These twelve is emphatic in the Greek text. Thus, if possible, translators should use “these twelve men” and not simply “the twelve men.” It may, however, be necessary to reverse the order of the verse, as in “Jesus sent out these twelve” or “Jesus told these twelve to go.”

The verb sent out is made from the same stem as the noun “apostle,” which was used of the twelve in Matthew 10.2.

Charging them is translated “with the following instructions” by Good News Translation and New English Bible (New Jerusalem Bible “instructing them as follows”). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates this entire part of the verse as “Jesus sent out these twelve with the command:….” It can also be expressed as “this is what he told them to do.”

Go nowhere among the Gentiles (Good News Translation “Do not go to any Gentile territory”) is translated “Avoid the places where non-Jews live” by Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch. Matthew incorporates this command of Jesus in order to show that God has not abandoned the Jews, and that the message of salvation was to go to them first. As is seen in the Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch example cited, Gentiles can be rendered “non-Jews” or “people who are not Jews.” The command can be “Don’t go to the places where the non-Jews live.”

And enter no town of the Samaritans: the use of the plural “towns” (Good News Translation) or a structure such as “any Samaritan town” (New English Bible) represents more idiomatic English than does no town of the Samaritans. It is possible that the Greek word “town” translates an Aramaic word which may mean either “town” or “province,” but no translation appears to follow this latter interpretation. This command can be translated “don’t go into any town of the Samaritans.”

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 .