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Mark6:7–13

The Ministry of the Twelve

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Mark 6:7–13 — The Ministry of the Twelve. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

7

Then Jesus called the Twelve to Him and began to send them out two by two, giving them authority over unclean spirits.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai proskaleitai tous dōdeka kai ērxato apostellein autous dyo dyo kai edidou autois exousian tōn tōn akathartōn pneumatōn

Word by word18 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiThenG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
προσκαλεῖταιproskaleitai[Jesus] calledG4341
√ προσκαλέομαι — to call toward oneself, iVerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
proskaleomai: to call toward oneself Present middle, and the voice matters: the summons is toward the caller's own person. Mission in Mark never begins with a dispatch but with a drawing near, the same order as Mark 3:13-14, where the Twelve are first made to be with Him and only then to be sent. Cambridge presses the tense, He calleth unto Him.
τοὺςtoustheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Plural
δώδεκαdōdekaTwelve {to Him}G1427
√ δώδεκα — two and ten, iAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Plural
dōdeka: two and ten The number is already a claim: twelve for the tribes, a whole Israel reconstituted around this Teacher. Poole notes that Mark alone recorded their election (Mark 3:14) while Matthew and Luke did not, and that here Mark gives the mission which all three record. Election in Mark 3 becomes commission in Mark 6.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἤρξατοērxatobeganG756
√ ἄρχομαι — to commence (in order of time)VerbAorist Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
archomai: to commence Aorist, began, joined to a present infinitive: an inaugurated and continuing action. Gill takes it of successive pairs, one couple first and then another.
ἀποστέλλεινapostelleinto send them outG649
√ ἀποστέλλω — set apart, iVerbPresent Infinitive Active
apostellō: to set apart, send out This is the verb from which the noun apostle is formed. Mark does not yet call them apostles here; the sending makes the name. Maclaren observes that the special commands of this journey were later repealed while their spirit was not.
αὐτοὺςautous. . .G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
δύοdyotwoG1417
√ δύο — "two"AdjectiveAccusative Masculine Plural
δύοdyo[by] twoG1417
√ δύο — "two"AdjectiveAccusative Masculine Plural
dyo: two The second δύο is not a second number but the same number repeated, a distributive. Benson notes that Matthew's catalogue of the Twelve is arranged in pairs, and Maclaren points out the curiosity that Mark, whose own list is not paired, supplies the reason for the pairing the other Gospels display.
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐδίδουedidougivingG1325
√ δίδωμι — to give (used in a very wide application, properly, or by implication, literally or figurativelyVerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
didōmi: to give Imperfect indicative: the giving is durative or repeated, not a single handover. Pulpit explicitly marks the imperfect (ἐδίδου). The grammar holds open what Maclaren states plainly, that Christ gives before He commands, so that the authority the Twelve carry is never a possession but a supply.
αὐτοῖςautoisthemG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
ἐξουσίανexousianauthorityG1849
√ ἐξουσία — privilege, iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
exousia: privilege, right, authority Not δύναμις, raw power, but the delegated right to act. The distinction is why the Twelve can do what they cannot do: the capacity is derivative all the way down. Pulpit reads Mark's narrowing to unclean spirits, where Matthew 10:1 adds every sickness, as Mark fixing attention on the central conflict of the ministry.
τῶνtōnoverG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Neuter Plural
τῶνtōnG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Neuter Plural
ἀκαθάρτωνakathartōnuncleanG169
√ ἀκάθαρτος — impure (ceremonially, morally (lewd) or specially, (demonic))AdjectiveGenitive Neuter Plural
akathartos: impure, ceremonially, morally or demonically One Greek adjective spans ritual defilement, moral filth and demonic possession. The single word is why the exorcisms of this mission are not a sideshow: what is cast out is the same uncleanness the ceremonial law could only diagnose and quarantine.
πνευμάτωνpneumatōnspiritsG4151
√ πνεῦμα — a current of air, iNounGenitive Neuter Plural
pneuma: a current of air, breath, spirit Genitive plural, the domain assigned. Mark reports the authority only, not its exercise, until verse 13, where the verb turns imperfect and the Twelve are found doing it repeatedly.
8

He instructed them to take nothing but a staff for the journey—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts—

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai parēngeilen autois hina airōsin mēden ei mē monon rhabdon eis hodon mē arton mē pēran mē chalkon eis tēn zōnēn

Word by word21 · parsed
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
παρήγγειλενparēngeilenHe instructedG3853
√ παραγγέλλω — to transmit a message, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
parangellō: to transmit a message, charge The verb of a command passed along a chain, and it governs everything through verse 9. What follows is therefore not counsel about travel but an order with a purpose, which Poole reads as a deliberate exposure: they are to commit themselves to providence and find out by experience that it holds.
αὐτοῖςautoisthemG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
ἵναhinatoG2443
√ ἵνα — compare G3588 (ὁ))Conjunction
αἴρωσινairōsintakeG142
√ αἴρω — to lift upVerbPresent Subjunctive Active3rd Person Plural
airō: to lift up, take up Present subjunctive after ἵνα: not one decision at departure but a continuous refusal to pick things up along the way.
μηδὲνmēdennothingG3367
√ μηδείς — not even one (man, woman, thing)AdjectiveAccusative Neuter Singular
mēdeis: not even one thing The absolute negative stands first in the clause and the single exception is then cut out of it. Greek says nothing, then says except a staff; the order itself makes the staff look like a concession wrung out of a prohibition.
εἰeibutG1487
√ εἰ — if, whether, that, etcConjunction
μὴmē. . .G3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
μόνονmonon. . .G3440
√ μόνον — merelyAdverb
ῥάβδονrhabdona staffG4464
√ ῥάβδος — a stick or wand (as a cudgel, a cane or a baton of royalty)NounAccusative Feminine Singular
rhabdos: a stick, staff, rod A rare noun (11 verses). Mark permits it; Matthew 10:10 and Luke 9:3 forbid it. Ellicott, Poole, Cambridge and Pulpit each offer a harmonization (one staff and not two, or use what you already have rather than procure one), and they do not agree with each other. The tension is real and we do not pretend it is settled here.
εἰςeisforG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
ὁδὸνhodon[the] journeyG3598
√ ὁδός — a roadNounAccusative Feminine Singular
hodos: a road, way For the road, an accusative of purpose. The provision refused is measured against the road ahead, which is the point: the road is the thing they are to walk unequipped.
μὴmēnoG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
ἄρτονartonbreadG740
√ ἄρτος — bread (as raised) or a loafNounAccusative Masculine Singular
artos: bread, a loaf Bread stands first in the list, before pouch and coin, and it is the one item this chapter will hand back to them: the Twelve who are sent out without a loaf are, within thirty verses, told to count the loaves they have and to feed a crowd with them. The prohibition is therefore a sequence, not an asceticism. They must go out breadless before they are made distributors of bread, and Mark will later make their failure to understand the loaves the measure of their hardness (Mark 8:17-21).
μὴmēnoG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
πήρανpēranbagG4082
√ πήρα — a wallet or leather pouch for foodNounAccusative Feminine Singular
μὴmēnoG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
χαλκόνchalkonmoneyG5475
√ χαλκός — copper (the substance, or some implement or coin made of it)NounAccusative Masculine Singular
chalkos: copper The cheapest metal, and Mark's chosen word for money. It recurs in Mark 12:41 of the copper the crowd casts into the treasury, a rare lexeme (5 verses) that in this Gospel attaches to the smallest sums people possess.
εἰςeisinG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
τὴνtēntheirG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
ζώνηνzōnēnbeltsG2223
√ ζώνη — a beltNounAccusative Feminine Singular
zōnē: a belt The garment that doubles as a wallet. Geneva reads the whole clause pastorally: the faithful minister's mind is not to be set even on things necessary to this life if they would hinder him.
9

and to wear sandals, but not a second tunic.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

alla hypodedemenous sandalia kai mē endysēsthe dyo chitōnas

Word by word8 · parsed
ἀλλὰalla[and]G235
√ ἀλλά — properly, other things, iConjunction
ὑποδεδεμένουςhypodedemenousto wearG5265
√ ὑποδέω — to bind under one's feet, iVerbPerfect Participle Middle or PassiveAccusative Masculine Plural
hypodeō: to bind under one's feet Rare (3 verses). Perfect participle: the shoe is presupposed, not issued. Of the three occurrences, one is Peter told to bind on his sandals as the angel frees him (Acts 12:8) and one is Paul's feet shod with the gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:15). Mark's bare travel detail turns out to be the only vocabulary the New Testament has for being ready to walk.
σανδάλιαsandaliasandalsG4547
√ σανδάλιον — of uncertain origin)NounAccusative Neuter Plural
sandalion: sandal Two verses in the whole New Testament, here and Acts 12:8. Cambridge reports that the Galilean peasant wore a coarse shoe answering to the ancient sandal and never carried a second pair; Ellicott marks it as the footwear of the poor. The Twelve are dressed as what they are, village men on foot.
καὶkai[but]G2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
μὴmēnotG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
mē: not The negative that turns the clause from description to prohibition.
ἐνδύσησθεendysēstheG1746
√ ἐνδύω — to invest with clothing (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Subjunctive Middle2nd Person Plural
endyō: to clothe, put on Aorist subjunctive in the second person: a direct prohibition addressed to them, breaking out of the indirect construction that began in verse 8. The grammatical rupture is itself evidence that Mark is compressing a longer charge, which Cambridge notes Matthew 10:5-42 preserves at far greater length.
δύοdyoa secondG1417
√ δύο — "two"AdjectiveAccusative Masculine Plural
χιτῶναςchitōnastunicG5509
√ χιτών — a tunic or shirtNounAccusative Masculine Plural
chitōn: a tunic, shirt The undergarment. Gill records the dispute over whether two coats means two at once or a change of clothing, and Geneva takes it as no change of garments, so that they might travel lighter and faster.
10

And He told them, “When you enter a house, stay there until you leave that area.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai elegen autois Hopou ean eiselthēte eis oikian menete ekei heōs an exelthēte ekeithen

Word by word14 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiAndG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἔλεγενelegenHe toldG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
epō: to speak, say Imperfect. Mark's three imperfects in this passage (was giving, was saying, and the string in verse 13) give the whole mission a running, unfinished texture rather than a set of completed events.
αὐτοῖςautoisthemG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
ὍπουHopouWhenG3699
√ ὅπου — what(-ever) where, iAdverb
ἐὰνean. . .G1437
√ ἐάν — a conditional particleConjunction
εἰσέλθητεeiselthēteyou enterG1525
√ εἰσέρχομαι — to enter (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Subjunctive Active2nd Person Plural
eiserchomai: to enter Aorist subjunctive in an indefinite clause: whenever entry happens, once, and then the abiding begins.
εἰςeis. . .G1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
οἰκίανoikiana houseG3614
√ οἰκία — properly, residence (abstractly), but usually (concretely) an abode (literally or figuratively)NounAccusative Feminine Singular
oikia: a residence, house The unit of the mission is a household, not a synagogue or a square. Everything the Twelve do in a village runs through somebody's door, which is why the refusal of a house in verse 11 counts as the refusal of the message.
μένετεmenetestayG3306
√ μένω — to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy)VerbPresent Imperative Active2nd Person Plural
menō: to stay, abide, remain Present imperative of the verb John will later use for abiding in Christ. Here it is domestic and concrete, and the reason given by the commentators is pastoral: Pulpit, lest they seem fickle or wound the first host; Cambridge, citing Thomson, because the local etiquette of competing invitations consumed time and bred ostentation; Geneva, bluntly, do not change your inns.
ἐκεῖekeithereG1563
√ ἐκεῖ — thereAdverb
ἕωςheōsuntilG2193
√ ἕως — a conjunction, preposition and adverb of continuance, until (of time and place)Conjunction
heōs: until With ἄν and the subjunctive, an open ended limit: the staying lasts as long as the work does.
ἂνan. . .G302
√ ἄν — (what-, where-, wither-, who-)soeverParticle
ἐξέλθητεexelthēteyou leaveG1831
√ ἐξέρχομαι — to issue (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Subjunctive Active2nd Person Plural
exerchomai: to go out, issue forth The same verb that opens verse 12, where they go out to preach. Departure from a house and departure on mission are one word in Mark.
ἐκεῖθενekeithenthat areaG1564
√ ἐκεῖθεν — thenceAdverb
ekeithen: thence, from there Repeated in verse 11, binding the two commands together: the same leaving is either an ordinary departure or a testimony.
11

If anyone will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that place, as a testimony against them.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai hos an mē dexētai hymas mēde akousōsin hymōn ektinaxate ton choun ton hypokatō hymōn tōn podōn ekporeuomenoi ekeithen topos eis martyrion autois

Word by word23 · parsed
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ὃςhosIfG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounNominative Masculine Singular
ἂνananyoneG302
√ ἄν — (what-, where-, wither-, who-)soeverParticle
μὴmēvvvG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
δέξηταιdexētaiwill not welcomeG1209
√ δέχομαι — to receive (in various applications, literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Subjunctive Middle3rd Person Singular
dechomai: to receive, welcome Aorist subjunctive. The verb is hospitality language, to take in; refusing the messenger at the door is the whole act of rejection Mark has in view, and it is paired at once with refusing to hear.
ὑμᾶςhymasyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 2nd Person Plural
μηδὲmēdeorG3366
√ μηδέ — but not, not evenConjunction
ἀκούσωσινakousōsinlisten toG191
√ ἀκούω — to hear (in various senses)VerbAorist Subjunctive Active3rd Person Plural
akouō: to hear Third person plural after a singular subject, another seam in Mark's compressed Greek that fits the place reading: the place does not receive, its people do not hear.
ὑμῶνhymōnyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Plural
ἐκτινάξατεektinaxateshakeG1621
√ ἐκτινάσσω — to shake violentlyVerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Plural
ektinassō: to shake violently Rare (4 verses), and every other occurrence is in Acts, of the apostles doing exactly this. Maclaren calls the gesture an emblem of solemn renunciation of participation and perhaps a disclaimer of responsibility. It has no warrant in the Law: Cambridge reports it as a Pharisaic custom performed on returning from Gentile soil, so the Twelve are told to do to unbelieving Israelite towns what the devout did to heathen dust.
τὸνtontheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
χοῦνchoundustG5522
√ χόος — a heap (as poured out), iNounAccusative Masculine Singular
chous: a heap of poured out earth Two verses in the New Testament. The only other is Revelation 18:19, where the shipmasters throw χοῦς on their own heads over the fall of Babylon. Dust is what one carries away from a place under judgment, either on the feet or on the head.
τὸνtonG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
ὑποκάτωhypokatōoffG5270
√ ὑποκάτω — down under, iPreposition
ὑμῶνhymōnyourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Plural
τῶνtōnG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Plural
ποδῶνpodōnfeetG4228
√ πούς — a "foot" (figuratively or literally)NounGenitive Masculine Plural
pous: a foot The feet that were shod in verse 9 are the feet dusted here: the same word ties the equipment to the verdict.
ἐκπορευόμενοιekporeuomenoiwhen you leaveG1607
√ ἐκπορεύομαι — to depart, be discharged, proceed, projectVerbPresent Participle Middle or PassiveNominative Masculine Plural
ekporeuomai: to depart, proceed out Present participle: the shaking happens in the act of leaving, not afterward at a distance. It is public, done while still in sight.
ἐκεῖθενekeithenthatG1564
√ ἐκεῖθεν — thenceAdverb
τόποςtoposplaceG5117
√ τόπος — a spot (general in space, but limited by occupancyNounNominative Masculine Singular
εἰςeisasG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
μαρτύριονmartyriona testimonyG3142
√ μαρτύριον — something evidential, iNounAccusative Neuter Singular
martyrion: something evidential, a testimony The gesture is classed as evidence, not as a curse. That is the restraint of Mark's word: the Twelve are not authorized to pronounce doom, only to leave behind an unmistakable record that the message came and was refused. Pulpit reads the dust as witnessing that they had entered the city and their message had been refused; the later clause about Sodom and Gomorrah, which would have supplied the doom, is absent from the best authorities.
αὐτοῖςautoisagainst themG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
12

So they set out and preached that the people should repent.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai exelthontes ekēryxan hina metanoōsin

Word by word5 · parsed
ΚαὶKai[So]G2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐξελθόντεςexelthontesthey set outG1831
√ ἐξέρχομαι — to issue (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Plural
exerchomai: to issue, go out Third use of the verb in six verses. Obedience in Mark is a departure, and Henry's note is on exactly this point: conscious of weakness and expecting no worldly advantage, they went.
ἐκήρυξανekēryxan[and] preachedG2784
√ κηρύσσω — to herald (as a public crier), especially divine truth (the gospel)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
kēryssō: to herald, especially divine truth The crier does not compose the proclamation. That is the theological weight of the word: the Twelve carry a message they did not draft, on an authority given to them in verse 7. Mark used the same verb of Jesus at Mark 1:14-15 and of John before Him, and Poole notes that John, Christ and the Twelve all preached one doctrine, Repent.
ἵναhinathatG2443
√ ἵνα — compare G3588 (ὁ))Conjunction
μετανοῶσινmetanoōsin[the people] should repentG3340
√ μετανοέω — to think differently or afterwards, iVerbPresent Subjunctive Active3rd Person Plural
metanoeō: to think differently or afterward Present subjunctive: a continuing change of mind, not a completed transaction. Ellicott reads the Twelve's message as still the Baptist's, the nearness of the kingdom and repentance as the one adequate preparation, with the Master not yet proclaimed as the Christ. Gill adds the Reformed caution that preaching repentance to men does not prove men can produce it, since repentance is itself a gift; readers who disagree with his soteriology should still notice that the Greek imperative here is addressed to hearers, not to their capacity.
13

They also drove out many demons and healed many of the sick, anointing them with oil.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai exeballon polla daimonia kai etherapeuon pollous arrōstous kai ēleiphon elaiō

Word by word11 · parsed
καὶkaivvvG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐξέβαλλονexeballonThey also drove outG1544
√ ἐκβάλλω — to eject (literally or figuratively)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
ekballō: to eject, cast out Imperfect, repeatedly. What Jesus authorized in verse 7 in the language of authority appears here in the language of habit: the delegated right became routine practice. Gill reads the exorcisms as a prelude to the casting out of Satan from the hearts of men and from the Gentile world.
πολλὰpollamanyG4183
√ πολύς — (singular) much (in any respect) or (plural) manyAdjectiveAccusative Neuter Plural
δαιμόνιαdaimoniademonsG1140
√ δαιμόνιον — a dæmonic beingNounAccusative Neuter Plural
daimonion: a demonic being The neuter diminutive form, the standard Gospel word. Mark's report is deliberately spare: no dialogue, no names, no spectacle, only many.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐθεράπευονetherapeuonhealedG2323
√ θεραπεύω — to wait upon menially, iVerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
therapeuō: to wait upon, serve, heal The root means to attend as a servant before it means to cure. Imperfect again, kept healing. It is worth hearing the servant sense under the miracle: the Twelve go out with nothing and spend the journey waiting on the strengthless.
πολλοὺςpollousmanyG4183
√ πολύς — (singular) much (in any respect) or (plural) manyAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Plural
ἀρρώστουςarrōstousof the sickG732
√ ἄῤῥωστος — infirmAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Plural
arrōstos: infirm, strengthless Rare (5 verses). Mark 6:5 used it of the few sick at Nazareth where He could do no mighty work because of unbelief; Mark 6:13 uses it of the many healed by His envoys in the villages. The same rare word measures the difference unbelief makes, and Maclaren is the commentator who presses that Mark dares to write could not.
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἤλειφονēleiphonanointing [them]G218
√ ἀλείφω — to oil (with perfume)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
aleiphō: to oil, anoint Not χρίω, the verb behind Χριστός, but the ordinary word for oiling a body. The distinction matters for anyone tempted to read a messianic pun here: there is none in the vocabulary. What the word does carry is James 5:14, where the elders are told to anoint the sick with oil, the same two lexemes. Ellicott, Benson, Barnes, Poole, Cambridge and Pulpit all connect the two passages, and all of them, with Geneva, deny that either supports extreme unction, since in both texts the sick recover.
ἐλαίῳelaiōwith oilG1637
√ ἔλαιον — olive oilNounDative Neuter Singular
elaion: olive oil Rare (11 verses). Barnes and Cambridge both note the medicinal use of oil, citing Isaiah 1:6 and Josephus on Herod's last illness; Poole and Gill argue instead that the oil must be purely symbolic, since a natural remedy would blunt the miracle. The brief preserves both readings and does not settle between them, and the honest position is that Mark reports the practice without explaining it.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. Called near before sent out — 6:7

Mark's first verb is προσκαλεῖται, present and middle: He calls the Twelve toward Himself. Cambridge insists on that tense against the older English past. Only then comes the sending, and Mark's second verb, ἐδίδου, is imperfect, which Pulpit marks expressly: the authority was not handed over once at the door but kept being given. Maclaren draws the doctrinal conclusion in his own words, that Christ gives before He commands. The pairing two by two is Mark's alone, as Cambridge notes; Benson observes that Matthew's list of the Twelve is arranged in pairs, and Maclaren adds the curious detail that Mark, whose own list is not paired, supplies the reason for the arrangement the other Gospels display. Barnes reads the pairing as mutual support under opposition; Gill reads it as sufficient witness, two mouths agreeing, and as efficiency, since paired messengers cover ground a single band could not. ⚙ The three readings are not rivals: a witness needs a second voice, and a frightened man needs a companion, and Mark reports only that the Lord arranged both at once.

ii. The rule of the road: what may not be carried — 6:8-6:9

παρήγγειλεν is the verb for passing an order down a line, and what it forbids is precisely the traveller's three securities: ἄρτον (bread), πήραν (the leather food pouch, Cambridge's scrip, compared by him to the shepherd's bag of 1 Samuel 17:40), and χαλκόν (copper, the smallest coin, which Pulpit renders literally as brass in the girdle and notes as Mark's Roman idiom where Luke writes silver). Maclaren's summary is that the Twelve were to travel light. Poole states the purpose most plainly: they were to commit themselves to providence and find its experience. Benson points to the Lord's own later appeal to this journey, when He asks whether they lacked anything. ⚙ The exception granted, a staff, is where the honest reader must stop: Mark permits ῥάβδον, Matthew 10:10 and Luke 9:3 forbid it. Ellicott harmonizes by counting (one staff, not two), Cambridge and Pulpit by distinguishing having from procuring, Poole offers both solutions in one breath, and Gill takes Matthew to forbid burden bearing staves. They do not agree. We record the difficulty rather than pick a winner. Then the Greek itself breaks: the accusative participle ὑποδεδεμένους gives way to the second person ἐνδύσησθε, indirect report cracking open into direct address, which is itself a sign that Mark is compressing the long charge Cambridge locates at Matthew 10:5-42.

iii. One house, and the dust of the rest — 6:10-6:11

μένετε is a present imperative of μένω, keep abiding, and the reasons offered are pastoral rather than mystical: Pulpit, lest they seem fickle or wound their first host, and lest they become a burden; Geneva, do not change your inns; Cambridge, quoting Thomson's travel report, because competing invitations consumed time and bred ostentation. Then the counter case. ἐκτινάξατε is a rare and violent verb, and χοῦν is not Matthew's and Luke's ordinary word for dust but a heavier word for poured out soil, which Pulpit renders as the soil. Cambridge supplies the decisive historical note: the gesture was a Pharisaic custom on returning from Gentile ground, a renunciation of communion with heathenism, and Acts 13:51 and Acts 18:6 record Paul performing it. ⚙ Note what Mark does not authorize. The act is classed as μαρτύριον, evidence, and the dative αὐτοῖς is to them, not against them. The sentence that would have pronounced doom, the comparison with Sodom and Gomorrah, is the one Pulpit and Gill both identify as carried over from Matthew 10:15 and absent from the best authorities. Geneva's gloss, that the Lord severely avenges evil done to His servants, may be true doctrine; it is not what this clause of this verse says.

iv. They heralded, they cast out, they oiled — 6:12-6:13

ἐκήρυξαν is the crier's verb: a decree announced on another's authority. Ellicott observes that the content is still the Baptist's, the nearness of the kingdom and repentance as its one adequate preparation, and that the Twelve did not yet proclaim their Master as the Christ; Poole notes that John, Christ and the Twelve preached one doctrine, Repent. Barnes grounds the call in the presence of the Messiah rather than in mere moral improvement. Gill uses the verse to insist that repentance is a gift and not a native power, which is his theology pressed onto a clause that says only what was preached. Then verse 13 turns every verb to the imperfect: ἐξέβαλλον, ἐθεράπευον, ἤλειφον, repeatedly and habitually, and ἤλειφον is a finite verb in Greek, not the English participle. Mark alone reports the oil, as Ellicott and Cambridge both say. Barnes and Cambridge cite its medicinal use (Isaiah 1:6, and Josephus on Herod bathed in oil); Poole and Gill argue the opposite, that a natural remedy would have diminished the miracle, so the oil must be sign only; Ellicott holds both together, calling it an outward sign, a help to faith, and a joining of ordinary means with prayer. ⚙ We leave the question open, and note the one verbal fact that constrains it: the word is ἀλείφω, ordinary oiling, and it is the same word James 5:14 will use when the elders are told to do this in the church.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ Read as one sentence, Mark 6:7-13 is a lesson in what authority is made of. The Lord gives what cannot be manufactured (ἐξουσία over unclean spirits, and He keeps giving it, imperfect tense) and forbids what can be packed (bread, pouch, copper, a change of clothes). Everything the Twelve are allowed to carry, a stick and the sandals already on their feet, is what they had before He called them. So the mission is engineered so that nothing in the results can be credited to the messengers' resources, and this is why the imperfects of verse 13 are not boasting: they went out with less than a beggar and came back having emptied villages of demons. Our own fallible line, offered to be tested and not to be quoted as Scripture: authority is given, provision is withheld, and the gospel still arrives. Two cautions against ourselves. First, Maclaren is right that the specific commands were repealed by the Lord Himself when He sent them out again, so anyone who reads this as a permanent rule of church finance is reading past Luke 22:35-36; the spirit of the passage outlives its letter. Second, the passage is gentler than its interpreters. It classes the dusted feet as testimony to a town, not as a sentence upon it, and the doom clause that later copies added is exactly the thing the best texts do not have. When a commentator's warmth or severity outruns the Greek, we have tried to say so and to leave the verse standing where it stands.

Authority is given, provision is withheld, and the gospel still arrives.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The same charge in three Gospels, and the staff they cannot agree on verbal / quotation: confirmed

Mark 6:8-9 is the shortest of three reports of one commissioning. Matthew 10:9-10 and Luke 9:3 share the vocabulary item by item: ῥάβδος the staff, ὁδός the road, χαλκός the copper, ζώνη the belt, ἄρτος the bread. The Verifier confirms each shared lexeme. And on one word the three disagree flatly: Mark permits a staff, Matthew and Luke exclude it. Ellicott, Poole, Gill, Cambridge and Pulpit each propose a reconciliation and none of them converges with the others. ⚙ We tier the link verbal because these are Greek to Greek parallels sharing rare lexemes (χαλκός in 5 verses, ζώνη in 7, ῥάβδος in 11), but the reader should notice that a verbal link is not a harmonization: the words are demonstrably the same words, and the discrepancy is still there.

Matthew 10:9 · Matthew 10:10 · Luke 9:3

basis: Verifier: with Matthew 10:10, shared Greek lexemes G4464 ῥάβδος (in 11 vv) and G3598 ὁδός (in 99 vv); with Matthew 10:9, G5475 χαλκός (in 5 vv), G2223 ζώνη (in 7 vv), G3366 μηδέ (in 50 vv); with Luke 9:3, G1417 δύο, G740 ἄρτος (in 89 vv), G3598 ὁδός. χαλκός and ζώνη are rare, and these are the recognized synoptic parallels of one charge, Greek to Greek; it is a parallel account, not a quotation of one text by another

Sandals: the three verses that speak of being shod verbal / quotation: confirmed

σανδάλιον occurs in only two verses in the New Testament: here, and Acts 12:8, where the angel tells the imprisoned Peter to bind on his sandals and follow. Ellicott notes the connection himself. The verb ὑποδέω occurs in three, the third being Ephesians 6:15, feet shod with the readiness of the gospel of peace. ⚙ The lexical link is airtight; the figure we draw from it is ours. Mark has the Twelve shod for a village road, Luke has Peter shod for a prison break, Paul has the whole church shod for a standing fight. One rare piece of footwear vocabulary, three pictures of being ready to move.

Acts 12:8 · Ephesians 6:15

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G4547 σανδάλιον (in 2 vv, rare) and G5265 ὑποδέω (in 3 vv, rare) with Acts 12:8; G5265 ὑποδέω with G4228 πούς (in 86 vv) with Ephesians 6:15. All Greek to Greek; a rare shared lexeme, not a quotation

Shaken off in Pisidia and in Corinth verbal / quotation: confirmed

ἐκτινάσσω, to shake violently, appears in only four verses. Two of them are Luke's record of Paul obeying this very command: at Antioch in Pisidia he shook the dust of his feet against the city (Acts 13:51), and at Corinth he shook out his garment (Acts 18:6). Cambridge cites both as the carrying out of the command, and adds the historical basis: it was a Pharisaic custom, performed on re entering Judaea from Gentile soil, to renounce all communion with heathenism. ⚙ Note carefully what this means: the gesture has no warrant in the Law. It is a Jewish custom of the period, not a commandment, and Mark's sting is that the custom reserved for pagan ground is now to be used on unbelieving Israelite towns.

Acts 13:51 · Acts 18:6

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G1621 ἐκτινάσσω (in 4 vv, rare) with both Acts 13:51 and Acts 18:6, plus G4228 πούς (in 86 vv) with Acts 13:51. Greek to Greek; a rare shared verb and a narrated execution of the command, not a quotation. The Pharisaic custom itself is reported by Cambridge and is period practice, not Mosaic law

The few and the many: ἄρρωστος across eight verses of Mark verbal / quotation: confirmed

At Mark 6:5, in unbelieving Nazareth, He laid hands on a few ἀρρώστους and could do no mighty work. At Mark 6:13 His envoys heal many ἀρρώστους. The Verifier confirms the shared rare adjective (5 verses in the New Testament) and the shared verb θεραπεύω. ⚙ Mark has placed the two counts eight verses apart, and the arithmetic is the commentary: what was scarce where He was known was abundant where He was announced. Maclaren, treating Mark 6:1-13 as one piece, refuses to soften Mark's could not; the same paragraph that records the limit records the overflow.

Mark 6:5

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G732 ἄῤῥωστος (in 5 vv, rare), G2323 θεραπεύω (in 42 vv), G1563 ἐκεῖ (in 94 vv) with Mark 6:5. Same book, Greek to Greek, rare lexeme; a verbal link inside one narrative, not a quotation

Oil on the sick: from the Twelve to the elders structural / thematic: confirmed

ἤλειφον ἐλαίῳ in Mark 6:13 is the same verb and noun pair that James 5:14 uses when the elders are told to pray over the sick and anoint them with oil; James also uses προσκαλέομαι, the verb of Mark 6:7. Ellicott, Benson, Barnes, Poole, Cambridge and Pulpit all connect the two texts, and Cambridge places the prescription in James some thirty years later than this Gospel. Luke 7:46 shares the same two words of the woman anointing Jesus' feet. ⚙ We decline the verbal tier: ἀλείφω (8 verses) and ἔλαιον (11 verses) are not rare enough to carry it, and James is not quoting Mark. What is shared is an idiom and a practice, which is a real link and a smaller one. Where the commentators split, whether the oil was medicine or sign, we record the split and take no side.

James 5:14 · Luke 7:46

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G218 ἀλείφω (in 8 vv), G1637 ἔλαιον (in 11 vv) with both James 5:14 and Luke 7:46, plus G4341 προσκαλέομαι (in 29 vv) with James 5:14. Greek to Greek and lexically real, but the lexemes are not rare and there is no quotation, so the link is the shared practice and idiom, not a verbal citation

χόος: dust on the feet, dust on the head structural / thematic: confirmed

Mark's word for dust is not Matthew's and Luke's κονιορτός but χόος, a heap of poured out soil, which Pulpit renders as the soil. It occurs in only two verses in the New Testament; the other is Revelation 18:19, where the shipmasters cast χοῦς on their heads and weep over the fall of Babylon. ⚙ The lexeme is rare enough to justify a verbal tier, and we refuse it anyway, because the senses diverge: one text shakes dust off in testimony, the other throws dust on in grief, and there is no citation between them. What the shared word does show is that Mark reached for the coarse, heavy noun that elsewhere belongs to a scene of judgment.

Revelation 18:19

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G5522 χόος (in 2 vv, rare) with Revelation 18:19. Greek to Greek, and the lexeme is rare, but the two uses are semantically opposed (dust shaken off versus dust cast on the head) and neither text cites the other, so we downgrade from verbal to thematic

Oil poured into wounds: Isaiah's diagnosis structural / thematic: confirmed

Both Barnes and Cambridge reach for Isaiah 1:6 to explain the oil of Mark 6:13: Israel described as a body of bruises and sores that have not been closed or soothed with oil. Barnes adds the good Samaritan's oil and wine (Luke 10:34) and Josephus on Herod bathed in oil. ⚙ This is a cross Testament pairing, Greek to Hebrew, so no shared Strong's number can be computed and we make no verbal claim whatever. The link is the motif: oil is what is applied to a wound that somebody intends to heal. Read that way, Isaiah's complaint is that no one has done for the nation what the Twelve now do house by house.

Isaiah 1:6 · Luke 10:34

basis: Cross Testament (Greek to Hebrew): no shared Strong's lexeme is possible, so no verbal tier. Recorded basis is the named citation of Isaiah 1:6 by Barnes and by Cambridge as the background for medicinal oil, plus Barnes' citation of Luke 10:34; a shared motif, never a quotation

Two by two, and the rule of two witnesses structural / thematic: confirmed

Gill gives two reasons for the pairing, and the second is juridical: so that they might be proper and sufficient witnesses, whereby the message might be established. That is the language of Deuteronomy 19:15, where a matter is established at the mouth of two or three witnesses. ⚙ Mark makes no citation, and none of the voices in this brief quotes the Law here, so the tier is thematic and the inference is ours and Gill's: a testimony that will be refused (verse 11) is sent out in the minimum legal number for a testimony that stands. Barnes and Maclaren give the pastoral reason instead, mutual support, and both reasons can be true of one arrangement.

Deuteronomy 19:15

basis: Cross Testament (Greek to Hebrew): no shared Strong's lexeme is computable, so the verbal tier is excluded by definition. Recorded basis is Gill's witness-and-establishment reading of the pairing set against the two or three witnesses rule of Deuteronomy 19:15; a shared legal pattern, with no quotation in Mark

Girded, sandalled, staff in hand: a departure shaped like Passover typological

Exodus 12:11 dresses Israel for the night of the exodus: loins girded, sandals on the feet, staff in hand, eating in haste. Mark 6:8-9 dresses the Twelve in almost that inventory, and subtracts the bread: belt, sandals, staff, and no loaf. ⚙ This is our own figural reading and we mark it novel. No commentator in this brief draws it, the pairing is cross Testament so no lexical basis exists, and the overlap could be nothing more than what any traveller in that country wore, which is roughly what Cambridge and Pulpit say of the sandals. Offered to be tested, not asserted: if it holds, the Twelve go out equipped like a people leaving Egypt, except that the unleavened bread of the first departure has become no bread at all, since the provision now walks behind them rather than with them.

Exodus 12:11

basis: Cross Testament (Greek to Hebrew): no shared Strong's lexeme is computable and no verbal claim is made. Basis is the shared travel inventory (belt, sandals, staff, bare provision) between Exodus 12:11 and Mark 6:8-9; a figural reading, novel, made by no voice in this brief, and weakened by the fact that the same items were ordinary Galilean dress

The infirm in the longer ending of Mark flagged: verify source

The Verifier also pairs this unit with Mark 16:18, which shares the rare adjective ἄρρωστος and the verb αἴρω of Mark 6:8, and which promises that the hands of believers laid on the sick will bring recovery. ⚙ The lexical link is real, but Mark 16:9-20 is the disputed longer ending of this Gospel, absent from the oldest witnesses, so we flag it rather than build on it. A reader should weigh the parallel knowing that its text is contested.

Mark 16:18

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G732 ἄῤῥωστος (in 5 vv, rare) and G142 αἴρω (in 97 vv) with Mark 16:18. The lexical basis is sound, but Mark 16:18 lies inside the disputed longer ending of Mark, whose provenance is contested, so the thread is flagged rather than tiered verbal

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

He gives before He commands ancient/widely-held

⚙ The Twelve are given authority over unclean spirits before they are given a single instruction about travel, and the tense of the giving is imperfect: ἐδίδου, He kept giving, which Pulpit marks expressly. Mark has already told us that this is why they were appointed, to be with Him and to be sent out with authority to cast out demons (Mark 3:14-15). Maclaren states the principle exactly, that Christ gives before He commands, and adds the figure of a sower sent out with his basket already filled. The redemptive shape is therefore not example but derivation: what the Twelve do to unclean spirits in the villages is what Mark 1 shows the Lord doing in the synagogue, done by delegation. The authority is one authority, and it remains His while they exercise it. This is the ordinary apostolic reading, recorded here by Pulpit, Gill, Barnes and Maclaren alike, and Cambridge's word for the journey, a tentative mission to try their powers, is apt only if one remembers whose powers were being tried.

Mark 3:14-15 · Mark 6:7

The Anointed who sends anointers novel

⚙ Mark alone reports the oil, as Ellicott and Cambridge both observe, and the honest lexical point must come first: the verb is ἀλείφω (G218), ordinary oiling, not χρίω, the verb behind Χριστός. There is no pun in the Greek and we will not manufacture one. What remains is still worth saying. The Christ, the Anointed, sends men out empty handed with one substance in their possession, and they spend the journey pouring it on bodies without strength. Ellicott's reading is that the oil was an outward sign of the wish to heal and so a help to faith, joining an ordinary means with prayer for God's blessing; Pulpit adds that oil itself signified God's mercy and gladness; Poole and Gill insist the oil can only be sign, since a natural remedy would blunt the miracle. James 5:14 hands the same two words to the elders of the church, which is why Benson calls this the standing means of healing long before extreme unction was heard of, and why Geneva, Ellicott and Pulpit all refuse to let either text support a rite administered when hope of recovery is gone. Our figural claim, that the Anointed commissions anointing, is novel and rests on the theme rather than on the vocabulary; the sourced facts are the practice, its recurrence in James, and the unanimous refusal of these commentators to read extreme unction out of it.

Mark 6:13 · James 5:14

Repent: the message that does not yet speak the Name ancient/widely-held

⚙ The Twelve herald repentance and, as Ellicott observes, they do not yet proclaim their Master as the Christ and Head of the kingdom; their work is a continuation of the Baptist's. Poole says John, Christ and the Twelve all preached one doctrine, Repent. Mark's own summary of Jesus' preaching runs the same way (Mark 1:15, repent and believe), and Gill gathers the pattern across John, Christ and the apostles. The redemptive historical point is that the messengers precede the disclosure: what will be confessed later (Mark 8:29) is at this stage only prepared for, and the preparation is a change of mind rather than a creed. That the Twelve preached the Baptist's message on this journey is the widely held reading of these commentators. The further framing, that Mark is deliberately withholding the Messiah's identity until the middle of his Gospel, is a modern emphasis and ours, offered as a reading and not as a source.

Mark 1:15 · Mark 6:12 · Mark 8:29

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (c. 1905)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

⚙ Honesty notes for Mark 6:7-13. Text. Two variants touch this unit directly. At verse 11 Ellicott reports that the better manuscripts read whatsoever place shall not receive you rather than whosoever, and the Berean interlinear behind this brief preserves the seam by carrying a nominative τόπος in a sentence begun with ὃς ἂν; BSB prints the personal reading, If anyone, and we have flagged rather than resolved it. Also at verse 11, the closing sentence about Sodom and Gomorrah is judged by Pulpit to be copied in from Matthew 10:15 and is absent from BSB; Gill, working in the 1740s, reports it missing from some copies and from the Vulgate but present in most copies he knew and in the Syriac, Arabic, Persic and Ethiopic versions. A discrepancy we did not smooth. Mark permits a staff; Matthew 10:10 and Luke 9:3 forbid one. Ellicott, Poole, Gill, Cambridge and Pulpit each propose a different reconciliation. We have reported the proposals and left the tension standing. Word order. Verse 13 follows the word order of the interlinear supplied in this brief (cast out, healed, anointed); other printed Greek texts order the last two clauses differently, which affects nothing we have claimed except the sequence of the literal rendering. Sources. JFB supplies only a cross reference to Matthew 10 for this whole block and so offers nothing quotable here. Henry's concise note is written over Mark 6:7-13 as a single unit, not verse by verse. Maclaren's exposition covers Mark 6:1-13, so much of it treats the Nazareth rejection rather than these verses; the excerpt we used comes from his section on the sending, and his entry was capped in the brief, so we read the full entry before citing it. Cambridge and Pulpit both lean on Thomson's The Land and the Book, a nineteenth century traveller's account of Levantine hospitality and footwear; it is vivid but it describes 1800s custom and bears on the first century only by analogy. Gill's remarks on repentance as a gift, and Geneva's declaration that the ceremony of anointing is now of no purpose, are each party positions of their authors and are marked as such in their editorial notes. Cross references. This unit contains no formal quotation of the Old Testament. Every pairing with an Old Testament text here (Isaiah 1:6, Deuteronomy 19:15, Exodus 12:11) is cross Testament, Greek to Hebrew, where no shared Strong's lexeme can be computed; all three are tiered thematic or typological with the reason stated, and the Exodus 12:11 pairing is marked novel because no voice in this brief draws it. Shaking the dust from the feet is a Jewish custom of the period, reported by Cambridge, and not a command of the Law. What we do not know. Whether the oil was remedy, sign, or both; how long the mission lasted, which Benson says is not stated; and whether the pairing of the Twelve here matches the pairs in Matthew's list, which Benson and Maclaren think probable and Mark does not say.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)