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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Matthew 10:10 - 10:10
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10. δύο χιτῶνας. 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. See Xen. Mem. I. 6. 2, where Antiphon, addressing Socrates, says: ζῇς γοῦν οὕτως, ὡς οὐδʼ ἂν εἶς δοῦλος ὑπὸ δεσπότῃ διαιτώμενος μείνειε, σιτία τε σιτῇ καὶ ποτὰ πίνεις τὰ φαυλότατα καὶ ἱμάτιον ἠμφίεσαι οὐ μόνον φαῦλον ἀλλὰ τὸ αὐτὸ θέρους τε καὶ χειμῶνος, ἀνυπόδητός τε καὶ ἀχίτων διατελεῖς. καὶ μὴν χρήματά γε οὐ λαμβάνεις ἃ καὶ κτωμένους εὐφραίνει καὶ κεκτημένους ἐλευθεριώτερόν τε καὶ ἥδιον ποιεῖ ζῆν. Epiphanius relates that James the Lord’s brother never wore two tunics but only a cloak of fine linen (σινδόνα).
ὑποδήματα, ‘shoes.’ From Mar 6:9 it appears that the apostles were enjoined to wear sandals (σανδάλια). This distinction is dwelt upon in the Talmud. Shoes were of softer leather, and therefore a mark of more luxurious living. Sandals were often made with soles of wood, or rushes, or bark of palm-trees. Lightfoot, Hor. Hebr. ad loc.
ἐργάτης. See on ch. Mat 9:35-38.
These directions correspond to the Rabbinical rules for approach to the Temple: ‘Let no man enter into the Mount of the Temple, neither with his staff in his hand, nor with his shoes upon his feet, nor with money bound up in his linen, nor with a purse hanging on his back’ (Lightfoot, Hor. Hebr. ad loc.). In some sense this connection must have been meant by Christ, and present to the minds of the disciples. It would intensify the thought of the sacredness of their mission, and suggest the thought of a Spiritual Temple.