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Mat_10:16. Ἰδού ] Introduces demonstratively the thought for which Mat_10:14-15 have prepared the way. Such forms of address as ἰδού , ἄγε , etc., frequently occur in the singular in classical writers also, and that, too, where it is a question of plurality (Mat_18:31, Mat_26:65; Joh_1:29; Act_13:46); see Bremi, ad Dem. Philipp. I. 10, p. 119, Goth.
ἐγώ ] here, as always, is emphatic (in answer to Fritzsche, de Wette, Bleek): It is I who send you into the midst of such dangers; conduct yourselves, then, in such circumstances in a manner becoming those who are my messengers; be wise as serpents, and so on.
ὡς πρόβατα ἐν μέσῳ λύκων ] tanquam oves, etc., i.e. so that, as my messengers, you will be in the position of sheep in the midst of wolves. Usually ἐν μέσῳ λύκ . is made to depend on ἀποστέλλω , in which case ἐν , in accordance with its well-known pregnant force (Bernhardy, p. 208 f.), would not only express the direction of the verb, but also convey the idea of continuing in the position in question, while ὡς would have the meaning of as. This is harsh, inasmuch as the ἀποστέλλω , which occurs so often in the New Testament, is in no other instance (in Luk_4:19 it is an abstract expression) used in such a local sense. Moreover, ἐν μέσῳ gives more striking prominence to the danger than the simple ἐν .
ἀκέραιος ] Etym. M.: ὁ μὴ κεκραμένος κακοῖς , ἀλλʼ ἁπλοῦς καὶ ἀποίκιλος . Comp. Rom_16:19, Php_2:15, common in classical authors; see Ruhnken, ad Tim. p. 18. In view of the dangerous circumstances in which they would be placed, Jesus asks of them to combine (a combination to be realized under the direction of the Holy Spirit, as in Mat_10:19) prudence (in the recognition of danger, in the choice of means for counteracting it, in regard to their demeanour in the midst of it, and so on) with uprightness, which shuns every impropriety into which one might be betrayed in the presence of the dangers referred to, and therefore refrains from thinking, choosing, or doing anything of a questionable nature in connection with them. For Rabbinical passages bearing on the wisdom of the serpent (Gen_3:1) and the innocence of the dove (Hos_7:11), see Schoettgen.
The loftiest example of this combination is Jesus Himself; while among the apostles, so far as we know them, the one who ranks highest in this respect is Paul.