Section 10:5–42

Jesus instructed the twelve apostles

In this section, Jesus gave various instructions to the twelve apostles. In 10:5–15, he gave them some practical instructions for preaching the good news. In 10:16–33, he described the opposition that they would see when they went out. Lastly, in 10:34–42, he described the commitment required to be a disciple and the reward for being a disciple.

You may want to break this long section into several shorter sections. Here is an example:

Section 10:5–15
The things the apostles should/must do when sent

Section 10:16–33
The difficulties the apostles will face

Section 10:34–42
The cost and reward of following Jesus

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

Jesus gave directions/instructions to the twelve apostles for preaching the gospel
-or-
The Mission of the Twelve (Good News Translation)
-or-
Instructions for the Twelve Apostles (Contemporary English Version)

Paragraph 10:5–10

10:5a

These twelve: This phrase refers to the twelve disciples/apostles just named. In some languages, it will be natural to add a noun to go with the number twelve. For example:

These twelve men (Good News Translation)
-or-
Those twelve disciples
-or-
the twelve apostles (Contemporary English Version)

Jesus sent out with the following instructions: This clause indicates that the words that follow in 10:5b–42 are the commands that Jesus gave to his twelve disciples, and then he sent them out. He did not send them out first, then instruct them later.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

Jesus sent out after instructing them (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
Jesus sent these twelve t with the following instructions (God’s Word)
-or-
Jesus sent out these twelve men. But first he told them

10:5b

Do not go onto the road of the Gentiles: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Gentiles is literally “nations.” The Jews used this word to refer to all the people groups besides themselves.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

Don’t go among people who are not Jewish (God’s Word)
-or-
Do not go to other nations
-or-
Do not go to foreigners/strangers

or enter any town of the Samaritans: The word Samaritans is the name of a people group who lived in the land of Samaria. Samaria was between the two Jewish areas of Galilee and Judea. Although Samaritans spoke the same language as the Jews, the Jews considered them a different people group.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

and don’t go to any Samaritan town (Contemporary English Version)

-or-

do not go to any town where the people/tribe of Samaria live

This is the only time that Matthew mentioned the word Samaritans. So it may be good to have a footnote here. A sample footnote is:

Samaritans descended partly from a group of Jews and partly from foreign nations. They did not follow the same religion as the Jews. So the Jews considered them a different people group and despised them. Jesus would later send the disciples to all people groups (28:19), but he wanted his disciples to start by preaching to their fellow Jews.

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