Luke 9:4

Luk_9:4

And whatsoever house ye enter into

Fireside preaching

They went from town to town, receiving hospitality, or rather taking it for themselves, according to custom.

The guest in the East has many privileges; he is superior to the master of the house, who has the greatest confidence in him. This fireside preaching is admirably adapted to the propagation of new doctrines. The hidden treasure is communicated, and payment is thus made for what is received; politeness and good feeling lend their aid; the household is touched and converted. Remove Oriental hospitality, and it would be impossible to explain the propagation of Christianity. Jesus, who adhered strongly to good old customs, encouraged His disciples to make no scruple of profiting by this ancient public right, probably already abolished in the great towns where there were hostelries. Once installed in any house, they were to remain there, eating and drinking what was offered them, as long as their mission lasted. (Renan.)

Willing hospitality

When travelling in the East no one need ever scruple to go into the best house of any Arab village to which he comes, and he will always be received with profuse and gratuitous hospitality. From the moment we entered any house it was regarded as our own. There is not an Arab you meet who will not empty for you the last drop in his water-skin, or share with you his last piece of black bread. The Rabbis said that paradise was the reward of willing hospitality. (Schottgen.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9:4 stay in the same house: They were to develop lasting relationships and be content without seeking better lodging or provisions.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Luk 9:4. Ἐκεῖθεν, from thence) Let your exit from the house and from the city be at one and the same time.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 9:4 . Thus far of material wants. We now pass to social relations. The general direction here is: stay in the same house all the time you are in a place; pithily put by Lk. = ἐκεῖ μένετε , ἐκεῖθεν ἐξέρχεσθε , there remain, thence depart, both adverbs referring to οἰκίαν .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When you depart out of any city, depart from thence where you first took up your lodging: so that in few words, the Lord forbiddeth them to change their lodgings: for this publishing of the Gospel, was as it were a thorough passage, that none of Judea might pretend ignorance, as though he had not heard that Christ was come.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 4. There abide, and thence depart.] That is, remain in that lodging till ye depart from that city. Some MSS. and versions add μη, which makes the following sense: There remain, and depart NOT thence. See Clarke on Mt 10:11.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. whatsoever house ye enter] After enquiring who were the worthiest people to receive them, Mat_10:11, com]), infra Luk_10:5-8. This injunction was meant to exclude fastidious and restless changes.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And whatsoever house ye enter into,.... In any town, or city, they should come to in their journey through Judea, and should enter into for the sake of lodging, during their stay:

there abide; do not shift quarters, or move from house to house:

and thence depart; the house you come into first, go out of last, when ye leave the town or city. The Vulgate Latin and Persic versions read, and thence do not depart: and so Beza says it is read in a certain copy, but then the sense is the same, as the Ethiopic version renders it, "do not go out from thence, until ye depart"; that is, do not leave the house, till you depart out of the town or city; agreeably to which is the Arabic version, "remain in it until the time of your going out"; See Gill on Mat 10:11.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And depart[1] not from thence. In the ordinary Greek copies we find, and depart from thence. The sense appears, by the other evangelists, (Matthew x. 11. and Mark vi. 10.) that Christ gave this admonition to his disciples, not to change their lodging from house to house; but while they staid in a town, to remain in the same house. And though the negative be here omitted in the Greek, interpreters bring it to the same, by telling us that the sense is, stay here, and depart from thence; i.e. stay in that house, so that leaving the town, you may depart from the same house. (Witham)

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Et ind ne exeatis, but in the ordinary Greek copies, without ne, Greek: kai ekeithen exerchesthe.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart. On entering any new place they were to select, after due and careful inquiry, (Mat_10:11) a family likely and able to assist them in their evangelistic work. This "house" they were to endeavour to make the centre of their efforts in that locality. This rule we find continued in the early years of Christianity. In the history of the first Churches, certain "houses" in the different cities were evidently the centres of the mission work there. We gather this from such expressions in St. Paul"s letters as the Church which is in his house". (comp., too, Act_16:40, where the house of Lydia was evidently the head-quarters of all missionary work in Philippi and its neighbourhood)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

There abide and thence depart - That is, stay in that house till ye leave the city.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

4. εἰς ἣν ἂν οἰκίαν εἰσέλθητε. After inquiring who were the worthiest people to receive them, Mat 10:11, comp. infra Luk 10:5-8. This injunction was meant to exclude fastidious and restless changes. St Luke omits the injunction (Mat 10:5)—which was only temporary (Mat 28:19)—not to enter into Samaritan villages.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. ἐκεῖ μένετε καὶ ἐκεῖθεν ἐξέρχεσθε. Vulg. has et inde ne exeatis. But only, one cursive has μή (38). Cod. Brix. has donec exeatis fr. Mt. The meaning is “Go not from house to house,” as He charges the Seventy in 10:7, a passage which should be compared with this. The mission both of the Twelve and of the Seventy was to be simple and quiet, working from fixed centres in each place. This is the germ of what we find in the apostolic age,—“the church that is in their house” (Rom 16:5; 1Co 16:19; Col 4:15; Phm 1:2).

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

There abide. See on Mt 10:10.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 4. On their arrival at a city, they were to settle down in the first house to which they obtained access (εἰς ἣν ἄν, into whatever house), which, however, was not to exclude prudence and well-ascertained information (Matthew); and, once settled in a house, they were to keep to it, and try to make it the centre of a divine work in that place. To accept the hospitality of several families in succession would be the means of creating rivalry. It would therefore be from this house also, which was the first to welcome them, that they would have to set out on leaving the place: “till ye go thence.” The reading of the Vulg.: “Go not out of this house,” is an erroneous correction. In the primitive churches, Christian work was concentrated in certain houses, which continued to be centres of operation (comp. the expression in Paul’s epistles, “The church which is in his house”).

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.