Sunday, 28th June 2026 Proper 8 (13) Year A
Matthew 10:40-42
Welcome Christ in those Christ sends
10:40 “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.
10:41 Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous,
10:42 and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple — truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”
40 Ὁ δεχόμενος ὑμᾶς ἐμὲ δέχεται, καὶ ὁ ἐμὲ δεχόμενος δέχεται τὸν ἀποστείλαντά με.
41 Ὁ δεχόμενος προφήτην εἰς ὄνομα προφήτου μισθὸν προφήτου λήψεται, καὶ ὁ δεχόμενος δίκαιον εἰς ὄνομα δικαίου μισθὸν δικαίου λήψεται.
42 Καὶ ὃς ἐὰν ποτίσῃ ἕνα τῶν μικρῶν τούτων ποτήριον ψυχροῦ μόνον εἰς ὄνομα μαθητοῦ, ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, οὐ μὴ ἀπολέσῃ τὸν μισθὸν αὐτοῦ.
Comments
The first two verses are rhetorically crafted, and stress the notion of δέχομαι (‘I receive, accept, welcome’), repeated six times in the first two verses.
[40] δέχομαι, a deponent vb, is as old as Homeric Greek; it means ‘receive, welcome’ in a physical sense or ‘accept’ in a non-physical sense (cf. LSJ). V. 40 is made up of two chiastic (‘crisscrossing’) statements, the first entwining ‘you’ (plural)/ ὑμᾶς and ‘me’ (ἐμὲ is the longer, emphatic form of ‘me’), the second statement interlacing ‘me’ (emphatic) with ‘he who sent me’ (τὸν ἀποστείλαντά με). The aor. part. ἀποστείλαντά (acc.) < ἀποστέλλω, ‘send forth’, cf. Engl. apostle.
The chiasmus just noted (AB ~ ba) is also a rhetorical climax, moving from ‘you’ to ‘me’ to ‘he who sent me’.
[41] εἰς ὄνομα προφήτου μισθὸν προφήτου λήψεται: εἰς ὄνομα προφήτου (‘in the name of a prophet’) may sound strange to a classicist. The phrase ‘in the name’ + genet. is a ‘Semitic idiom attested in rabbinic literature’ (EDNT, s.v. ὄνομα, p. 522). In effect, the phrase means ‘in virtue of his bearing the name “prophet” and being one’.
μισθὸν, acc. sg. μισθὸς (masc.) = ‘pay, wages’; ‘reward’.
[42] Καὶ ὃς ἐὰν ποτίσῃ ἕνα τῶν μικρῶν τούτων ποτήριον: ποτίζω, construed with a double acc. (obj.) = ‘I give someone something to drink’.
τῶν μικρῶν τούτων: ‘of these (here) little (or humble) ones’. The demonstrative pronoun τούτων is deictic, suggesting a gesture (Christ is pointing).
οὐ μὴ ἀπολέσῃ τὸν μισθὸν αὐτοῦ: the combined negatives οὐ μὴ + aor. subj. can denote a strong negation, ‘by no means’. The introductory ‘Amen’ confirms this. Thus: ‘… by no means will he forfeit his reward’.
Sunday, 21st June 2026
Matthew 10:24-39
The cost of discipleship
10:24″A disciple is not above the teacher nor a slave above the master;
10:25it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!
10:26″So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered and nothing secret that will not become known.
10:27What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops.
10:28Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
10:29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
10:30And even the hairs of your head are all counted.
10:31So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
10:32″Everyone, therefore, who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven,
10:33but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.
10:34″Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword.
10:35For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law,
10:36and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.
10:37″Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me,
10:38and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
10:39Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
24 Οὐκ ἔστι μαθητὴς ὑπὲρ τὸν διδάσκαλον οὐδὲ δοῦλος ὑπὲρ τὸν κύριον αὐτοῦ.
25 Ἀρκετὸν τῷ μαθητῇ ἵνα γένηται ὡς ὁ διδάσκαλος αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῷ δούλῳ ὡς ὁ κύριος αὐτοῦ. Εἰ τὸν οἰκοδεσπότην Βεελζεβοὺλ ἐκάλεσαν, πόσῳ μᾶλλον τοὺς οἰκιακοὺς αὐτοῦ;
26 Μὴ οὖν φοβηθῆτε αὐτούς· οὐδὲν γάρ ἐστι κεκαλυμμένον ὃ οὐκ ἀποκαλυφθήσεται, καὶ κρυπτὸν ὃ οὐ γνωσθήσεται.
27 Ὅ λέγω ὑμῖν ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ, εἴπατε ἐν τῷ φωτί, καὶ ὃ εἰς τὸ οὖς ἀκούετε, κηρύξατε ἐπὶ τῶν δωμάτων.
28 Καὶ μὴ φοβηθῆτε ἀπὸ τῶν ἀποκτεννόντων τὸ σῶμα, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν μὴ δυναμένων ἀποκτεῖναι· φοβήθητε δὲ μᾶλλον τὸν δυνάμενον καὶ ψυχὴν καὶ σῶμα ἀπολέσαι ἐν γεέννῃ.
29 Οὐχὶ δύο στρουθία ἀσσαρίου πωλεῖται; καὶ ἓν ἐξ αὐτῶν οὐ πεσεῖται ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἄνευ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν.
30 Ὑμῶν δὲ καὶ αἱ τρίχες τῆς κεφαλῆς πᾶσαι ἠριθμημέναι εἰσί.
31 Μὴ οὖν φοβηθῆτε· πολλῶν στρουθίων διαφέρετε ὑμεῖς.
32 Πᾶς οὖν ὅστις ὁμολογήσει ἐν ἐμοὶ ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὁμολογήσω κἀγὼ ἐν αὐτῷ ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς·
33 ὅστις δ᾿ ἂν ἀρνήσηταί με ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἀρνήσομαι αὐτὸν κἀγὼ ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς.
34 Μὴ νομίσητε ὅτι ἦλθον βαλεῖν εἰρήνην ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν· οὐκ ἦλθον βαλεῖν εἰρήνην, ἀλλὰ μάχαιραν.
35 Ἦλθον γὰρ διχάσαι ἄνθρωπον κατὰ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ θυγατέρα κατὰ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτῆς καὶ νύμφην κατὰ τῆς πενθερᾶς αὐτῆς·
36 καὶ ἐχθροὶ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου οἱ οἰκιακοὶ αὐτοῦ.
37 Ὁ φιλῶν πατέρα ἢ μητέρα ὑπὲρ ἐμὲ οὐκ ἔστι μου ἄξιος· καὶ ὁ φιλῶν υἱὸν ἢ θυγατέρα ὑπὲρ ἐμὲ οὐκ ἔστι μου ἄξιος·
38 καὶ ὃς οὐ λαμβάνει τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀκολουθεῖ ὀπίσω μου, οὐκ ἔστι μου ἄξιος.
39 Ὁ εὑρὼν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἀπολέσει αὐτήν, καὶ ὁ ἀπολέσας τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ εὑρήσει αὐτήν.
Comments
A string of statements and protropai/ exhortations that include warnings and paradoxes. There are also noticeable parallelism in sentences and clauses and strong antitheses (e.g., ‘not A but B’). Does Jesus refer to a knife or a sword? See on v. 34 below.
[24] Οὐκ ἔστι μαθητὴς ὑπὲρ τὸν διδάσκαλον: μαθητὴς, ‘learner, pupil’, cl. Gk (LSJ) < μανθάνω, already in Homer; in cl. Gk = ‘learn’; ‘understand’. In ancient Greek, one learns by study but also by practice; also by heart (LSJ). Cf. Engl. mathematics.
διδάσκαλον: διδάσκαλος, ‘teacher’ < διδάσκω, ‘I teach’, also in Homer and cl. Gk. Cf. Engl. didactic.
[26] οὐδὲν γάρ ἐστι κεκαλυμμένον ὃ οὐκ ἀποκαλυφθήσεται: κεκαλυμμένον, perf. part. pass. voice < καλύπτω, ‘cover’; ‘conceal’, cl. Gk (LSJ). Its opposite is ἀπο- καλύπτω, ‘un-cover’; ‘reveal’, cl. Gk (LSJ). Cf. Engl. Apocalypse.
[27] Ὅ λέγω ὑμῖν ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ, εἴπατε ἐν τῷ φωτί, καὶ ὃ εἰς τὸ οὖς ἀκούετε, κηρύξατε ἐπὶ τῶν δωμάτων: the contrasts continue–ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ (‘in the darkness/ σκοτία’) vs ἐν τῷ φωτί (‘in the light/ φῶς’); ‘what you hear (whispered) in your ear/ τὸ οὖς’ vs ‘proclaim/ κηρύξατε on your rooftops/ ἐπὶ τῶν δωμάτων’.
δῶμα (neut.): in Homer & other poets = ‘house’; in koine = ‘rooftop’.
[28] Καὶ μὴ φοβηθῆτε ἀπὸ τῶν ἀποκτεννόντων τὸ σῶμα, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν μὴ δυναμένων ἀποκτεῖναι: more contrasts; τὸ σῶμα = ‘dead body of a human being or animal’ (in Homer); afterwards it means ‘ living body’. Cf. Engl. somatic.
ψυχὴ = ‘soul’ (after Homer, who uses θυμός). Plato often refers to the disjunction between ‘body’ and ‘soul’ (e.g. Phaedo 91 d, ‘the soul/ ψυχή is more lasting than the body/ σῶμα’).
τῶν ἀποκτεννόντων: gen. pl., pres. part., ἀποκτέννω, a koine form of ἀποκτείνω, ‘I kill’ (in Homer & cl. Gk). Socrates says much the same about the indestructibility of the soul in Plato’s Apology 30c: ἐάν με ἀποκτείνητε τοιοῦτον ὄντα οἷον ἐγὼ λέγω, οὐκ ἐμὲ μείζω βλάψετε ἢ ὑμᾶς αὐτούς (‘f you kill me, I being such a man as I say I am, you will not injure me so much as yourselves’). Justin Martyr repeats this in his Apology (1A 2.4, ‘You have the power to kill us, but not to harm us’).
[29] Οὐχὶ δύο στρουθία ἀσσαρίου πωλεῖται: introduced by Οὐχὶ, the question anticipates a ‘yes’ answer: ‘Two little sparrows are sold for a cent, aren’t they?’ στρουθίον, diminutive of στρουθός (masc. or fem.), ‘sparrow’ (in Sappho one of Aphrodite’s favourite birds).
[31] Μὴ οὖν φοβηθῆτε· πολλῶν στρουθίων διαφέρετε ὑμεῖς: i.e., ‘if your Father is aware of every baby sparrow that falls from the sky, He will all the more be aware of you’. This is an a minore ad maius inference.
Unlike God, the ancient Greek gods, including Zeus, were not really omniscient. The Epicureans held that the gods, unfathomably far removed from mortals, did not care a jot about them.
[34] οὐκ ἦλθον βαλεῖν εἰρήνην, ἀλλὰ μάχαιραν: a startling contrast—peace vs a knife as a weapon. βαλεῖν, 2nd aor. inf. < βάλλω properly means ‘I throw, hurl, cast’ (esp. a weapon); here it means ‘bring’ (EDNT, s.v., p. 191). βαλεῖν expresses purpose.
μάχαιρα has many meanings, the original one being ‘large (butcher’s) knife’ quite also handy for sacrifices; in cl. and koine Gk, μ. can denote a ‘sword, saber, cutlass, dagger’, essentially a big knife. In LXX Gk, μ. is most commonly a sword, but in at least one case is a sacrificial knife (Muraoka s.v.). In the pericope μάχαιρα may point to a domestic situation, as confirmed by vv. 35-7. For the view that the term means ‘sword’ here and implies the social conflict of persecution, see EDNT, s.v. μάχαιρα, p. 398, section 3.
[35] Ἦλθον γὰρ διχάσαι ἄνθρωπον: διχάσαι, another infinitive of purpose < διχάζω, ‘I divide in two’ (cl. Gk); here, ‘I divide one against another’ (LSJ), ‘I set one against another’ (EDNT, s.v., p. 337). Cf. Engl. dich-otomy.
[39] Ὁ εὑρὼν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἀπολέσει αὐτήν, καὶ ὁ ἀπολέσας τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ εὑρήσει αὐτήν: a paradox, the stuff of religious language. See, e.g., my article ‘Religious paradox and aporia’, Nuntius Antiquus 13.ii (2017), 39-57 [also available online:http://www.periodicos.letras.ufmg.br/index.php/nuntius_antiquus/issue/view/619].
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 