King James Version
Matthew 10
42 verses with commentary
The Twelve Apostles
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. against: or, over
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Jesus' calling 'his twelve disciples' shows intentional selection and training before commissioning. Giving them 'power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness' demonstrates delegated authority—they would minister in His name and power. This commissioning shows the kingdom advancing through multiplication of workers, not Jesus working alone. Their authority wa...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
X.
(1) What is described here is not the choice, but the mission of the Twelve. That selection had been made before (Luke 6:13), and the number at once suggested the thought that they represented the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28), and were as such to be His messengers to the whole people of the dispersion. The name Apostle (which He had given them before—Luke 6:13) signified literally “o...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**27. And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him--**hearing, doubtless, as in a later case is expressed, "that Jesus passed by" (Mt 20:30).
**crying, and saying, Thou son of David, have mercy on us--**It is remarkable that in the only other recorded case in which the blind applied to Jesus for their sight, and obtained it, they addressed Him, over and over again, by this one Mess...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
Chapter Outline
The apostles called.(1-4)
The apostles instructed and sent forth.(5-15)
Directions to the apostles.(16-42)
**Verses 1-4**
The word "apostle" signifies messenger; they were Christ's messengers, sent forth to proclaim his kingdom. Christ gave them power to heal all manner of sickness. In the grace of the gospel there is a slave for every sore, a remed...
Read full commentary →Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;
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KJV Study Commentary
Matthew begins the apostolic list with 'the first, Simon, who is called Peter' (πρωτος Σιμων ο λεγομενος Πετρος). 'First' (πρωτος) indicates both chronological primacy and leadership position. Peter's prominence throughout the Gospels confirms his role as spokesman and leader among the Twelve. His given name 'Simon' connects to his Jewish heritage, while 'Peter' (Πετρος, rock) reflects Jesus' rena...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) A comparison of the four lists of the Apostles (Matthew 10:2-4, Mark 3:16-19, Luke 6:13-16, Acts 1:13) brings out some interesting facts. (1.) The name of Peter is always first, that of Judas always last. In the former case we recognise acknowledged preeminence. The position of the latter may have been the consequence of the infamy which attached to the name of the traitor; but it is possible ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**28. And when he was come into the house--**To try their faith and patience, He seems to have made them no answer. But
**the blind men came to Him--**which, no doubt, was what He desired.
**and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? they said unto him, Yea, Lord--**Doubtless our Lord's design was not only to put their faith to the test by this question, but to deepen it,...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
Chapter Outline
The apostles called.(1-4)
The apostles instructed and sent forth.(5-15)
Directions to the apostles.(16-42)
**Verses 1-4**
The word "apostle" signifies messenger; they were Christ's messengers, sent forth to proclaim his kingdom. Christ gave them power to heal all manner of sickness. In the grace of the gospel there is a slave for every sore, a remed...
Read full commentary →Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;
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KJV Study Commentary
The list continues with diverse figures: 'Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus.' Matthew identifies himself as 'the publican' (ο τελωνης), acknowledging his despised former profession. This self-designation reveals humility and awareness of grace—Jesus called him from tax collecting to apostleship. The other...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**29. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you--**not, Receive a cure proportioned to your faith, but, Receive this cure as granted to your faith. Thus would they carry about with them, in their restored vision, a gracious seal of the faith which drew it from their compassionate Lord.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
Chapter Outline
The apostles called.(1-4)
The apostles instructed and sent forth.(5-15)
Directions to the apostles.(16-42)
**Verses 1-4**
The word "apostle" signifies messenger; they were Christ's messengers, sent forth to proclaim his kingdom. Christ gave them power to heal all manner of sickness. In the grace of the gospel there is a slave for every sore, a remed...
Read full commentary →Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
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KJV Study Commentary
The list concludes ominously: 'Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him' (Σιμων ο Κανανιτης και Ιουδας Ισκαριωτης ο και παραδους αυτον). 'Canaanite' likely means Zealot (Luke 6:15), identifying Simon with the revolutionary movement seeking Rome's overthrow. The Twelve included both tax collector (Matthew, collaborator with Rome) and Zealot (Simon, Rome's enemy)—Jesus reconcil...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**30. And their eyes were opened: and Jesus straitly charged them--**The expression is very strong, denoting great earnestness.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
Chapter Outline
The apostles called.(1-4)
The apostles instructed and sent forth.(5-15)
Directions to the apostles.(16-42)
**Verses 1-4**
The word "apostle" signifies messenger; they were Christ's messengers, sent forth to proclaim his kingdom. Christ gave them power to heal all manner of sickness. In the grace of the gospel there is a slave for every sore, a remed...
Read full commentary →Jesus Sends Out the Twelve
These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus' instruction 'Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not' limits the initial mission to 'the lost sheep of the house of Israel.' This isn't permanent ethnocentrism but strategic sequencing—the gospel must first go to God's covenant people (Romans 1:16). After the cross and resurrection, the mission expands globally (28:19). This also fulfilled proph...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Go not into the way of the Gentiles.**—The emphatic limitation seems at first sight at variance with the language which had spoken of those who should come from east and west to sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God, and with the fact that our Lord had already taken His disciples into a city of Samaria, and told them that there also there were fields white for the h...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**31. But they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country--**(See on Mt 8:4).
A Dumb Demoniac Healed (Mt 9:32-34).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-15**
The Gentiles must not have the gospel brought them, till the Jews have refused it. This restraint on the apostles was only in their first mission. Wherever they went they must proclaim, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. They preached, to establish the faith; the kingdom, to animate the hope; of heaven, to inspire the love of heavenly things, and the contempt of earthly; which i...
Read full commentary →But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus restricts the mission: 'go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel' (εις οδον εθνων μη απελθητε και εις πολιν Σαμαριτων μη εισελθητε πορευεσθε δε μαλλον προς τα προβατα τα απολωλοτα οικου Ισραηλ). This temporary restriction (later reversed in 28:19) reflects salvation history's order: 'to the J...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**32. As they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil--**"demonized." The dumbness was not natural, but was the effect of the possession.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-15**
The Gentiles must not have the gospel brought them, till the Jews have refused it. This restraint on the apostles was only in their first mission. Wherever they went they must proclaim, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. They preached, to establish the faith; the kingdom, to animate the hope; of heaven, to inspire the love of heavenly things, and the contempt of earthly; which i...
Read full commentary →And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
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KJV Study Commentary
The message 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand' is identical to John's and Jesus' preaching (3:2, 4:17), showing consistency in gospel proclamation. 'As ye go, preach' makes ministry a lifestyle, not an occasional event. The present tense 'is at hand' emphasizes urgency and imminence—the King has arrived, demanding response. This is the kerygma (core message) that remains central throughout Scriptu...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Preach**—*i.e.,* “proclaim—act as heralds,” as elsewhere. The repetition of the self-same words as had described first the Baptist’s teaching and then our Lord’s, seems to suggest that this was actually a formula of proclamation. The two envoys of the King were to enter into town or village, and there, standing in the gate, to announce that His kingdom had come near, and then, when this had ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**33. And when the devil--**demon.
**was cast out, the dumb spake--**The particulars in this case are not given; the object being simply to record the instantaneous restoration of the natural faculties on the removal of the malignant oppression of them, the form which the popular astonishment took, and the very different effect of it upon another class.
**and the multitudes marvelled, saying, ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-15**
The Gentiles must not have the gospel brought them, till the Jews have refused it. This restraint on the apostles was only in their first mission. Wherever they went they must proclaim, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. They preached, to establish the faith; the kingdom, to animate the hope; of heaven, to inspire the love of heavenly things, and the contempt of earthly; which i...
Read full commentary →Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
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KJV Study Commentary
The command 'Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils' commissions the disciples to do what they had seen Jesus do. The list moves from lesser to greater miracles, demonstrating kingdom authority over disease, uncleanness, death, and demons—reversing the curse. The principle 'freely ye have received, freely give' establishes grace-based ministry. They received authority a...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Raise the dead.**—The words are omitted by the best MSS., and their absence is more in accordance with the facts of the Gospel history, which records no instance of that highest form of miracle as wrought by the disciples during our Lord’s ministry. That was reserved for His own immediate act. The insertion of the words was probably due to a wish to make the command cover such instances of p...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**34. But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils--**"the demons through the prince of the demons." This seems to be the first muttering of a theory of such miracles which soon became a fixed mode of calumniating them--a theory which would be ridiculous if it were not melancholy as an outburst of the darkest malignity. (See on Mt 12:24, &c.).
**Mt 9:35-10:5...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-15**
The Gentiles must not have the gospel brought them, till the Jews have refused it. This restraint on the apostles was only in their first mission. Wherever they went they must proclaim, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. They preached, to establish the faith; the kingdom, to animate the hope; of heaven, to inspire the love of heavenly things, and the contempt of earthly; which i...
Read full commentary →Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, Provide: or, Get
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus commands radical simplicity: 'Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses' (μη κτησησθε χρυσον μηδε αργυρον μηδε χαλκον εις τας ζωνας υμων). The prohibition covers all currency—gold (most valuable), silver (moderate), brass/copper (least valuable). 'Purses' (ζωνας, belts) were money belts worn around the waist. Jesus forbids financial preparation, creating complete dependence ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **Neither gold, nor silver.**—“Silver” alone is named in St. Luke; brass—*i.e.,* bronze or copper coinage—in St. Mark. St. Matthew’s report includes all the three forms of the money then in circulation. The tense of the word rendered “provide” requires notice. It implies that if they had money, they might take it, but they were not to “get” or “provide” it as a condition of their journey, stil...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**35. And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people--**The italicized words are of more than doubtful authority here, and were probably introduced here from Mt 4:23. The language here is so identical with that used in describing the first circuit (Mt 4:23), that ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-15**
The Gentiles must not have the gospel brought them, till the Jews have refused it. This restraint on the apostles was only in their first mission. Wherever they went they must proclaim, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. They preached, to establish the faith; the kingdom, to animate the hope; of heaven, to inspire the love of heavenly things, and the contempt of earthly; which i...
Read full commentary →Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat. staves: Gr. a staff
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus continues: 'Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves' (μη πηραν εις οδον μηδε δυο χιτωνας μηδε υποδηματα μηδε ραβδον). 'Scrip' (πηρα) was traveler's bag for provisions. 'Two coats' (δυο χιτωνας) means extra clothing beyond what's worn. 'Shoes' likely means extra sandals. 'Staves' (ραβδον) were walking staffs (Mark 6:8 allows one staff, suggesting prohibiti...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **Scrip.**—The practical obsoleteness of the word in modern English makes it necessary to remind readers of the New Testament that the “scrip” or wallet was a small basket carried on the back, or by a strap hanging from one shoulder, containing the food of the traveller. So David carried in his scrip the five smooth stones from the brook (1Samuel 17:40). Such a basket was looked on as the nec...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**36. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted--**This reading, however, has hardly any authority at all. The true reading doubtless is, "were harassed."
**and were scattered abroad--**rather, "lying about," "abandoned," or "neglected."
**as sheep, having no shepherd--**their pitiable condition as wearied under bodily fatigue, a vast disorganiz...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-15**
The Gentiles must not have the gospel brought them, till the Jews have refused it. This restraint on the apostles was only in their first mission. Wherever they went they must proclaim, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. They preached, to establish the faith; the kingdom, to animate the hope; of heaven, to inspire the love of heavenly things, and the contempt of earthly; which i...
Read full commentary →And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus provides protocol: 'into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence' (εις ην δ αν πολιν η κωμην εισελθητε εξετασατε τις εν αυτη αξιος εστιν κακει μεινατε εως αν εξελθητε). 'Enquire who is worthy' (εξετασατε τις αξιος) means find someone of good reputation, likely meaning receptive to the gospel and able to provide hospitality. 'Ther...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **Enquire who in it is worthy**.—The command was a plain practical rule. The habits of Eastern hospitality would throw many houses open to the preachers which would give no openings for their work, or even bring on them an evil report. From these they were to turn away and to seek out some one who, though poor, was yet of good repute, and willing to receive them as messengers of glad tidings....
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**37. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous--**His eye doubtless rested immediately on the Jewish field, but this he saw widening into the vast field of "the world" (Mt 13:38), teeming with souls having to be gathered to Him.
**but the labourers--**men divinely qualified and called to gather them in--"are few."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-15**
The Gentiles must not have the gospel brought them, till the Jews have refused it. This restraint on the apostles was only in their first mission. Wherever they went they must proclaim, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. They preached, to establish the faith; the kingdom, to animate the hope; of heaven, to inspire the love of heavenly things, and the contempt of earthly; which i...
Read full commentary →And when ye come into an house, salute it.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus instructs greeting protocol: 'when ye come into an house, salute it' (εισερχομενοι δε εις την οικιαν ασπασασθε αυτην). 'Salute' (ασπασασθε) means greet with blessing, likely 'Shalom'—wishing peace, wholeness, and God's favor. This isn't mere politeness but spiritual transaction: offering God's peace to the household. The greeting initiates relationship and announces the kingdom's presence. A...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **When ye come into an house.**—The English indefinite article is misleading. We must read “into *the* house,” *i.e.,* the dwelling of the man who had been reported as worthy. The salutation, as the words that follow imply, was the familiar, “Peace be with thee—Peace be to this house” (Luke 10:5).
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**38. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest--**the great Lord and Proprietor of all. Compare Joh 15:1, "I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman."
**that he will send forth labourers into his harvest--**The word properly means "thrust forth"; but this emphatic sense disappears in some places, as in Mt 9:25, and Joh 10:4--"When He putteth forth His own sheep." (See on Mt 4:1).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-15**
The Gentiles must not have the gospel brought them, till the Jews have refused it. This restraint on the apostles was only in their first mission. Wherever they went they must proclaim, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. They preached, to establish the faith; the kingdom, to animate the hope; of heaven, to inspire the love of heavenly things, and the contempt of earthly; which i...
Read full commentary →And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus explains conditional blessing: 'if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you' (και εαν μεν η η οικια αξια ελθατω η ειρηνη υμων επ αυτην εαν δε μη η αξια η ειρηνη υμων προς υμας επιστραφητω). The peace offered isn't automatic but conditional on reception. 'Worthy' (αξια) means receptive, responsive, welcoming. If the household rece...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **If the house be worthy.**—The doubt implied in the “if” seems at first somewhat inconsistent with the supposition that they only went into the house after having ascertained the worthiness of the occupant. It must be remembered, however, that the missionaries entered each city or village as strangers, and that in such a case even the most careful inquiry might not always be successful.
**Le...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-15**
The Gentiles must not have the gospel brought them, till the Jews have refused it. This restraint on the apostles was only in their first mission. Wherever they went they must proclaim, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. They preached, to establish the faith; the kingdom, to animate the hope; of heaven, to inspire the love of heavenly things, and the contempt of earthly; which i...
Read full commentary →And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus addresses rejection: 'whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet' (και ος εαν μη δεξηται υμας μηδε ακουση τους λογους υμων εξερχομενοι εξω της οικιας η της πολεως εκεινης εκτιναξατε τον κονιορτον των ποδων υμων). Shaking dust was Jewish practice when leaving Gentile territory, symbolizing separation from unc...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **Shake off the dust of your feet.**—The act was a familiar symbol of the sense of indignation, as in the case of St. Paul (Acts 13:51) at Antioch in Pisidia. The Jewish maxim, that even the very dust of a heathen land brought defilement with it, added to its significance. It was a protest in act, declaring (as our Lord declares in words) that the city or house which did not receive the messe...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 10 Mt 10:1-5. Mission of the Twelve Apostles. ( = Mr 6:7-13; Lu 9:1-6).
The last three verses of the ninth chapter form the proper introduction to the Mission of the Twelve, as is evident from the remarkable fact that the Mission of the Seventy was prefaced by the very same words. (See on Lu 10:2).
**1. And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power--**The wor...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-15**
The Gentiles must not have the gospel brought them, till the Jews have refused it. This restraint on the apostles was only in their first mission. Wherever they went they must proclaim, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. They preached, to establish the faith; the kingdom, to animate the hope; of heaven, to inspire the love of heavenly things, and the contempt of earthly; which i...
Read full commentary →Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus pronounces sobering judgment: 'It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city' (ανεκτοτερον εσται γη Σοδομων και Γομορρων εν ημερα κρισεως η τη πολει εκεινη). Sodom and Gomorrah represent extreme wickedness, destroyed by divine fire (Genesis 19). Yet cities rejecting Jesus' apostles face worse judgment. Why? Greater privilege brings g...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **For the land of Sodom and Gomorrha.**—The thought implied in the previous verse is now expressly asserted. The cities that stood out, in the history of the world, as most conspicuous for their infamy, were yet less guilty (as sinning less against light and knowledge) than those who rejected the messengers of the King. The same comparison reappears with the addition of Tyre and Sidon in Matt...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these--**The other Evangelists enumerate the twelve in immediate connection with their appointment (Mr 3:13-19; Lu 6:13-16). But our Evangelist, not intending to record the appointment, but only the Mission of the Twelve, gives their names here. And as in the Acts (Ac 1:13) we have a list of the Eleven who met daily in the upper room with the other dis...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-15**
The Gentiles must not have the gospel brought them, till the Jews have refused it. This restraint on the apostles was only in their first mission. Wherever they went they must proclaim, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. They preached, to establish the faith; the kingdom, to animate the hope; of heaven, to inspire the love of heavenly things, and the contempt of earthly; which i...
Read full commentary →Persecution Will Come
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. harmless: or, simple
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus' warning 'Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves' acknowledges the mission's danger—His followers enter hostile territory without defensive power. The instruction 'be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves' combines shrewd discernment with moral innocence. Wisdom protects against naive vulnerability; harmlessness prevents becoming like the opposition. This bal...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **I send you forth.**—The nominative pronoun is emphatic, “It is I who send,” and that not so much as an assurance of protection, but, as the words that follow show, as reminding them of their responsibility as His delegates.
**As sheep in the midst of wolves.**—Nothing can be more striking than the union of this clear foresight of conflict and suffering with the full assurance of victory and...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3. Philip and Bartholomew--**That this person is the same with "Nathanael of Cana in Galilee" is justly concluded for the three following reasons: First, because Bartholomew is not so properly an individual's name as a family surname; next, because not only in this list, but in Mark's and Luke's (Mr 3:18; Lu 6:14), he follows the name of "Philip," who was the instrument of bringing Nathanael fir...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus warns of persecution: 'beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues' (προσεχετε δε απο των ανθρωπων παραδωσουσιν γαρ υμας εις συνεδρια και εν ταις συναγωγαις αυτων μαστιγωσουσιν υμας). 'Beware' (προσεχετε) means be alert, watchful, cautious. 'Councils' (συνεδρια) were local Jewish courts administering justice and discipline. 'Scou...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **To the councils.**—The plural shows that our Lord referred, not to the Great Council or Sanhedrin at Jerusalem, but to the lesser councils connected with provincial synagogues that had power to judge and punish persons accused of offences against religion.
**They will scourge you in their synagogues.**—The words imply the actual infliction of the punishment within the walls of the building....
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. Simon the Canaanite--**rather "Kananite," but better still, "the Zealot," as he is called in Lu 6:15, where the original term should not have been retained as in our version ("Simon, called Zelotes"), but rendered "Simon, called the Zealot." The word "Kananite" is just the Aramaic, or Syro-Chaldaic, term for "Zealot." Probably before his acquaintance with Jesus, he belonged to the sect of the...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
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KJV Study Commentary
Persecution scope expands: 'ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles' (και επι ηγεμονας δε και βασιλεις αχθησεσθε ενεκεν εμου εις μαρτυριον αυτοις και τοις εθνεσιν). Beyond Jewish councils, disciples face 'governors' (Roman provincial rulers) and 'kings' (client kings like Herods). 'For my sake' (ενεκεν εμου) clarifies: persecution s...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) **Ye shall be brought before governors and kings.**—The words are significant as looking forward (if we assume the unity of the discourse) to that future work among the Gentiles upon which the Twelve were told that they were not as yet to enter. “Rulers” stands always in the New Testament for the governors (proconsuls, procurators, and others) of the Roman Empire. “Kings” at least includes, e...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not--**The Samaritans were Gentiles by blood; but being the descendants of those whom the king of Assyria had transported from the East to supply the place of the ten tribes carried captive, they had adopted the religion of the Jews, though with admixtur...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus provides comfort amid persecution anxiety: 'when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak' (οταν δε παραδιδωσιν υμας μη μεριμνησητε πως η τι λαλησητε δοθησεται γαρ υμιν εν εκεινη τη ωρα τι λαλησητε). 'Take no thought' (μη μεριμνησητε) means don't be anxious—same word used regarding material needs (6:25). ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **Take no thought.**—In the same sense as in Matthew 6:25, “Do not at that moment be over-anxious.” The words indicate an almost tender sympathy with the feelings of Galilean disciples, “unlearned and ignorant men,” standing before those who were counted so much their superiors in power and knowledge. The words that follow contain a two-fold promise: not only w*hat* they should say, but *how,...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel--**Until Christ's death, which broke down the middle wall of partition (Ep 2:14), the Gospel commission was to the Jews only, who, though the visible people of God, were "lost sheep," not merely in the sense which all sinners are (Is 53:6; 1Pe 2:25; compare with Lu 19:10), but as abandoned and left to wander from the right way by faithles...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus explains the source: 'For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you' (ου γαρ υμεις εστε οι λαλουντες αλλα το πνευμα του πατρος υμων το λαλουν εν υμιν). The Holy Spirit empowers witness, not human eloquence or preparation. 'Spirit of your Father' emphasizes intimate relationship—the Spirit belongs to the Father who is your Father. This familial language comf...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **It is not ye that speak.**—The words are strong. Human thoughts and purposes seem as if utterly suppressed, and the inspiring agency alone is recognised. It would be obviously beside the drift of our Lord’s discourse to make this promise of special aid in moments of special danger the groundwork of a theory of inspiration as affecting the written records of the work of the disciples.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand--**(See on Mt 3:2).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus warns of family betrayal: 'the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death' (παραδωσει δε αδελφος αδελφον εις θανατον και πατηρ τεκνον και επαναστησονται τεκνα επι γονεις και θανατωσουσιν αυτους). This horrifying prediction describes family members betraying one another to dea...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **The brother.**—The nouns are in the Greek without the article, “brother shall deliver up brother,” and are thus, perhaps, more forcible as statements of what should happen often. Our English idiom, however, allows the use of the article with nearly the same meaning. The words reproduce almost verbally the prophecy of Micah 7:6, and are there followed by the prophet’s expression of his faith...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**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. And right royally does He dispense it.
**freely ye have received, freely give--**Divine saying, divinely said! ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus predicts universal hatred: 'ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved' (και εσεσθε μισουμενοι υπο παντων δια το ονομα μου ο δε υπομεινας εις τελος ουτος σωθησεται). 'Hated of all men' indicates widespread, not isolated, persecution. 'For my name's sake' (δια το ονομα μου) clarifies: hatred stems from identification with Christ, not person...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) **Hated of all men for my name’s sake.**—Here, as before, the words sketch out the history of the persecution with a precision which marks and attests the divine foreknowledge. From the days of Stephen to that of the last martyr under Diocletian it was always as a Christian and for the name of Christ that men thus suffered. Would they but renounce that, all would have gone smoothly with them....
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses--**"for" your purses; literally, "your belts," in which they kept their money.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. have: or, end, or, finish
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Jesus provides escape strategy: 'when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come' (οταν δε διωκωσιν υμας εν τη πολει ταυτη φευγετε εις την ετεραν αμην γαρ λεγω υμιν ου μη τελεσητε τας πολεις του Ισραηλ εως αν ελθη ο υιος του ανθρωπου). 'Flee' (φευγετε) is command, not permission—pre...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(23) **When they persecute you** The counsel is noteworthy as suggesting at least one form of the wisdom of the serpent. Men were not to imagine that they were “enduring to the end “when, in the eagerness of their zeal, they courted martyrdom; but were rather to avoid danger instead of courting it, and to utilise all opportunities for the continuance of their work. The effect of the command thus g...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. Nor scrip for your journey--**the bag used by travellers for holding provisions.
**neither two coats--**or tunics, worn next the skin. 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...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus establishes master-disciple relationship: 'The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord' (ουκ εστιν μαθητης υπερ τον διδασκαλον ουδε δουλος υπερ τον κυριον αυτου). 'Disciple' (μαθητης, learner/student) follows 'master' (διδασκαλον, teacher). 'Servant' (δουλος, slave) serves 'lord' (κυριον, owner). Both pairs emphasize hierarchy and derivative status. Disciples don't s...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(24) **The disciple is not above his master.**—The proverb was probably a common one, and is used by our Lord (as in Luke 6:40; John 13:16; John 15:20) with more than one application. Here the thought is, “Be not amazed or cast down at these prophecies of evil days; in all your sufferings you will but be following in My footsteps; what they have said and done with Me, they will say and do with you...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**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.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? Beelzebub: Gr. Beelzebul
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Jesus continues: 'It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?' (αρκετον τω μαθητη ινα γενηται ως ο διδασκαλος αυτου και ο δουλος ως ο κυριος αυτου ει τον οικοδεσποτην Βεελζεβουλ επεκαλεσαν ποσω μαλλον τους οικιακους αυτου). 'Enough' (αρκετον) means su...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(25) **It is enough.**—Here also we note a tone of grave and tender sympathy, not without the gentle play of feeling which the words seem to betoken. To be as their Master in anything, even in shame and suffering, might well be enough for any scholar.
**Beelzebub.**—The Greek gives the form *Beel-zebul.* Its history illustrates some interesting phases of Jewish thought. (1.) It appears in the form...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**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.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →Fear God, Not Man
Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus commands courage: 'Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known' (μη ουν φοβηθητε αυτους ουδεν γαρ εστιν κεκαλυμμενον ο ουκ αποκαλυφθησεται και κρυπτον ο ου γνωσθησεται). 'Fear not' (μη φοβηθητε) is command, not suggestion. Reason: truth will eventually prevail. What's currently 'covered' (κεκαλυμμενον, concealed) will be...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(26) **Fear them not therefore: for . . .**—The words that bid them banish fear look backward and forward. Why should they be afraid when they were only suffering what their Master Himself had suffered, and when they could look forward to the open publicity of His triumph? In that day the veil that now conceals the truth shall be drawn away; the unknown sufferers for the truth shall receive the cr...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. And if the house be worthy--**showing this by giving you a welcome.
**let your peace come upon it--**This is best explained by the injunction to the Seventy, "And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house" (Lu 10:5). This was the ancient salutation of the East, and it prevails to this day. But from the lips of Christ and His messengers, it means something far higher...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus commands public proclamation: 'What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops' (ο λεγω υμιν εν τη σκοτια ειπατε εν τω φωτι και ο εις το ους ακουετε κηρυξατε επι των δωματων). 'In darkness' (εν τη σκοτια) refers to private instruction; 'in light' (εν τω φωτι) means public proclamation. 'In the ear' (εις το ους) indicates whi...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(27) **What I tell you in darkness.**—The words point to our Lord’s method of teaching, as well as to the fact of its being esoteric, and disclosed only to the chosen few, and to them only as they were “able to bear it” (John 16:12). Parables, and dark sayings, and whispered hints, and many-sided proverbs, were among the forms by which He led them on to truth. They, in their work as teachers, were...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city--**for possibly a whole town might not furnish one "worthy."
**shake off the dust of your feet--**"for a testimony against them," as Mark and Luke add (Mr 6:11; Lu 10:11). By this symbolical action they vividly shook themselves from all connection with such, and all responsibility for the gui...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus reorders fears: 'And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell' (Greek: φοβεῖσθε δὲ μᾶλλον τὸν δυνάμενον καὶ ψυχὴν καὶ σῶμα ἀπολέσαι ἐν γεέννῃ, 'fear rather the one able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna'). The command distinguishes temporal versus eternal threats. Humans can only kill ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(28) **Are not able to kill the soul.**—Here our Lord uses what we may call the popular dichotomy of man’s nature, and the word “soul” includes all that truly lives and thinks and wills in man, and is therefore equivalent to the “soul and spirit*”* of the more scientific trichotomy of St. Paul’s Epistles (1Thessalonians 5:23).
**Fear him which is able** **. . .**—Few words have given rise to inter...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**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 i...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. farthing: it is in value halfpenny farthing in the original, as being the tenth part of the Roman penny
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus illustrates God's providential care: 'Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father' (Greek: οὐχὶ δύο στρουθία ἀσσαρίου πωλεῖται, καὶ ἓν ἐξ αὐτῶν οὐ πεσεῖται ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἄνευ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν, 'are not two sparrows sold for a penny, and one of them will not fall to the ground without your Father'). Sparrows were the cheapest birds, ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(29) **Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?**—The coin mentioned here is not the same as the “farthing” of Mark 12:42. The word there is *kodrantēs,* the *quadrans,* or fourth part, of the Roman *as;* here it is *assarion,* the diminutive of the *as,* and equal to the tenth part of the *denarius.* The fact that the *denarius* was the average day’s wages of a soldier or a labourer, gives a fai...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16. Behold, I send you forth--**The "I" here is emphatic, holding up Himself as the Fountain of the Gospel ministry, as He is also the Great Burden of it.
**as sheep--**defenseless.
**in the midst of wolves--**ready to make a prey of you (Joh 10:12). To be left exposed, as sheep to wolves, would have been startling enough; but that the sheep should be sent among the wolves would sound strang...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus intensifies the argument: 'But the very hairs of your head are all numbered' (Greek: ὑμῶν δὲ καὶ αἱ τρίχες τῆς κεφαλῆς πᾶσαι ἠριθμημέναι εἰσίν, 'but even the hairs of your head are all numbered'). The perfect passive verb ἠριθμημέναι indicates completed action with ongoing state - God has numbered and maintains awareness of every hair. This represents exhaustive knowledge of minutiae - if Go...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(30) **The very hairs of your head.**—The apparent hyperbole of the figure is but the natural expression of the thought that even the incidents of life that seem most trivial are in very deed working together for good to those that love God. They are not at any moment of their lives to think that they are uncared for by their Father.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**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.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus concludes the argument: 'Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows' (Greek: μὴ οὖν φοβεῖσθε· πολλῶν στρουθίων διαφέρετε ὑμεῖς, 'do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows'). 'Therefore' (οὖν) draws conclusion from verses 29-30. The verb διαφέρω means 'differ, excel, surpass in value.' If God cares for worthless sparrows and knows trivial details, dis...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**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. The Acts of the Apo...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus' promise 'Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father which is in heaven' establishes the requirement and reward of public witness. 'Confess' (Greek: homologeō) means to say the same thing—agreeing with God's truth about Jesus regardless of consequences. Jesus promises to acknowledge such faithful witnesses before the Father—eternal recognition f...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(32) **Shall confess me.**—Literally, *make his confession in and for me;* and so in the corresponding clause. The promise points forward to the great day when the Son of Man shall be enthroned in His kingdom, and then before His Father and before the angels of God (Luke 12:8) shall acknowledge His faithful servants. The words are remarkable (1) in their calm assertion of this final sovereignty, a...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19. But when they deliver you up, take no thought--**be not solicitous or anxious. (See on Mt 6:25).
**how or what ye shall speak--**that is, either in what manner ye shall make your defense, or of what matter it shall consist.
**for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak--**(See Ex 4:12; Jr 1:7).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
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KJV Study Commentary
Christ's warning 'whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father' carries eternal consequences. This isn't referring to Peter's temporary failure (Luke 22:61-62) but to persistent, final rejection. The parallelism with verse 32 establishes confession and denial as ultimate responses revealing one's true spiritual state. Reformed theology holds that true believers, though...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(33) **Whosoever shall deny me.**—As with all other eternal laws, the blessing on those who fulfil the conditions to which it is attached has its counterpart of woe on those who do not fulfil them. To deny Christ on earth by word or deed, to live as if His work were nothing to us, must lead to His denying us in the last great day.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**20. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you--**How remarkably this has been verified, the whole history of persecution thrillingly proclaims--from the Acts of the Apostles to the latest martyrology.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →Not Peace, but a Sword
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus declares 'Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword'—shattering all sentimental views of His mission. The 'sword' is metaphorical—not military violence but the dividing power of truth. Christ's gospel necessarily creates division because it demands absolute allegiance and exposes all rival loyalties. The Greek word for 'sword' (μάχαιραν/machairan)...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(34) **Think not that I am come to send peace.**—Truth appears again in the form of seeming paradox. Christ is “our peace” (Ephesians 2:14), and came to be the one great Peacemaker; and yet the foreseen consequences of His work involved strife and division, and such a consequence, freely accepted for the sake of the greater good that lies beyond it, involves, in fact, a purpose. The words are the ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21. And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death--**for example, by lodging information against them with the authorities. 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 ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
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KJV Study Commentary
Christ continues: 'I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.' This echoes Micah 7:6, connecting Jesus's ministry to prophetic expectations of messianic upheaval. The threefold division encompasses the entire household structure. The verb 'set at variance' (διχάσαι/dichasai) means to divide in two, ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(35) The words are partly, as the marginal reference shows, an echo of Micah 7:6, but the selection of the special relationships as typical instances suggests the thought of some personal application. Had Zebedee looked with displeasure on the calling of his two sons? or was there variance between the daughter-in-law and the mother-in-law in the household of Peter? Were the brethren of the Lord, w...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**22. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake--**The universality of this hatred would make it evident to them, that since it would not be owing to any temporary excitement, local virulence, or personal prejudice, on the part of their enemies, so no amount of discretion on their part, consistent with entire fidelity to the truth, would avail to stifle that enmity--though it might softe...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
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KJV Study Commentary
The climactic statement 'a man's foes shall be they of his own household' completes Jesus's warning about familial division. The word 'foes' (ἐχθροὶ/echthroi) denotes active enemies, not mere opponents. Those who share one's home may become one's adversaries when the gospel divides. The phrase 'of his own household' (οἰκιακοὶ/oikiakoi) refers to immediate household members—those with whom one shar...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**23. But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another--**"into the other." This, though applicable to all time, and exemplified by our Lord Himself once and again, had special reference to the brief opportunities which Israel was to have of "knowing the time of His visitations."
**for verily I say unto you--**what will startle you, but at the same time show you the solemnity of yo...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus' statement 'He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me' demands supreme loyalty. Family ties, humanity's strongest natural bonds, must not rival devotion to Christ. This isn't commanding hatred of family but prioritizing Christ above all relationships. The phrase 'not worthy' means unfit or unqualified for discipleship. Following Jesus requires Him to be Lord of every r...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(37) **He that loveth father or mother more than me.**—The words are important, partly in themselves, partly as explaining the stronger phrase of Luke 14:26-27, which speaks of a man “hating father or mother” as a condition of discipleship. Where two affections come into collision, the weaker must give way; and though the man may not and ought not to cease to love, yet he must act as if he hated—d...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**24. The disciple is not above his master--**teacher.
**nor the servant above his lord--**another maxim which our Lord repeats in various connections (Lu 6:40; Joh 13:16; 15:20).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus' requirement 'he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me' uses crucifixion imagery to depict total self-denial. Taking one's cross means accepting a death sentence—willingness to die to self-will, comfort, and safety. This precedes literal crucifixion language's common usage, showing Jesus clearly predicted the cross. Following after taking the cross shows disc...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(38) **He that taketh not his cross.**—The words were hardly a specific announcement of the manner of our Lord’s death, though they imply, interpreted by events, a distinct prevision of it, such as that which we trace in John 3:14. To the disciples they would recall the sad scene which Roman rule had made familiar to them, the procession of robbers or rebels, each carrying the cross on which he wa...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub--**All the Greek manuscripts, write "Beelzebul," which undoubtedly is the right form of this word. The other reading came in no doubt from the Old Testament "Baalzebub," the god of Ekron (2Ki 1:2), which it was designed to express. As all idolatry was reg...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus' paradox 'He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it' expresses the kingdom's upside-down economics. Attempting to preserve earthly life, comfort, and safety results in losing eternal life. Sacrificing earthly life for Christ results in finding true, abundant, eternal life. This is the cross-and-resurrection pattern—death leads to life. Self...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(39) **He that findeth his life.**—The word is the same as that translated “soul” (*i.e.,* that by which man lives in the lower or the higher sense of life) in Matthew 10:28. The point of the maxim lies in the contrast between the two senses. To gain the lower now is to lose the higher hereafter, and conversely, to lose the lower for the sake of Christ (*i.e.,* to die a martyr’s death in confessin...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**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).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →Rewards for Service
He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus declares 'He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me'—establishing a profound chain of representation and authority. The verb 'receiveth' (δεχόμενος/dechomenos) means to welcome, accept, take in—not mere tolerance but genuine reception. Christ identifies so completely with His disciples that response to them is response to Him. This isn't automati...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(40) The discourse which had so clearly told of suffering ends with words of promise and the assurance of victory. As Christ was sent by the Father (John 20:21; comp. Hebrews 3:1), so were they His apostles and representatives; and He would count all honour and affection shown to them as shown also to Himself, and through Him to His Father.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**27. What I tell you in darkness--**in the privacy of a teaching for which men are not yet ripe.
**that speak ye in the light--**for when ye go forth all will be ready.
**and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops--**Give free and fearless utterance to all that I have taught you while yet with you. Objection: But this may cost us our life? Answer: It may, but there their p...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.
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KJV Study Commentary
Christ promises 'He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.' The phrase 'in the name of' means 'because of their character as'—not merely hosting anyone who claims the title, but welcoming them specifically because they represent God. The promise ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(41) **In the name of a prophet**—*i.e.,* for the sake of that which the name connotes—the prophet’s work as a messenger of God, the righteousness of which the living righteous man is the concrete example. The distinction between the two involves the higher inspiration of the prophet as a messenger of God, and perhaps implies that that inspiration belonged to some, and not to all the Twelve, while...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**28. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul--**In Lu 12:4, "and after that have no more that they can do."
**but rather fear him--**In Luke (Lu 12:5) this is peculiarly solemn, "I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear," even Him
**which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell--**A decisive proof this that there is a hell for the body as well as the soul ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus concludes with stunning assurance: 'whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.' The diminishment from prophet to 'little ones' (μικρῶν/mikrōn) and from substantial hospitality to 'cup of cold water' emphasizes that no act of service, however small, goes unnoticed w...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(42) **One of these little ones.**—The term was familiarly used of the scholars of a Rabbi, and in this sense our Lord, as the great Master, sending forth His disciples, now employs it. He would not disregard even the cup of cold water given to the humblest disciple as such and for the sake of Christ. Taken by themselves, the words do not go beyond this but the language of Matthew 25:40 justifies ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**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).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 16-42**
Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them wha...
Read full commentary →