Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 10:10
Nor scrip for [your] journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.
10. scrip ] A wallet such as David wore when he went to meet Goliath. It was fastened to the girdle. Cp.
“Though not with bag and baggage, yet with scrip and scrippage.” Shakspeare.
“And in requital ope his leathern scrip.” Milton.
two coats ]=two tunics. See ch. Mat 5:40. In like manner the philosopher Socrates wore one tunic only, went without sandals, and lived on the barest necessaries of life. Xen. Mem. i. 6. 2.
shoes ] Rather, sandals.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Mat 10:10
Neither two coats.
No need for two coats
Eastern people are accustomed to sleep in the garments they have on during the (lay: and in this climate such plain people experience no inconvenience Item so doing. (W. M. Thomson D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 10. Nor scrip for your journey] To carry provisions. This was called tormil, by the rabbins; it was a leathern pouch hung about their necks, in which they put their victuals. This was properly, the shepherd’s bag.
Neither two coats, c.] Nothing to encumber you.
Nor yet staves] , a staff, as in the margin, but, instead of , staff, which is the common reading, all the following MSS. and versions have , staves, and CEFGKLMPS. V. ninety-three others, Coptic, Armenian, latter Syriac, one of the Itala, Chrysostom, and Theophylact. This reading is of great importance, as it reconciles this place with Lu 9:3, and removes the seeming contradiction from Mr 6:8 as if he had said: “Ye shall take nothing to defend yourselves with, because ye are the servants of the Lord, and are to be supported by his bounty, and defended by his power. In a word, be like men in haste, and eager to begin the important work of the ministry. The sheep are lost-ruined: Satan is devouring them: give all diligence to pluck them out of the jaws of the destroyer.”
The workman is worthy of his meat.] , of his maintenance. It is a maintenance, and that only, which a minister of God is to expect, and that he has a Divine right to; but not to make a fortune, or lay up wealth: besides, it is the workman, he that labours in the word and doctrine, that is to get even this. How contrary to Christ is it for a man to have vast revenues, as a minister of the Gospel, who ministers no Gospel, and who spends the revenues of the Church to its disgrace and ruin!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
10. Nor scrip for your journeythebag used by travellers for holding provisions.
neither two coatsortunics, worn next the skin. The meaning is, Take no change of dress,no additional articles.
neither shoesthat is,change of them.
nor yet stavesThereceived text here has “a staff,” but our version followsanother reading, “staves,” which is found in the receivedtext of Luke (Lu 9:3). The truereading, however, evidently is “a staff”meaning, thatthey were not to procure even that much expressly for this missionaryjourney, but to go with what they had. No doubt it was themisunderstanding of this that gave rise to the reading “staves”in so many manuscripts Even if this reading were genuine, it couldnot mean “more than one”; for who, as ALFORDwell asks, would think of taking a spare staff?
for the workman is worthy ofhis meathis “food” or “maintenance”; aprinciple which, being universally recognized in secular affairs, ishere authoritatively applied to the services of the Lord’s workmen,and by Paul repeatedly and touchingly employed in his appeals to thechurches (Rom 15:27; 1Co 9:11;Gal 6:6), and once as “scripture”(1Ti 5:18).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Nor scrip for your journey,…. This the Jews call , “tarmil”: and which their commentators n say, is a large leathern bag, in which shepherds and travellers put their food, and other things, and carried with them, hanging it about their necks; so that the disciples were neither to carry money with them, nor any provisions for their journey:
neither two coats; one to travel in, and another to put on, when they came to their quarters: they were not allowed change of raiment; either because superfluous, or too magnificent to appear in, or too troublesome to carry:
nor shoes, only sandals, as Mark says; for there was a difference between shoes and sandals, as appears from the case of the plucking off the shoe, when a man refused his brother’s wife o: if the “shoe” was plucked off it was regarded; but if the “sandal”, it was not minded: this was the old tradition, though custom went against it. Sandals were made of harder leather than shoes p, and sometimes of wood covered with leather, and stuck with nails, to make them more durable q; though sometimes of bulrushes, and bark of palm trees, and of cork r, which were light to walk with.
“Says R. Bar bar Chanah s, I saw R. Eleazar of Nineveh go out on a fast day of the congregation, , “with a sandal of cork”.”
Of what sort these were, the disciples were allowed to travel with, is not certain:
nor yet with staves: that is, with more than one staff, which was sufficient to assist them, and lean upon in journeying: for, according to Mark, one was allowed; as though they might take a travelling staff, yet not staves for defence, or to fight with; see
Mt 26:55. Now these several things were forbidden them, partly because they would be burdensome to them in travelling; and partly because they were not to be out any long time, but were quickly to return again; and chiefly to teach them to live and depend upon divine providence. Now, since they were to take neither money, nor provisions with them, and were also to preach the Gospel freely, they might reasonably ask how they should be provided for, and supported: when our Lord suggests, that they should not be anxiously concerned about that, he would take care that they had a suitable supply; and would so influence and dispose the minds of such, to whom they should minister, as that they should have all necessary provisions made for them, without any care or expense of their’s:
for the workman is worthy of his meat; which seems to be a proverbial expression, and by which Christ intimates, that they were workmen, or labourers in his vineyard, and they, discharging their duty aright, were entitled to food and raiment, and all the necessaries of life: this to have, was their due; and it was but a piece of justice to give it to them, and on which they might depend. So that this whole context is so far from militating against a minister’s maintenance by the people, that it most strongly establishes it; for if the apostles were not to take any money or provisions with them, to support themselves with, it clearly follows, that it was the will of Christ, that they should live by the Gospel, upon those to whom they preached, as the following words show: and though they were not to make gain of the Gospel, or preach it for filthy lucre’s sake; yet they might expect a comfortable subsistence, at the charge of the people, to whom they ministered, and which was their duty to provide for them.
n Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Sheviith, c. 2. sect. 8. & in Celim. c. 16. 4. & 24. 11. & Negaim. c. 11. sect. 11. o T. Hieros. Yebamot, fol. 12. 3. T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 102. 1. & Menachot, fol. 32. 1. p Gloss. in T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 101. 1. & Bartenora in Misn. Yebamot, c. 12. sect. 1. q Misn. Yebamot, c. 12. sect. 2. Maimon. Bartenora in Sabbat, c. 6. sect. 2. & Edayot, c. 2. sect. 8. r T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 78. 2. Gloss. in ib. Maimon. Hilch. Shebitat. Ashur, c. 3. sect. 7. s T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 78. 2. Juchasin, fol. 81. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
No wallet ( ). Better than “scrip.” It can be either a travelling or bread bag. Deissmann (Light from the Ancient East, pp. 108f.) shows that it can mean the beggar’s collecting bag as in an inscription on a monument at Kefr Hanar in Syria: “While Christianity was still young the beggar priest was making his rounds in the land of Syria on behalf of the national goddess.” Deissmann also quotes a pun in the Didaskalia=Const. Apost. 3, 6 about some itinerant widows who said that they were not so much (spouseless) as (pouchless). He cites also Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida III. iii. 145: “Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back, wherein he puts alms for oblivion.”
For the labourer is worthy of his food ( ). The sermon is worth the dinner, in other words. Luke in the charge to the seventy (Lu 10:7) has the same words with (reward) instead of (food). In 1Ti 5:18 Paul quotes Luke’s form as scripture ( ) or as a well-known saying if confined to the first quotation. The word for workman here () is that used by Jesus in the prayer for labourers (Mt 9:38). The well-known Didach or Teaching of the Twelve (xiii) shows that in the second century there was still a felt need for care on the subject of receiving pay for preaching. The travelling sophists added also to the embarrassment of the situation. The wisdom of these restrictions was justified in Galilee at this time. Mark (Mr 6:6-13) and Luke (Lu 9:1-6) vary slightly from Matthew in some of the details of the instructions of Jesus.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Staves [] . But the proper reading is staff, [] .
The workman is worthy, etc. Ver. 11, There abide, etc. “The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles,” a tract discovered in 1873 in the library of the monastery of the Most Holy Sepulchre at Constantinople, by Bryennios, Metropolitan of Nicomedia, is assigned to the date of 120 A. D., and by some scholars is placed as early as 100 A. D. It is addressed to Gentile Christians, and is designed to give them practical instruction in the Christian life, according to the teachings of the twelve apostles and of the Lord himself. In the eleventh chapter we read as follows : “And every apostle who cometh to you, let him be received as the Lord; but he shall not remain except for one day; if, however, there be need, then the next day; but if he remain three days, he is a false prophet. But when the apostle departeth, let him take nothing except bread enough till he lodge again, but is he ask money, he is a false prophet.” And again (ch. 13) : “Likewise a true teacher, he also is worthy like the workman, of his support. Every first – fruit, then, of the products of wine – press and threshing – floor, of oxen and sheep, thou shalt take and give to the prophets, for they are your high – priests…. If thou makest a baking of bread, take the first of it and give according to the commandment. In like manner, when thou openest a jar of wine or oil, take the first of it and give to the prophets; and of money and clothing, and every possession, take the first, as may seem right to thee, and give according to the commandment.”
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Nor script for your journey,” (me peran eis hodon) “Nor a wallet for the road,” your travel or journey where you go preaching and performing miracles. A script was a wallet or food container, a kind of thing with which they were not to burden themselves, 1Sa 17:40.
2) “Neither,” (mede) “Nor,” any of the following. These were normally things carried on a journey, but our Lord desired that the apostles go into their mission into homes, without a lot of extra baggage.
a) “two coats,” (duo chitonas) “two tunics, outer coats,” but worn under a mantle, no change of clothes.
b) “neither, shoes,” (mede hupodemata) “nor sandals,” no extra pair of sandals, Mat 3:11.
c) “nor yet staves:” (mede hrabdon) “nor a staff,” to lean on, for protection or defensive purposes; Don’t take an extra staff either, is the idea.
3) “For the workman is worthy of his meat.” (aksios gar ho ergates tes trophes autou) “Because the workman is worthy of or merits his food,” Luk 10:7, what he eats. They had a fair cause to expect and claim three things: 1) Shelter, 2) Clothing, and 3) Food from those to whom they preached and did spiritual service, 1Co 9:7-14; 1Ti 5:18; Luk 6:38. This is one of the few phrases of Jesus directly referred to by Paul, 1Co 9:14.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
10. For the laborer is worthy of his food. Christ anticipates an objection that might be made: for it might appear to be a harsh condition to travel through the whole of Judea without any provisions. (576) Accordingly, Christ tells them, that they have no reason to dread that they will suffer hunger; because, wherever they come, they will at least be worthy of their food (577) He calls them laborers, not that they resembled ordinary ministers, who labor in the Lord’s vineyard, and who, by planting and watering, bring it into a state of cultivation; but merely because they were the heralds of a richer and more complete doctrine. They did not at that time receive the office of preaching any farther than to render the Jews attentive to the preaching of the Gospel.
(576) “ N’ayans rien de quoy faire leurs despens;” — “having no means of paying their expenses.”
(577) “ Ils gaigneront bien pour le moins leur nourriture;” — “they will get their food at least.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(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 (1Sa. 17:40). Such a basket was looked on as the necessary equipment even of the poorest traveller, yet the apostles were to go without it. St. Mark adds, what was implied in this, no bread.
Neither two coats.Commonly, the poorer Eastern traveller carried with him the flowing plaid-like outer garment (the modern abba), with one coat or tunic next the skin, and one clean one as a change. That simplest of all the comforts of life they were in this work of theirs to dispense with.
Neither shoes, nor yet staves.The apparent contradiction between these words and St. Marks nothing except a staff only, be shod with sandals, is explained by what has been said above. They were to have none of the reserved comforts of common travellers, no second staff in case the first should break, no second pair of shoes in which to rest the worn and weary feet. The sandals were the shoes of the peasant class.
Experience (and, we may add, the Spirit that teaches by experience) has led the Christian Church at large to look on these commands as binding only during the mission on which the Twelve were actually sent. It is impossible not to admire the noble enthusiasm of poverty which showed itself in the literal adoption of such rules by the followers of Francis of Assisi, and, to some extent, by those of Wiclif; but the history of the Mendicant Orders, and other like fraternities, forms part of that teaching of history which has led men to feel that in the long-run the beggars life will bring the beggars vices. Yet here, as in the case of the precepts of the Sermon on the Mount, the spirit is binding still, though the letter has passed away. The mission work of the Church has ever prospered in proportion as that spirit has pervaded it.
For the workman is worthy of his meat.It is a singular instance of the varied application of the same truth, that these wordswhich our Lord makes the ground of His command that men should make no provision for the future and commit themselves to their Fathers careare quoted by St. Paul (1Ti. 5:18) as a plea for an organised system for the maintenance of the ministers of the Church. The same law fulfils itself in many waysnow by helping to pay the hire of the labourer, now by the full confidence that the payment may be left to God, and to the grateful hearts of men.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
10. Nor scrip The scrip was a wallet slung by thongs upon the person, to contain provisions or other necessaries. They are, as Dr. Thomson states, “merely the skins of kids stripped of wool and tanned by a very simple process.” Dr. T. well adds. “By the way, the entire ‘outfit’ of these first missionaries shows that they were plain fishermen, farmers, or shepherds; and to such men there was no extraordinary self-denial in the matter or the mode of their mission. We may expound the ‘instructions’ given to these primitive evangelists somewhat after the following manner:
Provide neither silver, nor gold, nor brass in your purses. You are going to your brethren in the neighbouring villages, and the best way to get to their hearts and their confidence is to throw yourselves upon their hospitality. Nor was there any departure from the simple manners of the country in this. Neither do they encumber themselves with two coats. They are accustomed to sleep in the garments they have on during the day, and in this climate such plain people experience no inconvenience from it. They wear a coarse shoe, answering to the sandal of the ancients, but never take two pairs of them; and although the staff is an invariable companion of all wayfarers, they are content with one. Of course, such ‘instructions’ can have only a general application to those who go forth, not to neighbours of the same faith and nation, but to distant climes, and to heathen tribes.”
Nor yet staves The plural of staff. According to the parallel passage in Mark, our Lord expressly permitted a staff. Some have, therefore, found an imaginary contradiction in the passage. To reconcile the discrepancy, commentators have imagined that a single staff was permitted, but not two staves or more. But who ever heard of a traveller providing himself with a number of staves? The true meaning is, that he who had a staff might take it, but he who had not should not provide it.
Workman is worthy of his meat Humanly speaking, indeed, every man is entitled to an equivalent for what he gives. The man who gives his talents, his acquirements, his labour for a people’s good, is humanly entitled to pay. Hence, in a true sense, the people do not give, but pay. It is not a charity, but a debt. There is a pecuniary obligation as well as a divine requirement. Yet who can pay the value of the Gospel? See note on Mat 10:8.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Mat 10:10. Nor scrip for your journey The scrip, , was a sort of large bag, in which shepherds, and those who journeyed, carried their provisions. See on Luk 10:34. Thus the bag into which David put the smooth stones, wherewith he smote Goliah, is called both a scrip and a shepherd’s bag, In the account in which St. Mark gives the repetition of these instructions, immediatelybefore the disciples took their journey, he says, they were permitted to be shod with sandals, ch. Mat 6:9. The sandal was a piece of strong leather, or wood, fastened to the sole of the foot with strings, which they tied round the foot and ancle; but the shoe was a kind of short boot, that covered the foot and a part of the leg, and was a more delicate piece of dress than the sandals. See Calmet on the word sandals, and Lightfoot. St. Mark says, Mar 6:8 that they were allowed to take a staff; which Calmet observes may be reconciled with St. Matthew, by attending to the ambiguity of the Hebrew word shabet, answering to the Greek word : for, as the Hebrew signifies any sort of rod, whether club, staff, sceptre, or pole, he thinks the staff, which, according to St. Matthew, the disciples were prohibited to use, may have been a pole for carrying a burden on; an accoutrement which was useless, as they were not allowed to carry any provisions with them, nor any spare clothes; whereas the staff, which by St. Mark’s account he permitted them to take, was a walking-staff, very proper for those who were to perform a journey with expedition. Heinsius labours to prove, that , the exceptive particle in Mark, may signify no not; and so would have the clause , translated no, not a single staff. But the more probable solution of the difficulty seems to be, that such of the apostles as had staffs in their hands might take them: as for those who were walking without them, they were not to provide them; for as the providence of God was to supply them with all necessaries, to have made the least preparation for their journey would have implied a disbelief of their Master’s promise.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 10:10 . ] sc . , with which is to be connected. , a bag slung over the shoulder, see Duncan, Lex. Hom . ed. Rost, s.v.
] two under-garments , either with a view to wear both at one time (Mar 6:9 ), or only one while carrying the other with them in case of need.
] namely, for the requirements of the journey, besides the pair already in use. The question whether, as Lightfoot and Salmasius think, it is shoes in the strict sense of the word ( , Becker, Charicl . p. 221) that are here meant, or whether it is ordinary (Mar 6:9 ), is, judging from the usual Oriental mode of covering the feet, to be decided in favour of the sandals, which the Greeks also called by the same name as that in the text (Pollux, VII. 35 ff.).
] nor a staff to carry in the hand for support and self-defence ( Tob 5:17 ), an unimportant variation from Mar 6:8 .
, . . .] a general proposition, the application of which is of course evident enough. Free and unembarrassed by any , (Euth. Zigabenus), such as is represented by the matters just specified, they are to rely upon God’s care of them, who will cause them to realize in their own experience how true it is that the labourer is worthy of His support.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
10 Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.
Ver. 10. Neither two coats ] This may be a burden to you.
Neither shoes ] But sandals, a lighter kind of wearing.
Nor yet staves ] Either for offence or defence; a dog shall not wag his tongue at you: or not a staff that may cumber you. But take a staff (as St Mark, Mar 6:8-9 , hath it), sc. that may ease and relieve you in your hard toil and travel. A staff they might have to speak them the travellers, not soldiers; one to walk with, not to war with; a wand, not a weapon.
The workman is worthy of his meat ] “Of his wages,” saith St Mark; of both as labourers in God’s harvest; of double honour, saith St Paul, both countenance and maintenance.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
10. ] This is a common truth of life men give one who works for them his food and more; here uttered however by our Lord in its highest sense, as applied to the workmen in His vineyard. See 1Co 9:13-14 ; 2Co 11:8 ; 3Jn 1:8 . It is (as Stier remarks, vol. i. p. 352, Exo 2 ) a gross perversion and foolish bondage to the letter, to imagine that ministers of congregations, or even missionaries among the heathen, at this day are bound by the literal sense of our Lord’s commands in this passage. But we must not therefore imagine that they are not bound by the spirit of them. This literal first mission was but a foreshadowing of the spiritual subsequent sending out of the ministry over the world, which ought therefore in spirit every where to be conformed to these rules.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 10:10 . , a wallet for holding provisions, slung over the shoulder ( Jdt 13:10 , ). ): not even two under-garments, shirts; one would say very necessary for comfort and cleanliness in a hot climate, and for travellers along dusty roads. In Mark the prohibition seems to be against wearing two at the same time (Mat 6:8 ); here against carrying a spare one for a change. Possibly we ought not to take these instructions too literally, but in their spirit. : this does not mean that they were to go barefooted, but either without a spare pair, or without more substantial covering for the feet (shoes) than the light sandals they usually wore mere soles to keep the feet off the hard road. Lightfoot ( Hor. Heb. ) distinguishes between the two thus: “usus delicatoris fuerunt calcei, durioris atque utilioris sandalia”. He states that there were sandals, whose soles were of wood, and upper part of leather, the two joined by nails, and that they were sometimes made of rushes or the bark of palms. : not even a staff! That can hardly be meant. Even from the romantic or picturesque point of view the procession of pilgrim missioners would not be complete without a staff each in their hand. If not a necessity, at least, it was no luxury. Mark allows the staff, creating trouble for the harmonists. Grotius suggests: no second staff besides the one in hand! Glassius, quoted by Fritzsche in scorn, suggests a staff shod with iron (scipio) for defence. Ebrard, with approval of Godet, thinks of two different turns given to the Aramaic original = either “if you take one staff it is enough,” or “if, etc., it is too much”. Really the discrepancy is not worth all this trouble. Practically the two versions come to the same thing: take only a staff, take not even a staff; the latter is a little more hyperbolical than the former. Without even a staff, is the ne plus ultra of austere simplicity and self-denial. Men who carry out the spirit of these precepts will not labour in vain. Their life will preach the kingdom better than their words, which may be feeble and helpless. “Nothing,” says Euthy., “creates admiration so much as a simple, contented life” ( ). . : a maxim universally recognised. A labourer of the type described is not only worthy but sure of his meat; need have no concern about that. This is one of the few sayings of our Lord referred to by St. Paul (1Co 9:14 ), whose conduct as an apostle well illustrates the spirit of the instructions to the Twelve.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
scrip = that which is written: then a small wallet that holds such a writing. Greek. pera. Only here, Mar 6:8. Luk 9:3; Luk 10:4, and Luk 22:35, Luk 22:36. Not a “purse”, because no money: not a “bread bag” because no bread (Luk 9:4. Deissmann quotes an Inscription at Kefr-Hauar, in Syria, in which a slave of a temple, “sent by the lady” on a begging expedition, brought back each journey seventy bags (pera) of money which he had collected. The Lord means they were not to beg.
shoes = sandals (i.e. not a spare pair).
Staves = a staff (for walking), not clubs. See note on Mat 26:47.
meat. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), App-6, for all kinds of food.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
10. ] This is a common truth of life-men give one who works for them his food and more; here uttered however by our Lord in its highest sense, as applied to the workmen in His vineyard. See 1Co 9:13-14; 2Co 11:8; 3Jn 1:8. It is (as Stier remarks, vol. i. p. 352, ed. 2) a gross perversion and foolish bondage to the letter, to imagine that ministers of congregations, or even missionaries among the heathen, at this day are bound by the literal sense of our Lords commands in this passage. But we must not therefore imagine that they are not bound by the spirit of them. This literal first mission was but a foreshadowing of the spiritual subsequent sending out of the ministry over the world, which ought therefore in spirit every where to be conformed to these rules.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 10:10. , scrip) in which bread and other articles of food were kept; see Mar 6:8.- , nor staff) In Mar 6:8, we read but one staff. He who had no staff, was not to care about procuring one, for our Lord says do not procure he however who possessed a staff, might take it with him, for convenience, not defence.- , …, for the labourer is worthy, etc.) On the other hand, the hire is worthy of the labourer.-, food) This word includes all the articles which are enumerated in Mat 10:9-10.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
scrip: 1Sa 9:7, 1Sa 17:40
two: Luk 3:11, 2Ti 4:13
staves: Gr. a staff
for the: Luk 10:7-12, 1Co 9:4-14, Gal 6:6, Gal 6:7, 1Ti 5:17, 1Ti 5:18
Reciprocal: Gen 47:22 – for the priests Num 18:31 – your reward Num 31:41 – Eleazar Deu 29:5 – and thy shoe Jos 9:11 – Take Jos 21:2 – The Lord Eze 48:10 – for the priests Mat 6:28 – why Mar 6:8 – take Luk 9:3 – Take Luk 10:4 – neither Luk 22:35 – When 1Co 9:11 – sown 1Co 9:14 – ordained 2Th 3:9 – Not
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
0:10
A scrip was a provision bag, used in the same manner as the modern lunch basket. They were also told not to take any extra clothing besides what they wore as they started. The reason given is that the workman is worthy of his meat. They were to be supported by the people among whom they labored. Since those people were Jews, and hence already disposed somewhat in their favor, it would be reasonable to expect some returns for their work. Later, when they were to go among the heathen, and especially as they would be without the immediate support of Jesus, they were to “look out” somewhat for themselves. (See Luk 22:35-38.)
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.
[Nor scrip for your journey.] The Syriac version reads, No purse…
A proselyte is brought in thus speaking; “If an Israelite approaching to the holy things shall die, how much more a stranger, who comes with his staff and his pouch!”
[Nor two coats.] A single coat bespake a meaner condition; a double, a more plentiful. Hence is that counsel of the Baptist, Luk 3:11; “He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none.” It is disputed by the Babylonian Talmudists, how far it is lawful to wash garments on the common days of a festival-week; and the conclusion is, “It is lawful for him that hath one coat only; to wash it.”
[Neither shoes.] That shoes are here to be understood, and not sandals; appears from Mar 6:9; and that there was a difference between these, sufficiently appears from these very places. The contrary to which I read in Beza, not without wonder: “But then from this place (saith he), as also from Act 12:8; it appears that the evangelists put no difference between shoes and sandals as Erasmus hath rightly observed.”
Let the Jewish schools be heard in this matter: “The pulling off of the shoe [of the husband’s brother, Deu 25:9] is right: and of the sandal if it hath a heel, is right; but if not, it is not right.”
“R. Josi saith, I went to Nisibin, and I saw there a certain elder, and I said to him, ‘Are you well acquainted with R. Judah Ben Betira?’ And he answered, ‘I am a money changer in my city; and he came to my table very often.’ I said, ‘Did you ever see him putting off the shoe? What did he put off, shoe or sandal?’ He answered, ‘O Rabbi, are there sandals among us?’ Whence therefore, say I, did R. Meir say, They do not put off the shoe? Rabbi Ba, Rabh Judah say, in the name of Rabh, If Elias should come, and should say, ‘They pull off the shoe of the husband’s brother, let them hearken to him’: if he should say, ‘They pull off the sandal;’ let them not hearken to him. And yet, for the most part, the custom is to pull off the sandal; and custom prevails against tradition.” See more there, and in the Babylonian tract Jevamoth.
Shoes were of more delicate use; sandals were more ordinary, and more for service. A shoe was of softer leather, a sandal of harder; etc. There were sandals also, whose sole, or lower part, was of wood, the upper of leather; and these were fastened together by nails. There were some sandals also made of rushes, or of the bark of palm-trees, etc. Another difference also between shoes and sandals is illustrated by a notable story in the tract Schabbath; in the place just now cited: “In a certain time of persecution, when some were hidden in a cave, they said among themselves, ‘He that will enter, let him enter; for he will look about him before he enters, that the enemies see him not: but let none go out; for perhaps the enemies will be near, whom he sees not when he goes out, and so all will be discovered.’ One of them by chance put on his sandals the wrong way: for sandals were open both ways, so that one might put in his foot either before or behind: but he putting on his the wrong way, his footsteps, when he went out, seemed as if he went in, and so their hiding-place was discovered to the enemies,” etc.
Money therefore in the girdle, and provision in the scrip, were forbidden the disciples by Christ; first, that they might not be careful for temporal things, but resign themselves wholly to the care of Christ; secondly, they ought to live of the gospel, which he hints in the last clause of this verse, “The workman is worthy of his hire.”
That, therefore, which he had said before, “Freely ye have received, freely give,” forbade them to preach the gospel for gain: but he forbade not to take food, clothing, and other necessaries for the preaching of the gospel.
Two coats and shoes are forbidden them, that they might not at all affect pride or worldly pomp, or to make themselves fine; but rather, that their habit and guise might bespeak the greatest humility.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Mat 10:10. No wallet. They need provide neither money nor baggage.
Two coats, two inner garments or tunics.
Nor shoes. This either means a second pair, or that they should wear their ordinary sandals without waiting to get a pair of walking shoes. The latter is preferable, since we should read next, a staff. Staves was inserted to avoid a seeming conflict with Mar 6:8. The meaning really is: they need not provide a staff especially for this journey, but take the one they had. They were to be free from care, not seeking any profit from their office; outwardly unburdened, inwardly carrying the greatest treasures. Without money or luggage they would be most free from care, for the workman is worthy of his meat (or sustenance.) Those who freely received from them are expected in their turn to freely give. These verses in their literal sense apply only to that particular journey, the principle, the workman is worthy of his meat, remains always in force. Mat 10:8, in forbidding the spirit of covetousness in the ministry, shows that the preaching of the gospel should not become a mere livelihood; this verse shows that the laborers should be without worldly care. Those among whom they labor should so provide for them as to prevent care; the extent of the provision to be regulated by the mode of living of those who provide it.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 10
Scrip; a leathern bag, in which shepherds, and travellers of an humble class, carried their provisions. These particulars were not meant to be minutely insisted upon, but were only intended to convey more forcibly the general idea that they were to go without preparation, and to rely upon the spontaneous hospitality of the worthy.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
10:10 Nor scrip for [your] journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his {d} meat.
(d) God will provide you with food.