10:14a
And if anyone will not welcome you: This clause refers to someone or even the whole town (10:14b) refusing to give hospitality to the disciples.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
And if some home or town will not welcome you (Good News Translation)
-or-
Whoever does not take care of you
-or-
And whoever refuses to give you hospitality
or heed your words: This phrase is the second thing that the household or town refuses to do: they will not listen to what the disciples say. It refers to these people not listening to the good news about Jesus. It does not refer to words in general. For example:
listen to your message (Contemporary English Version)
10:14b
shake the dust off your feet: Here Jesus told his disciples to shake or remove the dust that was on their feet (and sandals). They probably did this by shaking their feet or brushing off the dust with their hands.
This was a cultural gesture that had a symbolic meaning. When a Jewish person shook the dust of a place off of his feet, it indicated that he did not have any relationship with the people in that place. It showed that he rejected those people.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
• Explain it in the text. For example:
shake the dust off your feet ⌊to show that you reject them⌋
• Explain it in a footnote. Here is a sample footnote:
When the Jews wanted to show that they had rejected a place, they had a custom of shaking the dust off their feet.
when you leave that home or town: In Greek, this clause occurs before the command to “shake the dust off your feet.” This clause may also be translated as part of that command. For example:
leave that house or city, and shake its dust off your feet (God’s Word)
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