After these things After the calling and mission of the twelve apostles, and giving them their powers, commissions, and instructions, with other things that followed thereon; the Lord appointed other seventy also; not that he had appointed before seventy, and now made an appointment of seventy…

Therefore said he unto them That is, the “Lord Jesus”, as the Ethiopic version expresses it; he said to the seventy disciples, what he had before said to the twelve apostles in (Matt. 9:37, Matt.

Go your ways Into all the villages, towns, cities, and places, where he directed them to go, to make ready for him. Behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves; as harmless, innocent, profitable, and defenceless creatures, among spiteful, malicious, cunning, and cruel men; (See Gill on Matt.

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,…

And into whatsoever house ye enter When ye come into any city, town, or village, first say, peace be to this house: salute the inhabitants in the usual form, saying, peace be to you; wishing them all happiness and prosperity, temporal, spiritual, and eternal.

And if the son of peace be there If there be any elect person or persons in the house, whom God has chosen to partake of peace by the blood of Christ, and the benefits arising from it; and of a conscience peace in their souls, upon the best foundation; and of eternal peace in the world to come,…

And in the same house remain Where the sons of peace are, and the peace rests, and into which you are invited, and kindly received and used: eating and drinking such things as they give; or rather, “such things as are with them”, as the Vulgate Latin renders it; or “of that which is theirs”, as the…

And into whatsoever city ye enter Into whatsoever house in it ye go, and apply to for lodging and entertainment, and they receive you, readily and cheerfully, eat such things as are set before you; though ever so mean, accept of them, and do not object to them on that account, lest it should be…

And heal the sick that are therein Of all their bodily diseases, which would not only show their power and warrant, theft mission and commission, but also their goodness and beneficence to men; and would be a sufficient return for what they ate and drank: and say unto them; not only to the sick…

But into whatsoever city ye enter On the other hand Christ here directs how to behave towards other cities they should come to, and be rejected: and they receive you not; refuse to admit them into their houses, or provide in any shape for them, nor hear their message: go your ways out into the…

Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us The Syriac version adds, “to our feet”; and so in Beza’s most ancient copy, and the Arabic and Persic versions read, “which cleaves to our feet”; which agrees with .

But I say unto you The same that he said to the twelve apostles, when he sent them out, , that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city.

Woe unto thee Chorazin (See Gill on Matt. 11:21). Woe unto thee Bethsaida; a city of Galilee, a fishing town, from whence it has its name, and was the native place of those two fishermen, Peter and Andrew: very likely Chorazin was near it, since they are here, and in Matthew, mentioned together;…

But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment Or “in the day of judgment”, as read the Syriac, Persic, Ethiopic, and Gothic versions; and as it is in than for you; the inhabitants of Chorazin and Bethsaida, who will be more severely punished than these Gentile cities; for by how…

And thou Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven Referring either to the situation of it, which was on a very high hill; or to its privileges, through the ministry and miracles of Christ; or the phrase may be expressive of the pride and loftiness of the inhabitants of it, who were elated with the…

He that heareth you, heareth me This is said for the encouragement of the seventy disciples, that though they would be rejected by some, they would be received by others, who would hear them, and embrace their doctrine, as if the Messiah himself had been among them; they looking upon them as…

And the seventy returned again The Syriac version adds, “whom he had sent”: these disciples having received orders and instructions from Christ, went as he directed them; and when they had finished their embassy, they returned again to him, and gave him an account of their journey and success.

And he said unto them In order to abate their surprise, and reduce their transport of mind: I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven; meaning, that this was no news to him, nor any surprising event, that devils should be cast out of men, and be in a state of subjection; for as he existed as the…

Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, &c.] Which may be literally understood, as in , or figuratively of the devil, and his principalities and powers, and all his emissaries, who, for their craft and cunning, and for their poisonous and hurtful nature and influence, may be…

Notwithstanding in this rejoice not That their power was enlarged, or that they had, the same as before: that the spirits, evil spirits, devils, are subject unto you; and come out of men at your command; rejoice not so much in this, or chiefly and principally; not but that it was matter of joy both…

In that hour Jesus rejoiced in Spirit In his human soul: his heart was filled with joy, not so much at the success of the seventy disciples, and the subjection of the devils to them, as in the view he had of the spread of the Gospel, and of the revelation and application of the truths of it to…

All things are delivered to me of my Father In some ancient copies, and in the Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions, before these words, are read, “and turning to his disciples he said, all things” and no man knoweth who the Son is; what is his name, his nature, his perfections and glory; and how…

And he turned him unto his disciples Both to the twelve apostles, and seventy disciples; and said privately; or to them apart: the phrase “privately” is wanting in the Vulgate Latin version: blessed are the eyes that see the things that ye see; the person of the Messiah, his kingdom setting up in…

For I tell you that many prophets and kings As Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, who were prophets, as well as patriarchs, and David, Solomon, and others: have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them, meaning himself,…

And behold a certain lawyer stood up From his seat, having been hearing Christ preach, very likely, in some synagogue; when and where this was, is not certain.

What is written in the law? &c.] Christ, with great propriety, sends him to the law, to see and observe what was written there, what are the terms and conditions of life, as fixed there; partly, because this man, by his office and character, was an interpreter of the law; and partly, because his…

And he answering said, thou shalt love the Lord thy God, &c.] This was part of their phylacteries, which they recited every day; (See Gill on Matt. 22:37) (See Gill on Matt. 22:39) (See Gill on Mark 12:28) (See Gill on Mark 12:29)

And he said unto him, thou hast answered right It is so written, and read; and this, as if he should say, is the sum and substance of the law, and what that requires men should do; wherefore, do this, and thou shalt live; for the bare reading of it was not sufficient; though these men placed great…

But he willing to justify himself Upon the foot of his own righteousness, and to make himself appear to be righteous to others; for this the Jews thought themselves able to do, both to justify themselves before God by their own works, and make it out to men, that they were truly righteous persons;…

And Jesus answering, said The following things; which may either be considered as a narrative of matter of fact, or as a supposed case, and delivered by way of parable; and in either way, though the general design of it is in answer to the lawyer’s question, to show who may be called a neighbour;…

And by chance there came down a certain priest that way, &c.] Who had been at Jerusalem, to take his turn in the courses, and was now returning to Jericho, where the stationary men were, to which he belonged: for it is said [[18]], that “the former prophets appointed twenty and four courses; and…

And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place Where the poor man lay in this deplorable condition: came and looked on him; and that was all; but neither spoke a comfortable word, nor administered any relief to him, or in the least assisted him: and passed by on the other side; as the priest had…

But a certain Samaritan By whom Christ may be meant; not that he was really so, for he was a Jew, a son of Abraham, and of David, according to the flesh, but he was so called by the Jews, and was treated as such by them: and since it is the design of the parable in general to show, that he that…

And went to him, and bound up his wounds Which sin had made; it being part of the work of Christ, to bind up the broken-hearted, to heal wounded sinners, and restore comforts to mourners; and which he does, by pouring in oil and wine: by which, in general, may be designed, the blood of Christ,…

And on the morrow when he departed Having taken care of him all night, and put him into a comfortable way, leaves him, though in good hands; as Christ does his people, to learn to live by faith upon him: and he took out two peace; two Roman denarii, or pence; which amount to about fifteen pence of…

Which now of these three The priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan, thinkest thou, was neighbour to him that fell among the thieves? the priest and Levite that passed by, and took no notice of him, and gave him no relief, neither by words nor actions; or the Samaritan, that did all the above kind…

And he said, he that showed mercy to him Meaning the Samaritan; which he was obliged to declare, though of another country and religion, and accounted as an enemy; yet the case was so plain, as put by Christ, that he could not with any honour or conscience, say otherwise: then said Jesus unto him,…

Now it came to pass as they went As Christ and his disciples went from Jerusalem, having been at the feast of tabernacles, (John 7:2, John 7:10) or at the feast of dedication, to some other parts of Judea: that he entered into a certain village; called Bethany, which was about fifteen furlongs, or…

And she had a sister called Mary Which also was a common name with the Jews, and is the same with Miriam; so we read of Mary, the daughter of Nicodemon, the same perhaps with Nicodemus; and the same person that is before called Martha, the daughter of Baithus, is sometimes called Mary, the daughter…

But Martha was cumbered about much serving “Or was drawn off”, from hearing the word, from attending on Christ; being taken up in providing for him, and those that came with him; in dressing food, or in ordering her servants, how she would have every thing done, and in overlooking them, that every…

And Jesus answered and said unto her Calling her by her name, and repeating it, Martha, Martha, which expresses great intimacy and friendship, and much earnestness, and, as it were, pitying her present situation and circumstances: thou art careful and troubled about many things; intimating, that…

But one thing is needful Meaning not that one dish of meat was sufficient, and there was no need of any more, in opposition to Martha’s carefulness in preparing many; for this is too low a sense of the words; which yet some ancient writers have given into: but rather the hearing of the word, the…