Matthew 10
10
Jesus Sends Out His Twelve Apostles
1Jesus gathered his twelve # 10:1 The number twelve speaks of governmental authority. Israel had twelve tribes, and Jesus chose twelve disciples. Only after Jesus gave them this authority were they called apostles. The authority Jesus gave them is what he had demonstrated over the previous five chapters of Matthew. After Christ’s resurrection he reminded them, as he sent them again to the nations, that “all authority has already been given to you.” Here Jesus makes these twelve men the answer to their own prayers for the Lord of the Harvest to send out more reapers. disciples and imparted to them authority to cast out demons and to heal every sickness # 10:1 The Aramaic word is “ailment” or “affliction.” and every disease.
2Now, these are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, who is nicknamed Peter, and Andrew, his brother. And then Jacob # 10:2 Or “James.” Translations of the Bible have substituted Jacob with James. Both Greek and Aramaic leave the Hebrew name as it is, Jacob. This translation will use Jacob throughout. and John, sons of Zebedee. 3Next were Phillip and Bartholomew; # 10:3 Bartholomew is likely another name for Nathaniel. See John 1:45. then Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector; Jacob the son of Alphaeus; Thaddeus; # 10:3 Or “Lebbaeus.” 4Simon, the former member of the Zealot party, # 10:4 Or “the patriot.” The Zealot party was also known as the Daggar party. Some manuscripts read “Simon the Canaanite.” and Judas the locksmith, who eventually betrayed Jesus. # 10:4 The name Judas is actually Judah. Iscariot is not his last name, but could be taken from the name of the town, Kerioth, twelve miles south of Hebron. But more plausibly, Iscariot is taken from a Hebrew word meaning “lock,” Judah being a locksmith. He likely was the one chosen to lock the collection bag, which means he had the key and could pilfer the fund at will. It is his sad history that he wanted to lock up Jesus and control him for his own ends.
5Jesus sent out the Twelve with these instructions: “Don’t go into any Gentile or Samaritan territory. # 10:5 Or “Don’t go on the paths of the non-Jewish people.” 6Go instead and find the lost sheep # 10:6 The Hebrew Matthew is “the sheep who have strayed from the house of Israel.” among the people of Israel. 7And as you go, preach this message: ‘Heaven’s kingdom realm is accessible, close enough to touch.’ # 10:7 The Hebrew Matthew and a few Greek manuscripts add the call to repentance with the word “Repent (turn from sin and turn to God), for the kingdom of heaven approaches.” 8You must continually bring healing to lepers and to those who are sick, # 10:8 Or “the weak.” and make it your habit to break off the demonic presence from people, # 10:8 The Aramaic is “cure the insane.” and raise the dead back to life. Freely # 10:8 That is, don’t charge for preaching the gospel. you have received the power of the kingdom, so freely release it to others. 9You won’t need a lot of money. # 10:9 Or “Don’t take gold, silver, or copper.” The Hebrew Matthew is “Don’t heap up silver and gold in your money belts.” The Aramaic has the nuance of more than not taking money, but of not going after the accumulation of money by using God’s anointing. 10Travel light, # 10:10 Or “Don’t take sandals or a staff,” which is likely a figure of speech for “Travel light.” The reason Jesus told his disciples to leave their things behind is that they already had what was most important. Our “money” or wealth is in the kingdom realm of God. Our “clothing” is the garment of righteousness we wear in Christ. Our “backpack” points to our past experiences, which we tend to carry as weights on our backs. We leave our past behind since it no longer exists in Christ. Our “shoes” become a picture of the good news we walk in as we experience his continual peace. Our “staff” is a symbol of authority, and we take with us no other authority but Christ’s. We can leave it all behind since we take it all with us in Christ. and don’t even pack an extra change of clothes in your backpack. Trust God for everything, because the one who works for him deserves to be provided for.
11“Whatever village or town you enter, search for an honorable # 10:11 Or “worthy”; that is, “deserving of your confidence.” The “worthy” man would be one who welcomed the disciples into his home, providing hospitality to them. man who will let you into his home until you leave for the next town. 12Once you enter a house, speak to the family there and say, ‘God’s blessing of peace be upon this house!’ 13And if those living there welcome you, let your peace come upon the house. But if you are rejected, that blessing of peace will come back upon you. 14And if anyone doesn’t listen to you and rejects your message, when you leave that house or town, shake the dust off your feet. # 10:14 Shaking dust off of one’s feet when leaving a city demonstrates that you would not take their defilement with you. The “uncleanness” could also refer to any bitter response to the rejection they experienced. They were to “shake it off” before they went to their next assignment. 15Mark my words, on the day of judgment the wicked people who lived in the land of Sodom and Gomorrah will have a lesser degree of judgment than the city that rejects you, for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah did not have the opportunity that was given to them! 16Now, remember, it is I who sends you out, even though you feel vulnerable as lambs going into a pack of wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes yet as harmless # 10:16 Or “innocent.” as doves.”
Jesus Warns His Apostles of Persecution
17“Be on your guard! For there will be those who will betray you before their religious councils and brutally beat you with whips in their public gatherings. # 10:17 Although this can be translated “synagogues,” it is actually a gathering of people. No one would be scourged in a synagogue building. See Luke 4:28–30. The Sinaiticus version of Matthew is “courts of justice.” 18And because you follow me, they will take you to stand trial in front of rulers and even kings as an opportunity to testify of me before them and the unbelievers. # 10:18 This prophecy of Jesus was fulfilled many times over with the apostles of the Lamb. 19So when they arrest you, don’t worry about how to speak or what you are to say, for the Holy Spirit will give you at that very moment the words to speak. 20It won’t be you speaking but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. # 10:20 See Ex. 4:12.
21“A brother will betray his brother unto death—even a father his child! Children will rise up against their parents and have them put to death. 22Expect to be hated by all because of my name, but be faithful to the end and you will experience life and deliverance. # 10:22 There is found here one of the agrapha, quoted from an earlier gospel manuscript that has been lost, which reads, “As often as you fall, rise up, and you will be saved.” Akolouthia of Confession (Evans, The Historical Jesus; 2004, supra, at 213). 23And when they persecute you in one town, flee to another. But I promise you this: you will not deliver all the cities and towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
24“A student is not superior to his teacher any more than a servant would be greater than his master. 25The student must be satisfied to share his teacher’s fate and the servant his master’s. If they have called the head of the family ‘lord of flies,’ # 10:25 Or Baal-zebub, a derisive term for Satan. There is some evidence that the Hebrew word Baal-zebub could also mean “lord of tricks” (or “trickster”). no wonder they malign the members of his family.
26“Don’t be afraid or intimidated by others, for God will bring everything out into the open and every secret will be told. 27What I say to you in the dark, repeat in broad daylight, and what you hear in a whisper, announce it publicly. 28Don’t be in fear of those who can kill only the body but not your soul. Fear only God, who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29You can buy two sparrows for only a copper coin, yet not even one sparrow falls from its nest without the knowledge of your Father. Aren’t you worth much more to God than many sparrows? 30-31So don’t worry. For your Father cares deeply about even the smallest detail of your life. # 10:30–31 Or “even the hairs of your head are numbered.”
32“If you openly and publicly acknowledge me, I will freely and openly acknowledge you before my heavenly Father. 33But if you publicly deny that you know me, # 10:33 The Aramaic can be translated “he who blasphemes me.” I will also deny you before my heavenly Father.
34“Perhaps you think I’ve come to spread peace and calm over the earth—but my coming will bring conflict and division, # 10:34 Or “I have not come to bring peace but a sword.” The Aramaic word harba can mean either “sword” or “war.” The Greek is “sword” (of division). Either term signifies division. not peace. 35Because of me,
A son will turn against his father,
a daughter her mother
and against her mother-in-law. # 10:35 The Hebrew Matthew adds here, “For there will be five in a house, three against two and two against three, father against son and son against father, and they will stand alone.” This is missing from the Greek manuscripts.
36Within your own families you will find enemies. # 10:36 See Mic. 7:6.
37“Whoever loves father or mother or son or daughter more than me is not fit to be my disciple. # 10:37 Or “is of no use to me.” The Hebrew Matthew is “I am not suitable for him.” 38And whoever comes to me must follow in my steps and be willing to share my cross and experience it as his own, or he is not worthy of me. 39Those who cling to their lives # 10:39 Or “Anyone who clings to his own life [soul, self, being].” will give up true life. But those who let go of their lives for my sake and surrender it all to me will discover true life!
40“Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the One who sent me. # 10:40 Justin Martyr (AD 165) cited this verse but translated it, possibly from an earlier manuscript, “He who hears me hears Him who sent me” (First Apology LXXXII). 41Whoever receives a prophet because he is God’s messenger # 10:41 Or “in the name of a prophet.” See 1 Kings 17:9–24; 2 Kings 4:9–37. will share a prophet’s reward. And whoever welcomes a righteous person because he follows me # 10:41 Or “in the name of a righteous person.” will also share in his reward. 42And whoever gives a cup of cold water to one of my disciples, I promise you, he will not go unrewarded.”
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Matthew 10: TPT
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Learn More About The Passion TranslationMatthew 10
10
The Twelve Commissioned and Sent Out
1 And summoning his twelve disciples, he gave them authority over unclean spirits, so that they could expel them#*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation and could heal every#Or “every kind of” disease and every#Or “every kind of” sickness. 2Now these are the names of the twelve apostles: first Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, James#Some manuscripts have “and James” the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, 3Philip, and Bartholomew, Thomas, and Matthew the tax collector, James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, 4Simon the Zealot,#Literally “the Cananean,” but according to BDAG 507 s.v., this term has no relation at all to the geographical terms for Cana or Canaan, but is derived from the Aramaic term for “enthusiast, zealot” (see Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13) and Judas Iscariot—the one who also betrayed him.
5Jesus sent out these twelve, instructing them saying, “Do not go on the road to the Gentiles, and do not enter into a city of the Samaritans, 6but go instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7And as you#*Here “as” is supplied as a component of the participle (“are going”) which is understood as temporal are going, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near!’ 8Heal those who are sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, expel demons. Freely you have received; freely give. 9Do not procure gold or silver or copper for your belts. 10Do not take a traveler’s bag for the road, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff, for the worker is deserving of his provisions. 11And into whatever town or village you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there until you depart. 12And when you#*Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“enter”) which is understood as temporal enter into the house, greet it. 13And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14And whoever does not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you#*Here “as” is supplied as a component of the participle (“are going”) which is understood as temporal are going out of that house or that#A repetition of “that” is supplied in English; the single Greek term is understood to modify both “house” and “town” town. 15Truly I say to you, it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town!
Persecution of Disciples Predicted
16“Behold, I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17But beware of people, because they will hand you over to councils, and they will flog you in their synagogues. 18And you will be brought before both governors and kings because of me, for a witness to them and to the Gentiles. 19But whenever they hand you over, do not be anxious how to speak#*Here “to speak” has been supplied for stylistic reasons, since “how to speak” is more natural in English than “how to say”; in Greek the same verb works with both expressions (“how or what you should say”) and also occurs again at the end of the verse or what you should say, for what you should say will be given to you at that hour. 20For you are not the ones who are speaking, but the Spirit of your Father who is speaking through you.
21“And brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his children, and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death, 22and you will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end—this one will be saved. 23And whenever they persecute you in this town, flee to another, for truly I say to you, you will never finish going through the towns of Israel until the Son of Man comes.
24“A disciple is not superior to his teacher, nor a slave superior to his master. 25It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household?
Fear God Rather Than People
26“Therefore do not be afraid of them, because nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing secret that will not become known. 27What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what you hear in your ear, proclaim on the housetops. 28And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul, but instead be afraid of the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?#Literally, “an assarion,” a Roman coin worth about 1/16 of a denarius And one of them will not fall to the ground without the knowledge and consent#Literally “without”; the phrase “the knowledge and consent” is implied when this term is used of God of your Father. 30And even the hairs of your head are all numbered! 31Therefore do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
32“Therefore everyone who acknowledges me before people, I also will acknowledge him before my Father who is in heaven. 33But whoever denies me before people, I also will deny him before my Father who is in heaven.
Not Peace, But a Sword of Divisiveness
34“Do not think that I have come to bring peace on the earth! I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35For I have come to turn a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36And the enemies of a man will be the members of his household.#An allusion to Mic 7:6 37The one who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and the one who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39The one who finds his life will lose it, and the one who loses his life because of me will find it.
On Rewards
40“The one who receives you receives me, and the one who receives me receives the one who sent me. 41The one who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, he will never lose his reward.”
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