Matthew 10:1–7

Verse 1. Before this time the 12 were called disciples, and not apostles. But now he selects these from the disciples, and makes them, as it were, masters and interpreters of the ways of God to man. He sent afterwards 72 other disciples, (Luke 10:1,) but these 12 only to the whole world. A.—His twelve, and so forth Christ chose 12 apostles, that they might correspond to the number of the Jewish patriarchs, by whom they may be said to have been prefigured; and that as the whole Jewish people were descended according to the flesh from the 12 patriarchs, so the whole Christian people might be descended according to the spirit from the 12 apostles. Menochius.—Others say he chose 12, neither more nor less, to correspond with the 12 prophets of the old law, with the 12 fountains in Elim; and the 12 stones selected from the river Jordan, and preserved in the ark of the testament. Others compare the 12 apostles to the 12 months of the year, and the four evangelists to the four seasons: thus Sedulius, l. i. carm.

Quatuor hi proceres una te voce canentes,

Tempora ceu totidem latum sparguntur in orbem.

Sic et apostolici semper duodenus honoris

Fulget apex numero menses imitatus, et horas,

Omnibus ut rebus semper tibi militet annus.

Verse 2. First, Simon. [1] Simon was the first of the apostles, not in the time of his vocation, as his brother Andrew was called to the apostleship before him, but in dignity, in as much as he was constituted the vicar of Christ, and the head of the Church. Menochius.—Who is called Peter. When he first came to our Saviour, (John 1:42,) he said, Thou art Simon, son of Jonas, (or John) thou shalt be called Peter; in Chaldaic, Cephas; that is to say, a rock, designing to make him the first fundamental stone or head of his whole Church. See also Matthew 16:18. Beza, without any grounds, would have the word first to be an addition. But it is found in all Greek MSS. as well as in the ancient fathers. Witham.

Verse 3. James, the son of Zebedee, called James the greater, put to death by Herod. Acts 12:2. He was brother to John the Evangelist. The other James was called the less, also James of Alpheus, and the brother of the Lord, bishop of Jerusalem, martyred there about the year 61. Witham.—Some take Bartholomew to be the same as Nathaniel. Bartholomew signifies son of Tholmew; and he might have been called Nathaniel, son of Thalmew. V.

NU omits “Lebbaeus, who was also called”

Verse 5. Go not into the way of the Gentiles, or among the Gentiles. In this first mission, the apostles were ordered to preach to the Jews only, or to the children of the kingdom. Matthew 7:12. See also Matthew 15:24 and Acts 13:46. Witham.—These twelve Jesus sent. In this mission of the apostles we may observe three things: first, whither Jesus sent them; secondly, what he ordered them to teach; and thirdly, what they were to do. As to the first, he tells them not to go in the way of the Gentiles, nor enter into the city of the Samaritans; but to go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. We must here take notice that this commandment, given by Christ to the apostles, of confining their preaching to the house of Israel, does not contradict one related in Matthew, (chapter 28) Go teach all nations, and so forth We observe that these two commandments were given at two very different times; the first indeed, (the subject of our present annotation) the apostles received before the resurrection of Christ; the other after. It was necessary first to warn the Jews of the arrival of the Messias amongst them; otherwise they might have excused themselves for having rejected him, by saying, “He had sent his apostles to preach, not to them but to the Gentiles and Samaritans.” S. Jerom.—S. Chrysostom assigns another reason why the apostles were sent first to preach in Judea, that is that having withstood the opposition of one nation, they might be more prepared to hold out against the attacks, which they would no doubt have afterwards to sustain, in their endeavours to convert the whole world. S. Chrysos.—He forbids them to preach to the Gentiles, because it was proper that the word of God should first be announced to the Jews, children of the kingdom. Vide Acts chapter 13, verse 46. Menochius.

Verse 7. And going, and so forth What the apostles were to preach, is the second thing to be taken notice of in their mission. We here learn what it is, that is that The kingdom of heaven is at hand. We here behold the great dignity to which the apostles were raised, when sent to preach. For, says S. Chrysostom, they are not sent to announce sensible things, like Moses and the prophets, but something wholly new, and before unheard of. They are not like the prophets, to confine themselves to the preaching of temporal things, their doctrine is wholly heavenly; they are sent to announce the good things of eternity. S. Thos. Aquin.