensable to the preservation of the higher life; and he who cannot bring himself to surrender the one for the sake of the other shall eventually lose both.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
loveth father or mother more than me: He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me states the claim Christ makes on first loyalty in terms no ordinary teacher could use of himself without either arrogance or truth, and the bench reads it as one more quiet claim to deity threaded through an otherwise practical discourse. He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me names an instrument of Roman execution before the crucifixion has happened, the image already familiar enough from the roads of occupied Judea that the disciples would have understood exactly what was meant. He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it states the paradox at the center of discipleship, that self-preservation is the very thing that forfeits life, and self-surrender to Christ is the way that secures it.
3. (vv. 40-42)
Matthew 10:40
He that receiveth you--entertaineth you, receiveth me; and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me--As the treatment which an ambassador receives is understood and regarded as expressing the light in which he that sends him is viewed, so, says our Lord here, "Your authority is Mine, as Mine is My Father's."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 10:40
“The Lord when He sends forth His disciples to preach, teaches them that dangers are not to be feared, that natural affection is to be postponed to religion—gold He had above taken from them, brass He had shaken out of their purses—hard then surely the condition of the preachers! Whence their living? Whence their food and necessaries? Therefore He tempers the rigour of His precepts by the following promises, that in entertaining the Apostles each believer may consider that he entertains the Lord.”
Jerome· written before 420· Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Matthew 10:40
“He that receiveth you - Treats you kindly, receiveth me; I will consider the kindness as shown to myself; for he who receiveth me, as the true Messiah, receiveth that God by whose counsels and through whose love I am come.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 10:41
“He that receiveth a prophet - Προφητην, a teacher, not a foreteller of future events, for this is not always the meaning of the word; but one commissioned by God to teach the doctrines of eternal life. It is no small honor to receive into one’s house a minister of Jesus Christ. Every person is not admitted to exercise the sacred ministry; but none are excluded from partaking of its grace, its spirit, and its reward.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 10:42
“That none should say, I am poor and therefore cannot be hospitable, He takes away even this plea by the instance of a cup of cold water, given with good will. He says cold water, because in hot, poverty and lack of fuel might be pleaded. And whosoever shall give to drink to one of the least of these a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.”
Jerome· written before 420· Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 10:42
“A cup of cold water - Υδατος, of water, is not in the common text, but it is found in the Codex Bezae, Coptic, Armenian, Gothic, Anglo-Saxon, Slavonic, all copies of the Itala, Vulgate, and Origen. It is necessarily understood; the ellipsis of the same substantive is frequent, both in the Greek and Latin writers. See Wakefield. Little ones - My apparently mean and generally despised disciples. But a cup of water in the eastern countries was not a matter of small worth.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
receiveth you receiveth me: He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me closes the discourse by binding three receptions together, the messenger, the Son, and the Father, so that a town's welcome or refusal of the twelve is in fact a welcome or refusal of God himself. The reward sayings that follow scale by category rather than by fame, a prophet's reward for receiving a prophet, a righteous man's reward for receiving a righteous man, down to a cup of cold water only given to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple, a phrase that opens the little ones thread carried forward at 18:6 and 25:40. The bench reads the smallness of the gift, cold water rather than costly hospitality, as the point: even the least service done for Christ's sake in his name is remembered and rewarded.
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The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists; John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Lightfoot, Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae on Matthew and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.