Matthew 10 is the tenth chapter in the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ (title), Christ), Jesus, resurrection of Jesus, his res ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

section of the Christian

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. This chapter opens with

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

calling some of his

disciples A disciple is a follower and student of a mentor, teacher, or other figure. It can refer to: Religion * Disciple (Christianity), a student of Jesus Christ * Twelve Apostles of Jesus, sometimes called the Twelve Disciples * Seventy disciples in t ...

and sending them out to preach and heal. This chapter is also known as the Mission Discourse, the Apostolic Discourse, or the Little Commission, in contrast to the

Great Commission In Christianity, the Great Commission is the instruction of the Resurrection appearances of Jesus, resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciple (Christianity), disciples to spread the gospel to all the nations of the world. The Great Commission i ...

at the end of the gospel ( Matthew 28:18– 20). The Apostles receiving the Little Commission are directed to enter only the towns of the "lost sheep of the

house of Israel A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

" in verse 6, but verse 18 mentions that they will also be a witness to "governors, kings and the Gentiles" while in those towns. In contrast, the Great Commission is specifically directed to all nations. This has led to debate as to whom the target audience of Jesus' original, pre-resurrection ministry was. Matthew names the

twelve apostles In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles (also known as the Twelve Disciples or simply the Twelve), were the primary disciples of Jesus according to the New Testament. During the life and minist ...

, or "twelve disciples", in verses 2 to 4, and gives them careful instruction as they travel around Israel. The remainder of the chapter consists almost entirely of sayings attributed to Jesus. Many of the sayings found in Matthew 10 are also found in

Luke 10 Luke 10 is the tenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christianity, Christian Bible. It records the sending of seventy disciples by Jesus, Parable of the Good Samaritan, the famous parable about the Good Samaritan, and his ...

and the

Gospel of Thomas The Gospel of Thomas (also known as the Coptic Gospel of Thomas) is a non-canonical Logia, sayings gospel. It was discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945 among a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library. Scholars speculate the works ...

, which is not part of the accepted

canon of the New Testament A biblical canon is a set of texts (also called "books") which a particular Jewish or Christian religious community regards as part of the Bible. The English word ''canon'' comes from the Greek , meaning ' rule' or ' measuring stick'. The us ...

Text

The oldest known texts were written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

. This chapter is divided into 42 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early

manuscripts A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has c ...

containing the text of this chapter are: * Papyrus 110 (3rd/4th century; extant verses 13–15, 25–27) *

Uncial 0171 Uncial 0171 (in the Biblical manuscript#Gregory-Aland, Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 07 (Biblical manuscript#Von Soden, Soden) are two vellum leaves of a late third century (or beginning of the fourth) Greek uncial Bible codex containing fragments o ...

(~300; extant verses 17–23, 25–32) *

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Old Testament and the majority of the New Testament. It is designated by siglum B or 03 in the Gregory-Aland numb ...

(325–350) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (; Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), also called the Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonica ...

(330–360; complete) *

Codex Bezae The Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis is a bi-lingual Greek and Latin manuscript of the New Testament written in an uncial hand on parchment. It is designated by the siglum D or 05 in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and � ...

(~400) *

Papyrus 19 Papyrus 19 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), signed by 𝔓19, is an early copy of the New Testament in Greek. The manuscript paleographically has been assigned to the 4th or 5th century. The papyrus is currently housed at the Bodleian Library, ...

(4th/5th century; extant verses 32–42) *

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (Paris, National Library of France, Greek 9) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, written on parchment. It is designated by the siglum C or 04 in the Biblical manuscript#Gregory-Aland, Gregory-Aland numbering of New ...

(~450; complete) *

Codex Petropolitanus Purpureus The Codex Petropolitanus Purpureus ("Tyrian purple, Purple Codex of Saint Petersburg"), designated by N or 022 (in the Biblical manuscript#Gregory-Aland, Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), ε19 (in the Biblical manuscript#Von ...

(6th century)

The twelve (verses 1–15)

The text in verse 1 refers to "his twelve disciples" (, ''tous dōdeka mathētas autou''). Verse 2 calls them "the twelve apostles" (, ''tōn dōdeka apostolōn''):

Verse 5 Verse may refer to: Poetry * Verse (poetry), a line or lines in a poetic composition * Blank verse, a type of poetry having regular meter but no rhyme * Free verse, a type of poetry written without the use of strict meter or rhyme, but still re ...

refers to them simply as "the twelve" (, ''tous dōdeka'') but the verb which follows is "ἀπέστειλεν" (''apesteilen''), meaning "sent forth".

Dale Allison Dale C. Allison Jr. (born November 25, 1955) is an American historian and Christian theologian. His areas of expertise include the historical Jesus, the Gospel of Matthew, Second Temple Jewish literature, and the history of the interpretation ...

observes that they are implicitly called "to imitate Jesus the missionary". Peter is named first because he would go on to lead the church. Judas is named last, because he was the most dishonoured.

Verses 17–39

The

Jerusalem Bible ''The Jerusalem Bible'' (JB or TJB) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd. As a Catholic Bible, it includes 73 books: the 39 books shared with the Hebrew Bible, along with the seven deuterocanonical ...

refers to these verses as a "

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

's handbook", and suggests that their scope is wider than that of the "first mission of the apostles" in verses 1–16.

Verse 34

:''"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send r bringpeace, but a sword."'' This is a much-discussed passage, often explained in terms of the "apocalyptic-eschatological" context of the 1st century.

R. T. France Richard Thomas France (1938–2012), known as R. T. France or Dick France, was a New Testament scholar and Anglican cleric. He was Principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, from 1989 to 1995. He also worked for the London School of Theology. ...

explains the verse, in context with the subsequent verse 35: "The sword Jesus brings is not here military conflict, but, as vv. 35–36 show, a sharp social division which even severs the closest family ties. … Jesus speaks here, as in the preceding and following verses, more of a division in men’s personal response to him." The text of Matthew's Gospel in the

Book of Kells The Book of Kells (; ; Dublin, Trinity College Library, MS A. I. 8 sometimes known as the Book of Columba) is an illustrated manuscript and Celts, Celtic Gospel book in Latin, containing the Gospel, four Gospels of the New Testament togeth ...

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', the

Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...

translation of "sword", to ', "joy", resulting in a reading of "I came not /nowiki>only/nowiki> to bring peace, but lsojoy".

Verse 38

:''And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.'':

NKJV The New King James Version (NKJV) is a translation of the Bible in contemporary English, working as a revision of the King James Version. Published by Thomas Nelson, the complete NKJV was released in 1982. With regard to its textual basis, the ...

*"Take his cross": is in the sense of "willingly to undergo the severe trials that fall to his lot" (; ); a figurative expression taken from the practice that "condemned criminals were compelled to take up their own cross and carry it to the place of execution" (; ; ).Meyer's NT Commentary on Matthew 10
Accessed 24 April 2019.

Parallels in the Gospel of Thomas

Matthew 10 contains many parallels found in the

. *Matthew 10:16 parallels saying 39 in the Gospel of Thomas. *Matthew 10:37 parallels sayings 55 and 101 *Matthew 10:27b parallels saying 33a. *Matthew 10:34–36 parallels saying 16. *Matthew 10:26 parallels saying 5b.

Notes

References

External links

* King James Bible – Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Apostles

Matthew 10 Matthew 10 is the tenth chapter in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament section of the Christian Bible. This chapter opens with Jesus calling some of his Disciple (Christianity), disciples and sending them out to preach and heal. This chapte ...

Judas Iscariot James, son of Alphaeus