Whatever town or village you enter can be “Whenever you enter a town or village” or “When you arrive in some town or village.” If a language makes no distinction between town and village, then the translation can simply be “a town.” See comments on 9.35.

Who is worthy is difficult to interpret, and a number of translations merely retain the word worthy without further qualification (Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, New American Bible). Other translations suggest that worthiness means either “a deserving inhabitant” (Moffatt; Barclay “someone who deserves the presence of my messengers”) or “some suitable person” (An American Translation). Jerusalem Bible interprets the meaning to be “someone trustworthy,” and Phillips “someone who is respected.” The exegesis of Good News Translation: (“someone who is willing to welcome you”) is followed by Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition (“someone who is ready to receive you”); this meaning finds support in the mention of “a worthy house” (verse 13), which is contrasted with the person who “will not receive you” (verse 14).

And stay with him until you depart indicates that the disciples are not to search for better accommodations once they have found a home that will receive them. New English Bible translates “and make your home there until you leave.”

Stay with him may be rendered as “live in his house” or “stay with him in his house.”

Instead of simply depart, in some languages it may be necessary to say “depart from that town.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .