Luke 10:4

Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(4) Carry neither purse, nor scrip.—See Notes on Matthew 10:9-10; Mark 6:8.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

10:1-16 Christ sent the seventy disciples, two and two, that they might strengthen and encourage one another. The ministry of the gospel calls men to receive Christ as a Prince and a Saviour; and he will surely come in the power of his Spirit to all places whither he sends his faithful servants. But the doom of those who receive the grace of God in vain, will be very fearful Those who despise the faithful ministers of Christ, who think meanly of them, and look scornfully upon them, will be reckoned as despisers of God and Christ.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Purse ...scrip ...shoes - See the notes at Matthew 10:10.

Salute no man by the way - Salutations among the Orientals did not consist, as among us, of a slight bow or an extension of the hand, but was performed by many embraces and inclinations, and even prostrations of the body on the ground. All this required much "time;" and as the business on which the seventy were sent was urgent, they were required not to "delay" their journey by long and formal salutations of the persons whom they met. "If two Arabs of equal rank meet each other, they extend to each other the right hand, and having clasped, they elevate them as if to kiss them. Each one then draws back his hand and kisses it instead of his friend's, and then places it upon his forehead. The parties then continue the salutation by kissing each other's beard. They gave thanks to God that they are once more permitted to see their friend - they pray to the Almighty in his behalf. Sometimes they repeat not less than ten times the ceremony of grasping hands and kissing."

It may also be added, in the language of Dr. Thomson ("The Land and the Book," vol. i. p. 534), that "there is such an amount of insincerity, flattery, and falsehood in the terms of salutation prescribed by etiquette, that our Lord, who is truth itself, desired his representatives to dispense with them as far as possible, perhaps tacitly to rebuke them. These 'instructions' were also intended to reprove another propensity which an Oriental can scarcely resist, no matter how urgent his business. If he meets an acquaintance, he must stop and make an endless number of inquiries and answer as many. If they come upon people making a bargain or discussing any other matter, they must pause and intrude their own ideas, and enter keenly into the business, though it in no wise concerns them; and more especially, an Oriental can never resist the temptation to assist "where accounts are being settled or money counted out." The clink of coin has a positive fascination to them. Now the command of our Saviour strictly forbade all such loiterings. They would waste time, distract attention, and in many ways hinder the prompt and faithful discharge of their important mission." The salutation of friends, therefore, was a ceremony which consumed much time; and it was on this account that our Lord on this occasion forbade them to delay their journey to greet others. A similar direction is found in 2 Kings 4:29.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

3-12. (See on [1625]Mt 10:7-16).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Poole on "Luke 10:4"

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Carry neither purse,.... The Syriac version reads, "purses, "to put money, gold, silver, and brass in; and the prohibition regards the money in the purse chiefly:

nor scrip; the Syriac version here also reads in the plural number, "scrips", to put victuals in, provisions or any sort for their journey, which they were not to carry with them, any more than money, to buy food with

Nor shoes; any more than those they had upon their feet; See Gill on Matthew 10:9, Matthew 10:10 and salute no man by the way; that they might not be retarded, and hindered in their journey by tedious ceremonies, and long inquiries into the health of persons and friends, and the business they were going about, and places where; and by discourses and confabulations, drawn out to great length, as was often the case at meeting on the road: and, for the same reason, a like charge is given to Gehazi, 2 Kings 4:29, and which, as the Jewish commentators on the place observe (a), was, that he might not multiply words with persons he met with, and might not be stopped by the way; and that his intention might be in his work, and his mind might not turn to any other thing, either by word or deed. So our Lord's intention, by this order was, not to teach them incivility, or to be morose and uncourteous; but that they might dispatch their business with the utmost expedition, and rather forego some common civilities and ceremonies, than to neglect, or, in the least, to hinder a work of so much importance they were sent about: and this was the more necessary, since, according to the Jewish maxim (b),

"prevent every man with a salutation;''

they saluted all that they met, which took up time, and hindered business. Some sorts of persons indeed were excused, as those who were mourners (c) for the dead, and such as kept fasts for rain (d): but such were not these disciples; they neither mourned, nor fasted, nor could they, so long as the bridegroom was with them.

(a) Jarchi, Kimchi, & R. Levi Ben Gersom in 2 Kings 29. (b) Pirke Abot. c. 4. sect. 15. (c) T. Bab. in Misn. Moed Katon, c. 3. sect. 6. (d) Misn. Taanith, c. 1. sect. 7.

Geneva Study Bible

Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute {a} no man by the way.

(a) This is spoken figuratively, which manner of speech men use when they put down more in words than is meant. This is usual among the Hebrews when they command a thing to be done speedily without delay, as is found in 2Ki 4:29; for in any other case courteous and gentle salutations are matters of Christian duty: as for the calling, it was only for a limited time.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Luke 10:4. Comp. Luke 9:3; Matthew 10:9.

βαλλάντιον] a purse; found only in Luke in the New Testament, frequently in the Greek writers. The spelling with λλ is decisively attested in the New Testament, although in itself the spelling with one λ would be more correct. See Stallbaum, ad Plat. Leg. I. p. 348 D.

μηδένα … ἀσπάσησθε] not a prohibition of the desire of good-will (Olshausen, B.-Crusius), or of making a bustle (as Lange conjectures), which would have to be found in the context, but which has opposed to it κατὰ τὴν ὁδόν; but a command to make haste, so as to avoid every delay upon the road that might not be necessary for the performance of their task. In this respect there is no need of any reference to the circumstantial modes of greeting (embraces, benedictions, kisses, and the like). Comp. 2 Kings 4:29. Jesus impresses on them the properare ad rem! in accordance with the object of the mission, Luke 10:1; Luke 10:9, and in a concrete form, which should not be pressed to a literal meaning. Theophylact well says: διὰ τὸ μὴ ἀποσχολεῖσθαι περὶ ἀνθρωπίνους ἀσπασμοὺς καὶ φιλοφρονήσεις, καὶ ἐκ τούτου πρὸς τὸ κήρυγμα ἐμποδίζεσθαι.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Luke 10:4. βαλάντιον, a purse, in Lk. only, in N. T.; often in classics, spelt there, as in MSS. of N. T., variously with one or two λς.—μηδένα ἀσπάσησθε: salute no one, to be taken in the spirit rather than in the letter; hyperbolical for: be exclusively intent on your business: “negotio quod imposui vobis incumbite, praeterhabitis vel brevissimis obstaculis et moramentis,” Pricaeus. Weiss (Mt.-Evangel.) thinks the prohibition is directed against carrying on their mission on the way. It was to be exclusively a house-mission (vide Matthew 10:12, where ἀσπάσασθε occurs).

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

4. neither purse] Compare Luke 9:1-6, and notes; Matthew 10:1-42. St Luke uses the Greek balantion; St Mark the Oriental zonen ‘girdle.’

salute no man by the way] A common direction in cases of urgency (2 Kings 4:29), and partly explicable by the length and loitering elaborateness of Eastern greetings (Thomson, Land and Book, ii. 24).

Bengel's Gnomen

Luke 10:4. Μηδένα κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν ἀσπάσησθε, salute no man by the way) It is not inappropriate, that this should be understood literally. He who is engaged in a very serious and sudden emergency, has it less in his power to observe ceremonies of etiquette, and is readily exempted from the ordinary rules of politeness. Comp. 2 Kings 4:29, and in a similar case, Luke 19:30, et seqq. There were various classes of men among the Jews exempted from the duty of salutations, especially religious men (men exercising some religious function), as Lightfoot shows. They used to salute [in the East, and still salute] with many formal words and gestures; but by omitting these words (by silence), the sincerity of the mind is retained: and the time of these envoys was very precious (comp. John 20:17); very precious too [i.e. not to be indiscriminately thrown away on every one] was a salutation on the part of the envoys: see following verse, and Matthew 10:12. Hearers are more attentive in their home than on the way-side; and salutations by the way might deprive the envoys, who were so many in number, of a considerable portion of time. [In fine, even the very omission of salutations by the way in a useful manner admonished men, that the business of the Seventy was a weighty one, and one which required mature despatch.—V. g.]

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 4. - Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes. They were to burden themselves with no useless baggage, nor were they to be careful for ways and means of livelhood. Dean Plumptre very beautifully writes, on the similar words reported in Matthew 10:10 "Experience (and, we may add, the spirit that teaches by experience) has led the Christian Church at large to look on these commands as binding only during the mission on which the twelve were actually sent. It is impossible not to admire the noble enthusiasm of poverty which showed itself in the literal adoption of such rules by the followers of Francis of Assist, and, to some extent, by those of Wickliffe; but the history of the mendicant orders and other like fraternities forms part of that teaching of history which has led men to feel that in the long-run the beggar's life will bring the beggar's vices. Yet here, as in the case of the precepts of the sermon on the mount, the spirit is binding still, though the letter has passed away. The mission work of the Church has ever prospered in proportion as that spirit has pervaded it." And salute no man by the way. This especially refers to the length and tediousness of Eastern salutations, often very unreal, and which would consume much valuable time. Men were to see that one absorbing interest possessed them, and that to them was no time given for the ordinary useless amenities of life. Luke 10:4

Vincent's Word Studies

Purse (βαλλάντιον)

Used by Luke only. For money.

Scrip (πήραν)

For victuals. Rev., wallet.

Shoes

Not that they were to go unshod, but that they were not to carry a change of sandals. See Deuteronomy 29:5; Deuteronomy 33:25.

Salute no man

Oriental salutations are tedious and complicated. The command is suited to a rapid and temporary mission. Compare 2 Kings 4:29. "These instructions were also intended to reprove another propensity which an Oriental can hardly resist, no matter how urgent his business. If he meets an acquaintance, he must stop and make an endless number of inquiries, and answer as many. If they come upon men making a bargain, or discussing any other matter, they must pause and intrude their own ideas, and enter keenly into the business, though it in nowise concerns them; and, more especially, an Oriental can never resist the temptation to assist when accounts are being settled or money counted out. The clink of coin has a positive fascination to them" (Thomson, "Land and Book").