The Fallible Study Bible

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Matthew10:16–25

Sheep among Wolves

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Matthew 10:16–25 — Sheep among Wolves. 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.

16

Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Idou egō apostellō hymas hōs probata en mesō lykōn oun ginesthe phronimoi hōs hoi opheis kai akeraioi hōs hai peristerai

Word by word20 · parsed
ἸδοὺIdouBeholdG2400
√ ἰδού — used as imperative lo!VerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Singular
ἐγὼegōIG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounNominative 1st Person Singular
ἐγώ: I, me Greek verbs already carry their person, so the explicit pronoun is emphatic by choice, not grammar. JFB reads it as Christ holding up Himself as the Fountain of the Gospel ministry; the Pulpit Commentary hears in this I the germ of vv. 40 to 42, where receiving the sent one is receiving the Sender.
ἀποστέλλωapostellōam sending you outG649
√ ἀποστέλλω — set apart, iVerbPresent Indicative Active1st Person Singular
ἀποστέλλω: set apart, send with a commission Present Indicative, not future: the sending is already under way as the sentence is spoken. This is the verb from which apostolos is formed, so these men are defined by the act described here and not by any quality of their own, which is why the sheep image carries no insult. The Verifier records the same lexeme at Luke 10:3, where the seventy are sent as lambs among wolves, and at Matthew 23:34, where the identical formula ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποστέλλω introduces prophets who will be scourged in synagogues, exactly as v. 17 predicts.
ὑμᾶςhymas. . .G4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 2nd Person Plural
ὡςhōslikeG5613
√ ὡς — which how, iAdverb
πρόβαταprobatasheepG4263
√ πρόβατον — something that walks forward (a quadruped), iNounAccusative Neuter Plural
πρόβατον: sheep, a quadruped that walks forward The Verifier records the same lexeme at Matthew 7:15 and John 10:12, both with λύκος, wolf. The image is not chosen for gentleness alone: Gill notes sheep are weak, defenceless, and here sent out unarmed. Paul will take up the same word for the church under slaughter at Romans 8:36.
ἐνenamongG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
μέσῳmesō. . .G3319
√ μέσος — middle (as an adjective or (neuter) noun)AdjectiveDative Neuter Singular
λύκωνlykōnwolvesG3074
√ λύκος — a wolfNounGenitive Masculine Plural
λύκος: a wolf A rare word, standing in only 5 verses of the New Testament, and every one of them is about danger to the flock (Matthew 7:15; Luke 10:3; John 10:12; Acts 20:29). Ellicott: “the wolf being here, as elsewhere in the New Testament, the symbol of the persecutor.” The rarity makes the shared lexeme a genuine verbal thread, not a coincidence of common vocabulary.
οὖνounthereforeG3767
√ οὖν — (adverbially) certainly, or (conjunctionally) accordinglyConjunction
γίνεσθεginesthebeG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbPresent Imperative Middle or Passive2nd Person Plural
φρόνιμοιphronimoias shrewdG5429
√ φρόνιμος — thoughtful, iAdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
φρόνιμος: thoughtful, prudent Not sophos (wise in knowledge) but practical, situational shrewdness, the kind that sees a trap. The Pulpit Commentary locates the serpent's prudence precisely in “the quickness of its perception of danger and the rapidity with which it escapes from it,” and notes the Septuagint of Genesis 3:1 uses the same adjective of the serpent. The command is therefore an astonishing one: take the quality Eden's tempter had, and use it for the gospel.
ὡςhōsasG5613
√ ὡς — which how, iAdverb
οἱhoiG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
ὄφειςopheissnakesG3789
√ ὄφις — a snake, figuratively, (as a type of sly cunning) an artful malicious person, especially SatanNounNominative Masculine Plural
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἀκέραιοιakeraioias innocentG185
√ ἀκέραιος — unmixed, iAdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
ἀκέραιος: unmixed One of only 3 New Testament verses carrying this word (the Verifier records Romans 16:19 and Philippians 2:15 as the other two). It is a metallurgical and agricultural word for something not adulterated. Paired with φρόνιμος it forms the paradox Ellicott names: the disciples are to be at once supremely guileful and absolutely guileless.
ὡςhōsasG5613
√ ὡς — which how, iAdverb
αἱhaiG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Plural
περιστεραίperisteraidovesG4058
√ περιστερά — a pigeonNounNominative Feminine Plural
περιστερά: a pigeon, dove Ellicott makes the canonical connection that the text itself invites: the One issuing this command had seen the Spirit descend upon Himself “like a dove” at Matthew 3:16, and it is in that Spirit that the two contradictory qualities are reconciled.
17

But beware of men, for they will hand you over to their councils and flog you in their synagogues.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de Prosechete apo tōn anthrōpōn gar paradōsousin hymas eis synedria kai mastigōsousin hymas en autōn tais synagōgais

Word by word17 · parsed
δὲdeButG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ΠροσέχετεProsechetebewareG4337
√ προσέχω — (figuratively) to hold the mind (3563 implied) towards, iVerbPresent Imperative Active2nd Person Plural
προσέχω: to hold the mind towards A Present Imperative: sustained vigilance, not a single act of caution. Barnes reads it directly against v. 16: “be on your guard against people who are like wolves... Do not run unnecessarily into danger.” The dove does not cancel the serpent.
ἀπὸapoofG575
√ ἀπό — "off," iPreposition
τῶνtōnG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Plural
ἀνθρώπωνanthrōpōnmenG444
√ ἄνθρωπος — from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι))NounGenitive Masculine Plural
γὰρgarforG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
παραδώσουσινparadōsousinthey will hand you overG3860
√ παραδίδωμι — to surrender, iVerbFuture Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
παραδίδωμι: to surrender, hand over The Verifier records this lexeme shared with Mark 13:12, Mark 13:9, Luke 21:12 and Luke 21:16, and it stands in 117 verses, so it is common vocabulary rather than a fingerprint. Its weight here is not rarity but destination: the same verb carries Christ to the council in Matthew 20:19 and carries His servants to theirs.
ὑμᾶςhymas. . .G4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 2nd Person Plural
εἰςeistoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
συνέδριαsynedria[their] councilsG4892
√ συνέδριον — a joint session, iNounAccusative Neuter Plural
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
μαστιγώσουσινmastigōsousinflogG3146
√ μαστιγόω — to flog (literally or figuratively)VerbFuture Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
μαστιγόω: to flog Rare, standing in only 7 verses. Barnes records the mechanism: Deuteronomy 25:2 to 3 capped the stripes at forty, and the Jews used a three-lashed scourge thirteen times to reach thirty-nine without risk of overshooting. Paul says he received exactly that, five times (2 Corinthians 11:24). The Verifier finds the same rare verb at Matthew 23:34 and at Matthew 20:19, where it is done to Christ.
ὑμᾶςhymasyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 2nd Person Plural
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
αὐτῶνautōntheirG846
√ 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 PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural
ταῖςtaisG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Plural
συναγωγαῖςsynagōgaissynagoguesG4864
√ συναγωγή — an assemblage of personsNounDative Feminine Plural
συναγωγή: an assemblage of persons The scandal of the clause is the location. Ellicott: “the words imply the actual infliction of the punishment within the walls of the building,” and he grants that to us this looks like desecration while there is no sign it did so to the Jews. Poole resists, arguing synagogue here may mean simply “in their conventions.” The tool records the disagreement rather than resolving it.
18

On My account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai heneken emou achthēsesthe de epi hēgemonas kai basileis eis martyrion autois kai tois ethnesin

Word by word15 · parsed
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἕνεκενhenekenOn My accountG1752
√ ἕνεκα — on account ofPreposition
ἐμοῦemou. . .G1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 1st Person Singular
ἀχθήσεσθεachthēsestheyou will be broughtG71
√ ἄγω — properly, to leadVerbFuture Indicative Passive2nd Person Plural
δὲdeG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ἐπὶepibeforeG1909
√ ἐπί — properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etcPreposition
ἡγεμόναςhēgemonasgovernorsG2232
√ ἡγεμών — a leader, iNounAccusative Masculine Plural
ἡγεμών: a leader A wide word for Roman provincial authority. Cambridge lists Felix and Festus at Caesarea, the praetors at Philippi, the politarchs at Thessalonica; the Pulpit Commentary disputes the Thessalonica case on the ground that it was a free city, and wonders whether hēgemōn is here narrowly “procurator,” which would also exclude Gallio the proconsul. The disagreement is real and is left standing.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
βασιλεῖςbasileiskingsG935
√ βασιλεύς — a sovereign (abstractly, relatively, or figuratively)NounAccusative Masculine Plural
βασιλεύς: a sovereign Ellicott holds that “kings” at least includes the emperors themselves. Barnes marks how improbable this sentence was when spoken: few things were less likely than that Galilean fishermen would stand before the monarchs of East and West. He treats the fulfilment (Acts 12:1; Acts 23:33; Acts 26:30) as evidence that the Speaker knew the future.
εἰςeisasG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
μαρτύριονmartyrionwitnessesG3142
√ μαρτύριον — something evidential, iNounAccusative Neuter Singular
μαρτύριον: something evidential Poole traces our vocabulary to this very word: “hence our terms of martyr and martyrdom, the one signifies a witness, the other a testimony.” The lexical point carries the theology of the unit: in this discourse the witness stand and the scaffold become one place.
αὐτοῖςautoisto 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
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
τοῖςtoisto theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Neuter Plural
ἔθνεσινethnesinGentilesG1484
√ ἔθνος — a race (as of the same habit), iNounDative Neuter Plural
ἔθνος: a race, a nation The Verifier records this lexeme shared with 1 Peter 4:3 and Matthew 20:19. Its appearance here is the seam in the discourse: a mission restricted to Israel (v. 6, v. 23) is already being spoken of as reaching the nations, which is one of the reasons the Pulpit Commentary suspects material from the later Olivet address has been gathered in.
19

But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to respond or what to say. In that hour you will be given what to say.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de hotan paradōsin hymas mē merimnēsēte pōs ē ti lalēsēte gar en ekeinē tē hōra hymin dothēsetai ti lalēsēte

Word by word19 · parsed
δὲdeButG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ὅτανhotanwhenG3752
√ ὅταν — whenever (implying hypothesis or more or less uncertainty)Conjunction
παραδῶσινparadōsinthey hand you overG3860
√ παραδίδωμι — to surrender, iVerbAorist Subjunctive Active3rd Person Plural
ὑμᾶςhymas. . .G4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 2nd Person Plural
μὴmē[do] notG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
μεριμνήσητεmerimnēsēteworry aboutG3309
√ μεριμνάω — to be anxious aboutVerbAorist Subjunctive Active2nd Person Plural
μεριμνάω: to be anxious about A relatively uncommon verb, standing in 17 verses; the Verifier records it shared with Matthew 6:34, where the same Speaker forbade anxiety about tomorrow's bread. The link is not decorative: the Sermon banned anxiety about survival, and this discourse extends the ban to the moment survival is actually at stake, in court.
πῶςpōshow [to respond]G4459
√ πῶς — an interrogative particle of mannerAdverb
ἢēorG2228
√ ἤ — disjunctive, orConjunction
τίtiwhatG5101
√ τίς — an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions)Interrogative / Indefinite PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
λαλήσητεlalēsēteto sayG2980
√ λαλέω — to talk, iVerbAorist Subjunctive Active2nd Person Plural
λαλέω: to talk, to utter The verb is repeated three times across vv. 19 to 20 (here, at index 18, and twice in v. 20). λαλέω stresses the act of uttering rather than the reasoned content of λέγω. What is promised is not merely a case but a voice.
γὰρgarG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
ἐνenInG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
ἐκείνῃekeinēthatG1565
√ ἐκεῖνος — that one (or (neuter) thing)Demonstrative PronounDative Feminine Singular
τῇtēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Singular
ὥρᾳhōrahourG5610
√ ὥρα — an "hour" (literally or figuratively)NounDative Feminine Singular
ὑμῖνhyminyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Plural
δοθήσεταιdothēsetaiwill be givenG1325
√ δίδωμι — to give (used in a very wide application, properly, or by implication, literally or figurativelyVerbFuture Indicative Passive3rd Person Singular
δίδωμι: to give The divine passive. Poole hears behind it the exchange at Exodus 4:11 to 12, where Moses pleads a slow tongue and is answered, “Who hath made man's mouth?... It shall be given you from God.” JFB cites the same passage together with Jeremiah 1:7. This is an old promise re-issued to a new set of unqualified speakers.
τίtiwhatG5101
√ τίς — an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions)Interrogative / Indefinite PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
λαλήσητεlalēsēteto sayG2980
√ λαλέω — to talk, iVerbAorist Subjunctive Active2nd Person Plural
20

For it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

gar este ou hymeis hoi lalountes alla to Pneuma tou hymōn Patros to laloun en hymin

Word by word16 · parsed
γὰρgarForG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
ἐστεesteit will not beG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active2nd Person Plural
οὐou. . .G3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
ὑμεῖςhymeisyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounNominative 2nd Person Plural
οἱhoiG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
λαλοῦντεςlalountesspeakingG2980
√ λαλέω — to talk, iVerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Plural
ἀλλὰallabutG235
√ ἀλλά — properly, other things, iConjunction
τὸtotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Neuter Singular
ΠνεῦμαPneumaSpiritG4151
√ πνεῦμα — a current of air, iNounNominative Neuter Singular
πνεῦμα: a current of air, breath, spirit The Nominative Neuter Singular is the true subject of the participle at index 13. The Pulpit Commentary is careful here: the phrase is compatible with the personality of the Holy Spirit, but would hardly at that moment have been understood as expressing it. That is an honest historical limit on what the first hearers could have taken from the words, not a denial of the doctrine.
τοῦtouofG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ὑμῶνhymōnyourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Plural
ΠατρὸςPatrosFatherG3962
√ πατήρ — a "father" (literally or figuratively, near or more remote)NounGenitive Masculine Singular
πατήρ: a father The Pulpit Commentary calls this “the thoughtful reminder, your Father, whose children you have become.” Its placement is the argument of the whole unit in miniature: before natural fathers are named as betrayers in v. 21, a truer Father has been named as advocate.
τὸtoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Neuter Singular
λαλοῦνlalounspeakingG2980
√ λαλέω — to talk, iVerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Neuter Singular
λαλέω: to talk, to utter A second participle, Neuter Singular, agreeing with Πνεῦμα and standing in exact parallel to the Masculine Plural participle at index 5 that describes the disciples. The sentence is built as a substitution: one set of speakers is crossed out and another named in its place, with the same verb.
ἐνenthroughG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
ἐν: in, at, among A preposition, but here load-bearing: whether the Spirit speaks in the disciple or through him is the whole question of how inspiration and human agency are joined. Ellicott refuses to build a theory of scriptural inspiration on this promise of aid in a moment of danger.
ὑμῖνhyminyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Plural
21

Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de adelphos Paradōsei adelphon eis thanaton kai patēr teknon kai tekna epanastēsontai epi goneis kai thanatōsousin autous

Word by word17 · parsed
δὲdeG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ἀδελφὸςadelphosBrotherG80
√ ἀδελφός — a brother (literally or figuratively) near or remote (much like G1 (Α))NounNominative Masculine Singular
ΠαραδώσειParadōseiwill betrayG3860
√ παραδίδωμι — to surrender, iVerbFuture Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
παραδίδωμι: to surrender, hand over The Verifier records this lexeme shared with Mark 13:12 and Luke 21:16, the synoptic parallels of this very sentence. The word stands in 117 verses, so the link is one of shared narrative source, not of rare vocabulary; what makes it striking is the subject, since Judas is described with the same verb.
ἀδελφὸνadelphonbrotherG80
√ ἀδελφός — a brother (literally or figuratively) near or remote (much like G1 (Α))NounAccusative Masculine Singular
εἰςeistoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
θάνατονthanatondeathG2288
√ θάνατος — (properly, an adjective used as a noun) death (literally or figuratively)NounAccusative Masculine Singular
θάνατος: death The destination is stated flatly. Barnes calls the prediction one that would scarcely be credible were there no evidence it had happened, and he lists what the evidence records: crucifixion, boiling oil, the stake, molten lead, beasts. His conclusion is a doctrine of the human heart, not a catalogue of atrocities.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
πατὴρpatēra fatherG3962
√ πατήρ — a "father" (literally or figuratively, near or more remote)NounNominative Masculine Singular
τέκνονteknon[his] childG5043
√ τέκνον — a child (as produced)NounAccusative Neuter Singular
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
τέκναteknachildrenG5043
√ τέκνον — a child (as produced)NounNominative Neuter Plural
ἐπαναστήσονταιepanastēsontaiwill riseG1881
√ ἐπανίσταμαι — to stand up on, iVerbFuture Indicative Middle3rd Person Plural
ἐπανίσταμαι: to stand up on, to rise against A rare compound of insurrection. The Pulpit Commentary notes the plural suggests a plurality of cases, and that more direct cruelty is predicated of the children than of the brothers and fathers. Gill records that the rabbis expected exactly this social dissolution in the age when the Messiah comes, citing Mishnah Sotah 9:15.
ἐπὶepiagainstG1909
√ ἐπί — properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etcPreposition
γονεῖςgoneis[their] parentsG1118
√ γονεύς — a parentNounAccusative Masculine Plural
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
θανατώσουσινthanatōsousinhave them put to deathG2289
√ θανατόω — become dead, (cause to be) put to death, kill, mortifyVerbFuture Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
θανατόω: to put to death Standing in only 11 verses. The Verifier finds it shared with Luke 21:16 and, tellingly, with Romans 8:36, where Paul quotes Psalm 44:22 of the church as sheep for the slaughter. The vocabulary of v. 16 and of v. 21 converges there.
αὐτούςautous. . .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
22

You will be hated by everyone because of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai esesthe misoumenoi hypo pantōn dia mou to onoma de ho hypomeinas eis telos houtos sōthēsetai

Word by word16 · parsed
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἔσεσθεesestheYou will beG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbFuture Indicative Middle2nd Person Plural
μισούμενοιmisoumenoihatedG3404
√ μισέω — to detest (especially to persecute)VerbPresent Participle Middle or PassiveNominative Masculine Plural
μισέω: to detest, especially to persecute The lexicon's gloss joins emotion and action; the participle is Middle or Passive, and the hatred is something done to them, not felt by them. JFB argues from the universality that it cannot be owing to temporary excitement or personal prejudice, and therefore that no amount of discretion consistent with fidelity will stifle it, although it may soften its violence.
ὑπὸhypobyG5259
√ ὑπό — under, iPreposition
πάντωνpantōneveryoneG3956
√ πᾶς — all, any, every, the wholeAdjectiveGenitive Masculine Plural
διὰdiabecause ofG1223
√ διά — through (in very wide applications, local, causal, or occasional)Preposition
μουmouMyG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 1st Person Singular
τὸtoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Singular
ὄνομάonomanameG3686
√ ὄνομα — a "name" (literally or figuratively) (authority, character)NounAccusative Neuter Singular
ὄνομα: a name, authority, character The cause of the hatred is specified as narrowly as language allows: not conduct, not doctrine, a Name. Ellicott quotes Tertullian's summary of his own age, that the battle is about a Name, and notes that from Stephen to the last martyr under Diocletian renouncing it would have made all go smoothly. Gill adds the pastoral edge: the hatred is not on account of anything evil committed by them.
δὲdebutG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ὁhothe [one who]G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ὑπομείναςhypomeinasperseveresG5278
√ ὑπομένω — to stay under (behind), iVerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
ὑπομένω: to stay under, to endure The Aorist Participle views the whole endurance as one completed act seen from its end, which is why the demonstrative οὗτος follows: this one, and no other. JFB notes the saying is repeated in the prophecy of Jerusalem's fall at Matthew 24:13, and that the apostle reiterates it against drawing back unto perdition (Hebrews 10:38 to 39).
εἰςeistoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
τέλοςtelos[the] endG5056
√ τέλος — properly, the point aimed at as a limit, iNounAccusative Neuter Singular
οὗτοςhoutosG3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounNominative Masculine Singular
σωθήσεταιsōthēsetaiwill be savedG4982
√ σώζω — to save, iVerbFuture Indicative Passive3rd Person Singular
σῴζω: to save Future Indicative Passive: the enduring is theirs, the saving is done to them by another. Ellicott takes it in its highest sense, full participation in the blessedness of the kingdom; Gill allows both a temporal deliverance at Jerusalem's fall and an eternal one. JFB's formulation is the tightest: enduring to the end is not the cause of salvation but “the proper evidence of its reality and solidity.”
23

When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. Truly I tell you, you will not reach all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de Hotan diōkōsin hymas en tautē tē polei pheugete eis tēn heteran gar amēn legō hymin telesēte ou mē tas poleis tou Israēl heōs an ho Huios tou anthrōpou elthē

Word by word30 · parsed
δὲdeG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ὍτανHotanWhenG3752
√ ὅταν — whenever (implying hypothesis or more or less uncertainty)Conjunction
διώκωσινdiōkōsinthey persecuteG1377
√ διώκω — compare the base of G1169 (δειλός) and G1249 (διάκονος))VerbPresent Subjunctive Active3rd Person Plural
ὑμᾶςhymasyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 2nd Person Plural
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
ταύτῃtautēoneG3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounDative Feminine Singular
τῇtēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Singular
πόλειpoleitownG4172
√ πόλις — a town (properly, with walls, of greater or less size)NounDative Feminine Singular
φεύγετεpheugetefleeG5343
√ φεύγω — to run away (literally or figuratively)VerbPresent Imperative Active2nd Person Plural
φεύγω: to run away The Verifier finds this lexeme shared with John 10:12, where the hireling flees from the wolf and is condemned for it. The same verb is commanded here, which is why the sources labour over its limits: Henry allows going out of the way of danger but not out of the way of duty, and Poole doubts the verse warrants ministerial flight at all, referring the question to Augustine's letter to Honoratus.
εἰςeistoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
τὴνtēntheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
ἑτέρανheterannextG2087
√ ἕτερος — (an-, the) other or differentAdjectiveAccusative Feminine Singular
γὰρgarG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
ἀμὴνamēnTrulyG281
√ ἀμήν — properly, firm, iHebrew Word
ἀμήν: firm, truly Parsed in the interlinear as a Hebrew word carried untranslated into Greek. Its normal use is to affirm what someone else has said; on Christ's lips it prefaces His own words, which is a claim about the speaker. JFB hears in it a warning of what will startle them and of the need to economise the time.
λέγωlegōI tellG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active1st Person Singular
ὑμῖνhyminyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Plural
τελέσητεtelesēteyou will not reachG5055
√ τελέω — to end, iVerbAorist Subjunctive Active2nd Person Plural
τελέω: to end, to complete Aorist Subjunctive under a double negative. The lexicon gives “to end,” and the noun τέλος from the same root stood in v. 22, where endurance runs εἰς τέλος. The unit thus sets two completions against each other: the mission that will not be completed, and the endurance that must be.
οὐou. . .G3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
μὴmē. . .G3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
τὰςtas[all] theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Plural
πόλειςpoleistownsG4172
√ πόλις — a town (properly, with walls, of greater or less size)NounAccusative Feminine Plural
τοῦtouofG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ἸσραὴλIsraēlIsraelG2474
√ Ἰσραήλ — Israel (iNounGenitive Masculine Singular
ἕωςheōsbeforeG2193
√ ἕως — a conjunction, preposition and adverb of continuance, until (of time and place)Conjunction
ἂνan. . .G302
√ ἄν — (what-, where-, wither-, who-)soeverParticle
ὁhotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ΥἱὸςHuiosSonG5207
√ υἱός — a "son" (sometimes of animals), used very widely of immediate, remote or figuratively, kinshipNounNominative Masculine Singular
υἱός: a son With τοῦ ἀνθρώπου this is the title Ellicott refers directly to Daniel 7:13, the figure who comes with the clouds of heaven to complete the triumph of His kingdom. It is the first explicit forward look in this discourse past the disciples' own suffering to an arrival that ends it.
τοῦtouofG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ἀνθρώπουanthrōpouManG444
√ ἄνθρωπος — from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι))NounGenitive Masculine Singular
ἔλθῃelthēcomesG2064
√ ἔρχομαι — to come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbAorist Subjunctive Active3rd Person Singular
ἔρχομαι: to come or go Aorist Subjunctive with ἄν, an indefinite future. The disagreement about its reference is total and is recorded in the apparatus: the fall of Jerusalem (Benson, Barnes, Gill), a fixed doctrinal sense bearing immediately on that crisis (JFB), both that and a final judgment still future (Cambridge), an unresolved list (Poole), and Ellicott's admission that the horizon may not have been fully within the Son of Man's human view.
24

A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

mathētēs estin Ouk hyper ton didaskalon oude doulos hyper autou ton kyrion

Word by word12 · parsed
μαθητὴςmathētēsA discipleG3101
√ μαθητής — a learner, iNounNominative Masculine Singular
μαθητής: a learner, a disciple The Pulpit Commentary draws a distinction the English versions flatten. At Luke 6:40 this proverb means that a disciple will not escape the moral loss his teacher incurs; here it is encouragement, that whatever treatment a disciple receives is no strange thing if his Teacher received it (1 Peter 4:12). The same sentence does opposite work in two contexts.
ἔστινestinisG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ΟὐκOuknotG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
ὑπὲρhyperaboveG5228
√ ὑπέρ — "over", iPreposition
τὸνton[his]G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
διδάσκαλονdidaskalonteacherG1320
√ διδάσκαλος — an instructor (genitive case or specially)NounAccusative Masculine Singular
διδάσκαλος: an instructor Gill presses the argument from greater to less: if the One who came from God and “taught as never man did” was maligned, it cannot be thought that those under Him will escape. Cambridge states it as a flat expectation: the disciples of Jesus can expect no other treatment than that which befell their Master Christ.
οὐδὲoudenorG3761
√ οὐδέ — not however, iConjunction
δοῦλοςdoulosa servantG1401
√ δοῦλος — a slave (literal or figurative, involuntary or voluntaryNounNominative Masculine Singular
δοῦλος: a slave, literal or figurative The lexicon's first gloss is “slave,” and the word names ownership rather than employment, which is what the second half of the proverb needs: its counterpart is κύριος, owner. The pairing is not accidental in this discourse, since the servants of a house are precisely the people who cannot claim a separate reputation from it; v. 25 will draw that conclusion by naming them οἰκιακούς. Gill cites the rabbinic form of the same maxim, that no servant is worthier than his master, and notes that our Lord used common sayings so as to reach His hearers in the most familiar terms.
ὑπὲρhyperaboveG5228
√ ὑπέρ — "over", iPreposition
αὐτοῦautouhisG846
√ 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 PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
τὸνtonG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
κύριονkyrionmasterG2962
√ κύριος — supreme in authority, iNounAccusative Masculine Singular
κύριος: supreme in authority With δοῦλος this is the second of the three relations JFB numbers at v. 25, and the pronoun αὐτοῦ attached to it makes the ownership personal: not a lord but his lord. The Pulpit Commentary suspects the pronoun was added here to avoid ambiguity with the familiar absolute phrase ὁ κύριος.
25

It is enough for a disciple to be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

arketon tō mathētē hina genētai hōs autou ho didaskalos kai ho doulos hōs autou ho kyrios ei ton oikodespotēn epekalesan Beelzeboul posō mallon tous autou oikiakous

Word by word26 · parsed
ἀρκετὸνarketon[It is] enoughG713
√ ἀρκετός — satisfactoryAdjectiveNominative Neuter Singular
ἀρκετός: satisfactory, enough Rare at 3 verses. Gill turns it into a rule of the affections: a disciple should think himself well off, and thankful, if he meets with no worse treatment than his master, for if he had the same honour done him it would be more than could be expected. The Verifier's link to Matthew 6:34 makes the same word govern both the day's trouble and the servant's share.
τῷtōforG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Singular
μαθητῇmathētēa discipleG3101
√ μαθητής — a learner, iNounDative Masculine Singular
ἵναhinatoG2443
√ ἵνα — compare G3588 (ὁ))Conjunction
γένηταιgenētaibeG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbAorist Subjunctive Middle3rd Person Singular
ὡςhōslikeG5613
√ ὡς — which how, iAdverb
αὐτοῦautouhisG846
√ 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 PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
διδάσκαλοςdidaskalosteacherG1320
√ διδάσκαλος — an instructor (genitive case or specially)NounNominative Masculine Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ὁhoaG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
δοῦλοςdoulosservantG1401
√ δοῦλος — a slave (literal or figurative, involuntary or voluntaryNounNominative Masculine Singular
ὡςhōslikeG5613
√ ὡς — which how, iAdverb
αὐτοῦautouhisG846
√ 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 PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
κύριοςkyriosmasterG2962
√ κύριος — supreme in authority, iNounNominative Masculine Singular
εἰeiIfG1487
√ εἰ — if, whether, that, etcConjunction
τὸνtontheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
οἰκοδεσπότηνoikodespotēnhead of the houseG3617
√ οἰκοδεσπότης — the head of a familyNounAccusative Masculine Singular
οἰκοδεσπότης: the head of a family Gill takes it of Christ as master of the family in heaven and earth, son over His own house, the high priest over the house of God. The Pulpit Commentary suggests Hebrews 3:2 to 6 as a comparison, while noting that there it is probably God and not Christ who owns the house.
ἐπεκάλεσανepekalesanhas been calledG1941
√ ἐπικαλέομαι — to entitleVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
ἐπικαλέομαι: to entitle A deliberate act of naming, not a slip. The Pulpit Commentary calls it a typical example of what the disciples will receive: complete rejection of the message together with deliberate accusation of the worst of crimes. Ellicott notes that we never find the name applied directly to Christ anywhere in the Gospels, but that it was a single easy step from what they had already said at Matthew 9:34 and 12:24.
ΒεελζεβοὺλBeelzeboulBeelzebulG954
√ Βεελζεβούλ — dung-godNounAccusative Masculine Singular
Βεελζεβούλ: dung-god The lexicon's gloss preserves one of the three competing derivations. JFB states that all the Greek manuscripts write Beelzebul, and that the Beelzebub of the older English came from the Old Testament Baal-zebub, god of Ekron (2 Kings 1:2). Ellicott and Cambridge trace the deliberate letter-changes of Jewish scorn: lord of flies, then lord of dung (zebel), then lord of the dwelling (zebul). Ellicott's argument that the last is meant here rests on the text itself, since the next words are “master of the house.”
πόσῳposōhow muchG4214
√ πόσος — interrogative pronoun (of amount) how much (large, long or (plural) many)Interrogative / Indefinite PronounDative Neuter Singular
μᾶλλονmallonmoreG3123
√ μᾶλλον — (adverbially) more (in a greater degree)) or ratherAdverb
τοὺςtousthe membersG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Plural
αὐτοῦautouof hisG846
√ 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 PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
οἰκιακοὺςoikiakoushouseholdG3615
√ οἰκιακός — familiar, iNounAccusative Masculine Plural
οἰκιακός: familiar, of the household One of only 2 New Testament verses carrying this word; the other is Matthew 10:36, eleven verses on, where a man's enemies will be the members of his own household. The Verifier records the pairing. JFB glosses it “the inmates,” and the argument from lesser to greater is unanswerable on its own terms: slander the head of a house and the roof takes the name with him.

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. The sending, and the two animals — 10:16

The sentence opens with a pronoun Greek did not need. ἐγὼ ἀποστέλλω puts the weight on the Sender: Ellicott reads the emphasis as a reminder of responsibility, that the Twelve go as His delegates, while JFB reads it as Christ “holding up Himself as the Fountain of the Gospel ministry.” Both are hearing the same emphatic I. Then the arrangement, which Poole states plainly: sheep are “feeble creatures in themselves, and without any natural armour,” and wolves “have a particular enmity to sheep.” JFB sharpens the strangeness beyond exposure into commission: to be left exposed as sheep to wolves would be startling, but for the sheep to be sent among the wolves “would sound strange indeed. No wonder this announcement begins with the exclamation, Behold.” ⚙ The two commanded qualities are then borrowed from the two animals that are not the sheep. φρόνιμοι is practical shrewdness, and the Pulpit Commentary locates the serpent's version of it exactly: “the quickness of its perception of danger and the rapidity with which it escapes from it,” with a nod to the Septuagint of Genesis 3:1. ἀκέραιοι is the lexicon's “unmixed,” which Ellicott renders as a character with “no alloy of baser motives.” The Geneva gloss states the synthesis most compactly, that by mixing these natures He will not have our wisdom malicious nor our simplicity mad. Ellicott adds the detail that settles where such a combination could come from: the Speaker had Himself seen the Spirit descend like a dove, and “in and by that Spirit the two qualities that seem so contradictory are reconciled.”

ii. The court, the flogging, and the witness stand — 10:17 to 10:18

Vigilance is commanded in the same breath as innocence: Προσέχετε ἀπὸ, hold the mind toward the danger in order to stay off it. Barnes ties it straight back to the wolves and draws the practical rule, “do not run unnecessarily into danger.” The threat is then specified with unusual procedural precision. Ellicott insists on the plural συνέδρια: not the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem but the lesser provincial courts, and Gill, drawing on rabbinic sources, counts the grades down to a bench of three. Barnes and the Pulpit Commentary both supply the mechanics of the scourge, the forty-minus-one limit of Deuteronomy 25:2 to 3, the three-thonged lash struck thirteen times, and Paul's own receipt of it five times at 2 Corinthians 11:24. Ellicott presses the location: the punishment falls inside the synagogue walls, which he grants looks to us like desecration, while Poole resists and argues the word may here mean only “in their conventions.” ⚙ The tool records that disagreement without settling it. Then the scene widens. ἀχθήσεσθε is passive, they are led; and the purpose clause turns the dock into a pulpit. Ellicott corrects the older English decisively: εἰς μαρτύριον αὐτοῖς is a dative of the person addressed, “unto them,” not “against them,” and does not necessarily involve a hostile purpose. Poole notes that our words martyr and martyrdom come straight from this noun. JFB hears in “and the Gentiles” a hint that the message would not long stay confined to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and observes drily that the Acts of the Apostles are the best commentary on these warnings. Barnes measures the improbability of the prediction at the moment it was uttered: few things were less likely than that Galilean fishermen would stand before the monarchs of East and West.

iii. The Spirit takes the stand — 10:19 to 10:20

The ban is on μεριμνήσητε, the anxiety verb of Matthew 6:25 and 6:34, and Poole guards it from abuse: Christ “doth not prohibit ordinary thoughts, which every man hath before he speaketh, but anxious thoughts beforehand.” Cambridge guards it from a different abuse, noting that the verse “has been quoted as if it justified want of preparation for sermons,” whereas it points to the Christian apologies delivered under trial. ⚙ The promise is doubled, matter and manner both: Ellicott sees it covering not only what they should say but “in what form and phrase.” Gill puts it warmly, that they should want neither words nor things. Then v. 20 does something more radical than encouragement. The Greek crosses out one set of speakers and names another with the same participle: οἱ λαλοῦντες, Masculine Plural, for the disciples, and τὸ λαλοῦν, Neuter Singular, for the Spirit. Ellicott: “the words are strong. Human thoughts and purposes seem as if utterly suppressed.” Poole reads the mechanism as influence rather than replacement, the Spirit suggesting the matter and giving freedom of tongue, and Gill calls the Spirit the efficient cause and the disciples instruments. The Pulpit Commentary adds two careful historical limits: it is not said that the Father speaks but that the Spirit does, and the phrase, while compatible with the Spirit's personality, would hardly then have been understood as stating it. Ellicott closes the door on over-reach in the other direction, refusing to make a promise of aid under interrogation the groundwork of a theory of inspiration for the written records.

iv. The house turns on itself — 10:21 to 10:22

Ellicott notes that the Greek nouns stand without the article, “brother shall deliver up brother,” which he thinks more forcible as a statement of what will happen often, and he records that the words reproduce almost verbally the prophecy of Micah 7:6. The Pulpit Commentary independently suspects the verb ἐπαναστήσονται of being a reminiscence of that same prophecy. Henry states the perversion exactly: “Persecutors are worse than beasts, in that they prey upon those of their own kind.” Barnes hesitates over the credibility of the prediction, then lists the recorded fulfilments and concludes that only enmity against the gospel could induce people to violate the most tender relations. Cambridge reaches for a pagan witness that ideology can dissolve kinship, citing Thucydides on the Corcyrean sedition, that the ties of relationship became weaker than those of party. Gill notes the rabbis expected the same collapse in the Messiah's age, citing Mishnah Sotah 9:15. ⚙ Then the scope widens from the household to everyone, and narrows again to a single surviving clause. μισούμενοι is a present participle with a future of “to be”: a settled condition, not an episode. JFB argues from the universality of the hatred that it cannot be owing to local virulence or personal prejudice, and therefore no discretion consistent with fidelity will stifle it, though it may soften its violence. Gill limits “all” sensibly, since some would be converted through their ministry. Ellicott locates the cause precisely where Tertullian did, in a Name: “we are tortured when we confess our guilt, we are set free if we deny it, for the battle is about a Name.” The Pulpit Commentary then makes a grammatical decision that changes the promise. εἰς τέλος, without the article, is read not as the end of the persecution but as “completeness in the endurance required,” while Poole reads it temporally, that the sufferings end with your lives if not before. Both readings survive in the tradition; the tool prefers neither.

v. Flee, and the Son of Man comes — 10:23

The command to run is the serpent's prudence in action, and Ellicott says so: fleeing is “at least one form of the wisdom of the serpent,” against those who in the eagerness of their zeal courted martyrdom, and he traces its effect through Polycarp and Cyprian. Gill reads the motive differently, not avoidance of persecution but the spread of the message, a spur to make haste. Poole doubts the verse warrants ministerial flight at all, thinking the precept particular to the apostles, and refers the general question to Augustine's letter to Honoratus: not rashly, not from cowardice, not where the flight would betray the church. ⚙ Then the hardest clause in the unit. οὐ μὴ τελέσητε is an emphatic double negative with the verb “to finish, bring to its end”; the Geneva gloss renders it “bring to an end, that is, you will not have gone through all the cities of Israel and preached in them.” The Pulpit Commentary notes the same verb is used of completing a harvest at Ruth 2:23. And the limit set is the coming of the Son of Man. The readings on offer are genuinely irreconcilable and the sources say so. Benson and Barnes take it of the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. JFB insists “the coming of the Son of man” has a fixed doctrinal sense and refers immediately to the crisis of Israel's history, while conceding that this is such only as an anticipation of the second coming. Poole lists the whole spread of interpretations, resurrection, Pentecost, the fall of Jerusalem, the turn to the Gentiles, and declines to choose beyond a general sense. Cambridge holds both, that Christ truly came in the destruction of Jerusalem and that the words point to a more distant future while Christian missions continue. Ellicott alone faces the difficulty without a harmonisation, and his conclusion is the most exposed sentence any of these commentators writes in this unit: that the human thoughts of the Son of Man may not have travelled in this matter to the furthest bound of the mysterious horizon, since He Himself said the day and hour were known neither to the angels nor to the Son. ⚙ That is a minority position with real christological cost, and it is printed here as his, not as the tool's.

vi. Beelzebul, and the household that shares the name — 10:24 to 10:25

Two proverbs, which JFB notes the Lord repeats in various connections (Luke 6:40; John 13:16; 15:20). The Pulpit Commentary makes a sharp distinction the English blurs: at Luke 6:40 the saying means a disciple will not escape his teacher's moral loss, whereas here it is encouragement, that whatever treatment the disciple receives is not a strange thing if the Teacher received it too. Gill cites the rabbinic form of the same saying, that it is enough for the servant to be as his master, and the Pulpit Commentary records a poignant Talmudic use of it, where R. Ula consoles a friend over a ruined house by recalling that the temple too lies in ruins. ⚙ Then the name. Βεελζεβοὺλ is the reading of the Greek manuscripts, as JFB states flatly and Barnes concedes on the authority of Griesbach and others, against the “Beelzebub” of the older English which assimilates it to the god of Ekron at 2 Kings 1:2. Ellicott and Cambridge trace the transformation: Baal-zebub, lord of flies, became in Jewish scorn Baal-zebel, lord of dung, or Baal-zebul, lord of the dwelling. Cambridge lists the same style of contemptuous letter-change elsewhere, Bethel to Bethaven, Barcochab to Barcozab. Ellicott then makes the decisive observation, that our Lord's own connection of the name with “the master of the house” points to the “lord of the dwelling” sense, which means the insult is being answered with a pun: if they have named Him lord of the house of demons, He will name Himself οἰκοδεσπότης, master of the house, and His people οἰκιακούς, its members. JFB counts the three relations lying side by side in these two verses, Teacher and disciples, Lord and servants, Master of the household and its inmates, and draws the conclusion that binds the unit: in all these relations they cannot look to fare better than He, and should think it enough if they fare no worse. The Pulpit Commentary observes that the slander is treated as already uttered, though Matthew has not yet narrated it until 12:24, with the charge implied at 9:34.

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

⚙ This is the tool's own fallible reading, offered to be tested. The discourse is usually read as a list of hardships with comforts interleaved, but the Greek arranges it as a single transfer of identity. Four things are said to belong to the disciples, and each is first the Master's. They will be παραδίδωμι-ed, handed over (vv. 17, 19, 21), which is the standing verb of His own betrayal. They will be μαστιγόω-ed, flogged (v. 17), a rare verb the Verifier finds again at Matthew 20:19, where He says it will be done to Him. They will be led before governors and kings (v. 18), as He will be. And they will be called by His nickname (v. 25). ⚙ The logic of vv. 24 to 25 is therefore not consolation by comparison but consolation by belonging: the disciple is not above the teacher, so the disciple's suffering is not an accident of a hostile world but the shape of the house he has entered. Read this way, the two commands of v. 16 stop being prudential advice and become the household's manners. φρόνιμοι, the serpent's alertness, is why v. 23 says flee; ἀκέραιοι, unmixed, is why v. 22 can say the hatred is for a Name and nothing else, because there is no other alloy in them to hate. And the strangest promise in the unit follows the same pattern: in v. 20 the disciple's own voice is crossed out and the Spirit of the Father put in its place, which is precisely the arrangement by which the Son Himself spoke. ⚙ The tool is aware this reading leans on a pattern of vocabulary rather than on an explicit statement in the text, and that Matthew 10:23 remains a genuine difficulty for any reading, including this one; the commentators gathered here do not agree on what its coming means, and neither this synthesis nor any of them can settle it.

Not a verse, a fallible reading: they are not promised safety in the wolves, they are promised the Master's own name.

⚙

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.

“Let not the sheep fear the wolves after death”: a saying outside the canon flagged: verify source

Two of the sources attach to this verse a dialogue that is not in any Gospel. Cambridge reports that Clement of Rome, quoting these words, adds: “Then Peter answered and said, If then the wolves rend the sheep? but Jesus said to Peter, Let not the sheep fear the wolves after death.” The Pulpit Commentary gives a fuller and slightly different form of the same exchange, citing 2 Clement 5, with “lambs” for “sheep” as at Luke 10:3. ⚙ The saying fits the unit's argument so exactly, running ahead to the fear of those who kill the body at Matthew 10:28, that its attraction is obvious, and that is a reason for caution rather than confidence. It is an agraphon: an extra-canonical saying attributed to Christ, preserved in a second-century homily whose ascription to Clement is itself disputed, and the two nineteenth-century commentators quoted here do not agree on its wording. The tool records it as something the sources report, and claims nothing about its authenticity. No Verifier basis exists or could exist for it, since it is not a canonical text.

Luke 10:3 · Matthew 10:28

basis: Provenance disputed and no canonical basis: the quoted dialogue is an agraphon preserved in 2 Clement, not in any Gospel, and Cambridge and the Pulpit Commentary transmit it in differing wording (sheep versus lambs, and differing clauses). The canonical refs given are only the verses the saying is attached to (Luke 10:3, which shares G3074 λύκος at 5 vv and G649 ἀποστέλλω with Matthew 10:16, and Matthew 10:28, whose sense it anticipates). Reader should verify the Clementine text directly.

The household that shares its Master's nickname verbal / quotation: confirmed

The word οἰκιακούς (oikiakos, G3615, “familiar, of the household”) is almost unique: the Verifier finds it in only 2 verses of the New Testament, this one and Matthew 10:36, thirteen verses later. That is not coincidence but composition. Here the household members inherit the Master's slander; there, “a man's enemies will be the members of his own household,” the household turns on itself. Ellicott traces the name Beelzebul to a probable sense “lord of the dwelling,” and observes that our Lord's connection of it with “the master of the house” points to that meaning; JFB counts the three paired relations, Teacher and disciple, Lord and servant, Master of the household and its inmates. ⚙ The two occurrences of this rare word thus frame the same house from outside and from inside: named a demon's house by its enemies, and divided against itself within.

Matthew 10:36

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G3615 οἰκιακός, which stands in only 2 verses of the New Testament (this verse and Matthew 10:36). Both refs are New Testament, so the verbal tier is admissible; the rarity is near-absolute.

The anxiety forbidden over bread, forbidden again over a defence verbal / quotation: confirmed

The Verifier records two shared lexemes with Matthew 6:34: μεριμνάω (G3309, “to be anxious about,” 17 verses) and ἀρκετός (G713, “satisfactory, enough,” only 3 verses). Both sit in this unit, the first at 10:19 and the second at the head of 10:25. In the Sermon the same Speaker forbade anxiety about tomorrow and said “sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof”; here the same two words return with the stakes raised from food and clothing to a capital trial, and enough is applied not to the day's trouble but to the disciple's share in the Master's shame. The Pulpit Commentary makes the cross-reference to Matthew 6:34 explicitly at 10:25. ⚙ The tool reads the pairing as deliberate: what was said of bread is being said again of blood.

Matthew 6:34 · 1 Peter 4:3

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G3309 μεριμνάω (17 vv) and, rarely, G713 ἀρκετός (3 vv) with Matthew 6:34; G713 ἀρκετός (3 vv) and G1484 ἔθνος (151 vv) with 1 Peter 4:3. ἀρκετός at 3 verses is rare enough to carry the verbal tier, and all three refs are New Testament.

Wolves: the five verses verbal / quotation: confirmed

λύκος (lykos, G3074) stands in only 5 verses of the New Testament, and the Verifier finds four of them clustered here: Luke 10:3 (the seventy, with μέσος and ἀποστέλλω also shared), Matthew 7:15 (false prophets in sheep's clothing, sharing πρόβατον and προσέχω, the very verb of 10:17), John 10:12 (the hireling who sees the wolf and flees, sharing πρόβατον and φεύγω, the verb of 10:23), and Acts 20:29 (Paul's grievous wolves entering in among the Ephesian elders). Ellicott notes that the wolf is in the New Testament always the symbol of the persecutor; JFB cites John 10:12 directly at this verse. ⚙ Read together the five occurrences form a closed vocabulary: the wolf is outside the flock at Acts 20:29, disguised inside it at Matthew 7:15, unopposed by the hireling at John 10:12, and here the flock is deliberately sent into the middle of it.

Luke 10:3 · Matthew 7:15 · John 10:12 · Acts 20:29

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G3074 λύκος, which stands in only 5 verses of the New Testament, with G4263 πρόβατον (37 vv) additionally shared at Matthew 7:15 and John 10:12, G5343 φεύγω (29 vv) at John 10:12, and G3319 μέσος (56 vv) plus G649 ἀποστέλλω (130 vv) at Luke 10:3. All refs are New Testament.

Unmixed: a word used three times in the New Testament verbal / quotation: confirmed

ἀκέραιος (akeraios, G185, “unmixed”) occurs in only 3 verses, and the Verifier names the other two: Romans 16:19, “simple concerning evil,” and Philippians 2:15, “blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation,” which also shares μέσος with this verse. The Pulpit Commentary cites Lightfoot on the Philippians passage for the sense “unmixed, unadulterated.” Cambridge, however, enters a caution that must be recorded: “the expression in Romans 16:19, which this passage recalls, is not quite parallel,” since Paul there describes Christian character in general while our Lord gives instructions for a special occasion, and the word rendered “wise” in Romans is a different Greek word from φρόνιμος here. ⚙ So the lexical link is certain and the application is not identical; the tool records both halves.

Romans 16:19 · Philippians 2:15

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G185 ἀκέραιος, standing in only 3 New Testament verses in total (this one, Romans 16:19, Philippians 2:15); Philippians 2:15 additionally shares G3319 μέσος (56 vv) and G5043 τέκνον (91 vv). All refs are New Testament. Cambridge's caution that the Romans context is not quite parallel qualifies the application, not the shared lexeme.

Brother against brother: Micah's prophecy in Greek dress structural / thematic: confirmed

Ellicott records that the words of 10:21 “reproduce almost verbally the prophecy of Micah 7:6,” and the Pulpit Commentary independently suspects the verb ἐπαναστήσονται of being a reminiscence of it, noting that other words of the same prophecy are quoted openly a few verses later at Matthew 10:35. Ellicott also observes what follows in Micah: “Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation,” which answers to the endurance Christ commands in the very next verse. ⚙ The two texts therefore share both the catastrophe and the response to it. But this link cannot be tiered verbal here. Matthew 10:21 is Greek and Micah 7:6 is Hebrew, so no shared Strong's number exists between them, and the Verifier returned no lexical basis for the pair; the connection rests on the sense of the sentence and on Matthew's own open quotation of Micah at 10:35, not on a computed verbal identity in this verse.

Micah 7:6

basis: Cross-Testament Greek to Hebrew: no shared Strong's lexeme is possible, and the Verifier returned none for this pair, so the verbal tier is excluded by definition. Recorded basis is the shared sentence pattern (brother, father, child, children rising against parents) named by Ellicott as almost verbal reproduction and by the Pulpit Commentary as a reminiscence, together with Matthew's own explicit citation of Micah 7:6 at Matthew 10:35.

The same warning, spoken twice: this discourse and the Olivet discourse structural / thematic: confirmed

The Verifier finds Mark 13:12 the single closest neighbour of 10:21 (shared παραδίδωμι twice and πατήρ), and Mark 13:9 the neighbour of 10:17 (shared συναγωγή, συνέδριον, παραδίδωμι), with Luke 21:12 and Luke 21:16 close behind. These are common words, so the basis is pattern rather than rarity. The Pulpit Commentary states the problem candidly: vv. 17 to 22 are “practically identical with Mark 13:9 to 13,” and it is hard to resist the conclusion that Matthew has incorporated into the missionary charge warnings actually given in the later address on the fall of Jerusalem, and then to some extent repeats them in their proper place at Matthew 24:9 to 14. Poole and Gill both note that nothing of this kind happened on the first mission. ⚙ The tool records this as an open question of composition, not as a settled result; the sources themselves disagree about whether the discourse is a unity.

Mark 13:9 · Mark 13:12 · Luke 21:12 · Luke 21:16

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G3860 παραδίδωμι (117 vv, twice) and G3962 πατήρ (367 vv) with Mark 13:12; G4864 συναγωγή (56 vv), G4892 συνέδριον (22 vv), G3860 παραδίδωμι with Mark 13:9; G4864, G3860, G935 βασιλεύς (105 vv) with Luke 21:12; G3860 twice and G2289 θανατόω (11 vv) with Luke 21:16. Every shared lexeme is common, so the link is a shared discourse pattern, not a rare-word quotation; the verbal tier is deliberately withheld.

Flogged in their synagogues: Matthew says it twice verbal / quotation: confirmed

μαστιγόω (mastigoō, G3146, “to flog”) stands in only 7 verses. The Verifier pairs this unit with Matthew 23:34, which also shares ἀποστέλλω and ἰδού, the two words with which 10:16 opens. The Pulpit Commentary notices the same thing and quotes the parallel: “Therefore, behold, I send unto you prophets... and some of them ye shall scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city,” then asks whether our present passage is a reminiscence of that one. ⚙ The overlap is unusually tight, since it takes in the opening formula (Behold, I send), the scourging in synagogues of 10:17, and the flight from city to city of 10:23, all three. Barnes and the Pulpit Commentary record the fulfilment at Acts 22:19 and Acts 26:11, where Paul confesses he had done exactly this in the synagogues himself.

Matthew 23:34

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G3146 μαστιγόω, rare at 7 verses, plus G649 ἀποστέλλω (130 vv) and G2400 ἰδού (226 vv). Both refs are in Matthew, so this is Greek to Greek within one book; the rare lexeme plus the shared opening formula ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποστέλλω carries the verbal tier.

Sheep for the slaughter, all the day long structural / thematic: confirmed

The Verifier links this unit to Romans 8:36 through three lexemes: πρόβατον (G4263, sheep, 37 vv), ἕνεκα (G1752, on account of, 23 vv, the word of 10:18 “on My account”), and θανατόω (G2289, to put to death, 11 vv, the verb of 10:21). Paul's sentence there is itself a quotation of Psalm 44:22: “For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” ⚙ The three shared words are precisely the three elements of this unit's situation: the flock, the cause (“for thy sake,” “on My account”), and the killing. None of the three is rare enough on its own to carry a quotation claim, and the tool makes none; what it records is that Paul, describing the church under persecution, reached for the same three notes the Lord sounded here, and found them already in a psalm.

Romans 8:36

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G4263 πρόβατον (37 vv), G1752 ἕνεκα (23 vv), G2289 θανατόω (11 vv). All are moderately common, none rare, so no quotation is claimed; both refs are New Testament and the link is the shared three-part pattern of flock, cause, and killing. Romans 8:36's own quotation of Psalm 44:22 is Paul's, not a link this verse makes.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

Everything He hands them was first handed to Him ancient/widely-held

⚙ The four things predicted of the disciples in this unit are each, in Matthew's own vocabulary, predicted of Christ. They will be παραδίδωμι-ed (10:17, 19, 21) and He is παραδίδωμι-ed at Matthew 20:19. They will be μαστιγόω-ed (10:17) and He is μαστιγόω-ed at Matthew 20:19, where the Verifier confirms both rare and common lexemes shared with this unit along with ἔθνος, the nations who will do it. They will stand before governors and kings (10:18), as He stands before Pilate and Herod. And they will be called by His name (10:25). Ellicott states the principle at 10:24: “in all your sufferings you will but be following in My footsteps; what they have said and done with Me, they will say and do with you also.” JFB sets out the three relations, Teacher, Lord, Master of the household, and concludes that in all of them they cannot look to fare better than He and should think it enough if they fare no worse. Gill, Cambridge, Benson and the Pulpit Commentary read 10:24 to 25 the same way. This is the ordinary and ancient reading of the passage, not a novelty.

Matthew 20:19 · John 15:20

The Son of Man who comes: Daniel's figure named as the limit of the mission ancient/widely-held

The title ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου at 10:23 is the unit's only direct claim about Christ's own future, and Ellicott identifies its source without hesitation: “The Son of Man should come, as Daniel had seen Him come (Daniel 7:13), in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory, to complete the triumph of His kingdom.” JFB holds that “the coming of the Son of man” has a fixed doctrinal sense and refers here immediately to the judgment falling on Israel as the visible kingdom of God, on the ruins of which He would establish His own; Cambridge holds both that and a final advent still future; Benson, Barnes and Gill read the destruction of Jerusalem; Poole surveys resurrection, Pentecost, Jerusalem and the turn to the Gentiles, and declines. ⚙ What every one of them agrees on, and what the text itself supplies, is that the mission of the sheep among wolves is bounded by an arrival. The endurance of 10:22 is not endless; it has a terminus, and the terminus is a Person coming. The identification with Daniel 7:13 is the ancient and widely-held reading; the disagreement among these commentators is about the when, and the tool does not resolve it. Ellicott's own solution, that the human thoughts of the Son of Man may not have reached the furthest bound of that horizon, is a minority position with real christological cost and is recorded here as his.

Daniel 7:13 · Matthew 24:30

The Shepherd who did not flee, and the sheep who are told to novel

JFB, at the words “in the midst of wolves,” sends the reader straight to John 10:12, and the Verifier confirms the lexical overlap: λύκος, πρόβατον and φεύγω, the last being the very verb commanded to the disciples at 10:23. In John the hireling sees the wolf coming and flees, and the sheep are scattered; the Good Shepherd does not flee, and lays down His life. ⚙ Here the arrangement is inverted: the sheep are told to flee (10:23) and the Shepherd is the one who will not. The tool offers this as its own reading, and marks it novel: the flight commanded in 10:23 is not cowardice precisely because it is not the hireling's flight, which abandons others, but the flight of those whose Shepherd has already stayed. Gill reaches a similar practical conclusion by a different road, that the exhortation is not to avoid persecution but to keep the message moving. The typology is figural and the tool does not claim it as the settled reading of the tradition; what is sourced is only the lexical overlap and JFB's cross-reference.

John 10:11-12 · Matthew 26:31

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)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
  • 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)

Text: the Greek is the Berean interlinear with Strong's numbering; the English quoted as BSB is the Berean Standard Bible (CC0). Two textual points inside the unit are material. At 10:25 the Greek manuscripts read Βεελζεβούλ, Beelzebul, and not the Beelzebub of the older English versions; JFB states this flatly (“all the Greek manuscripts write Beelzebul”), Barnes concedes it on the authority of Griesbach, Hahn and Robinson, and Cambridge records that the manuscripts vary. The commentators printed here were working from texts and conventions that spell it both ways, and their spellings have been left exactly as they wrote them. At 10:19 the Pulpit Commentary notes that some Western authorities omit the clause “for it shall be given you in that hour what ye shall speak,” probably because the next verse also begins with “for” and carries a similar promise; at 10:23 Codex Bezae and some Western authorities, including Tatian's Diatessaron, add “And if out of this they persecute you, flee into another,” which the Pulpit Commentary judges a natural gloss rather than the true text.

Sources: the ten commentators are public domain and are quoted verbatim as contiguous substrings, never stitched or modernised. Matthew Henry's entry in this brief is a single continuous note on the whole of 10:16 to 42 rather than verse-by-verse comment, so his sentences are drawn from that running paragraph; the Geneva Bible's contributions are marginal letter-glosses, not exposition. Several entries in the source material are capped, and the full text of Gill at 10:25 in particular (on the derivation of Beelzebul) runs beyond what is printed here. Gill's and the Pulpit Commentary's rabbinic citations (Mishnah Sotah 9:15, Shir haShirim Rabbah, the scourging procedure from Makkoth, Maimonides) are later Jewish sources being used as background, not as evidence of what the first hearers understood.

What is uncertain. First, whether this discourse is a unity: the Pulpit Commentary argues that vv. 17 to 22 are practically identical with Mark 13:9 to 13 and were probably spoken in the later Jerusalem address, and Poole, Gill and Benson all observe that nothing of the kind described happened on the first mission. The tool has not tried to settle this. Second, the meaning of “till the Son of Man be come” at 10:23: Benson, Barnes and Gill read the fall of Jerusalem, JFB a doctrinally fixed sense referring immediately to that crisis, Cambridge both that and a still future advent, Poole a survey with no verdict, and Ellicott an unharmonised reading that touches the limits of the Son's human knowledge. These are genuinely incompatible and are printed as such. Third, whether εἰς τέλος at 10:22 is temporal (Poole, Gill) or means completeness of endurance (the Pulpit Commentary, appealing to the anarthrous construction). Fourth, whether “in their synagogues” at 10:17 means inside the buildings (Ellicott, Barnes) or simply in their assemblies (Poole). Fifth, the identification of the Gentile officials at 10:18, where Cambridge and the Pulpit Commentary disagree over the Thessalonian politarchs and over the range of ἡγεμών. The machine layer marked ⚙ is fallible synthesis and carries no authority; where it reasons from a pattern of vocabulary rather than from an explicit statement, it says so.

✦ = 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)