Matius 10:12-18

10:12 As you enter the house, give it greetings. ¹  10:13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come on it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. ²  10:14 And if anyone will not welcome you or listen to your message, shake the dust off ³  your feet as you leave that house or that town. 10:15 I tell you the truth, ⁴  it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom and Gomorrah ⁵  on the day of judgment than for that town!

Persecution of Disciples

10:16 “I ⁶  am sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves, ⁷  so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 10:17 Beware ⁸  of people, because they will hand you over to councils ⁹  and flog ¹⁰  you in their synagogues. ¹¹  10:18 And you will be brought before governors and kings ¹²  because of me, as a witness to them and the Gentiles.

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

[10:13]  ² sn The response to these messengers determines how God’s blessing is bestowed – if the messengers are not welcomed, their blessing will return to them. Jesus shows just how important their mission is by this remark.

[10:14]  ³ sn To shake the dust off represented shaking off the uncleanness from one’s feet; see Luke 10:11; Acts 13:51; 18:6. It was a sign of rejection.

[10:15]  ⁴ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[10:15]  ⁵ sn The allusion to Sodom and Gomorrah, the most wicked of OT cities from Gen 19:1-29, shows that to reject the current message is even more serious than the worst sins of the old era and will result in more severe punishment.

[10:16]  ⁶ tn Grk “Behold I.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[10:16]  ⁷ sn This imagery of wolves is found in intertestamental Judaism; see Pss. Sol. 8:23, 30.

[10:17]  ⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:17]  ⁹ sn Councils in this context refers to local judicial bodies attached to the Jewish synagogue. This group would be responsible for meting out justice and discipline within the Jewish community.

[10:17]  ¹⁰ tn BDAG 620 s.v. μαστιγόω 1.a states, “of flogging as a punishment decreed by the synagogue (Dt 25:2f; s. the Mishna Tractate Sanhedrin-Makkoth, edited w. notes by SKrauss ’33) w. acc. of pers. Mt 10:17; 23:34.”

[10:17]  ¹¹ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[10:18]  ¹² sn These statements look at persecution both from a Jewish context as the mention of courts and synagogues suggests, and from a Gentile one as the reference to governors and kings suggests. Some fulfillment of Jewish persecution can be seen in Acts.