Discovery BoxMatthew 10:12-18 
Context10:12 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!
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.
Matthew 10:22-25
Context10:22 And you will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 10:23 Whenever 13 they persecute you in one place, 14 flee to another. I tell you the truth, 15 you will not finish going through all the towns 16 of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
10:24 “A disciple is not greater than his teacher, nor a slave 17 greater than his master. 10:25 It is enough for the disciple to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house ‘Beelzebul,’ how much more will they defame the members of his household!
1 tn This is a metonymy; the “house” is put for those who live in it.
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.
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.
4 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”
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.
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).
7 sn This imagery of wolves is found in intertestamental Judaism; see Pss. Sol. 8:23, 30.
8 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
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 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.”
11 sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.
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.
13 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
14 tn The Greek word here is πόλις (polis), which can mean either “town” or “city.”
15 tn Grk “For truly (ἀμήν, amhn) I say to you.” Here γάρ (gar, “for”) has not been translated.
16 tn The Greek word here is πόλις (polis), which can mean either “town” or “city.” “Town” was chosen here to emphasize the extensive nature of the disciples’ ministry. The same word is translated earlier in the verse as “place.”
