Mark 6:9

Mar 6:9 . ἀλλὰ … σανδάλια , but shod with sandals. μηδὲ ὑποδήματα , says Matthew, reconcilable either by distinguishing between sandals and shoes ( vide on Matthew), or by understanding μηδὲ before ὑποδεδεμένους (Victor Ant.). δύο χιτῶνας : In Mark the prohibition is not to wear ( ἐνδύσησθε ) two tunics, in Matthew and Luke not to possess a spare one. The sentence in Mar 6:8-9 presents a curious instance of varying construction: first ἵνα with the subjunctive after παρήγγειλεν (Mar 6:8 ), then ὑποδεδεμένους , implying an infinitive with accusative ( πορεύεσθαι understood), then finally there is a transition from indirect to direct narration in μὴ ἐνδύσησθε .

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

That is, they should take no change of garments with them, that they might be lighter for this journey, and make more speed.

The word signifieth properly women’s shoes.

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

Verse 9. Shod with sandals] The sandal seems to have been similar to the Roman solea, which covered only the sole of the foot, and was fastened about the foot and ankle with straps. The sandal was originally a part of the woman's dress; ancient authors represent them as worn only by women. In Mt 10:10, the disciples are commanded to take no shoes, υποδηματα, which word is nearly of the same import with σανδαλια, sandals; but, as our Lord intimates to them that they should be free from all useless incumbrances, that they might fulfil his orders with the utmost diligence and despatch, so we may suppose that the sandal was a lighter kind of wear than the shoe: and indeed the word sandal, which is mere Chaldee, סנדל might be properly translated a light shoe; as it is compounded of סין sin, a shoe, (see Targum, Deu 25:9-10,) and דל dal, thin, slender, or mean, as being made, not only lighter than the hypodema or shoe, but (probably) also of meaner materials. See many excellent observations on this subject in Martinius's Etymolog. Lexicon, under the word Sandalium.

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

(9) Be shod with sandals.—The word occurs again in Act_12:8. It describes obviously the shoes worn by the poor as distinguished from those of the more wealthy class, the sole of leather or wood fastened over the instep by strong leather thongs.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. be shod with sandals] That is, they were to take no other shoes with them for travelling “than their ordinary sandals of palm-bark.” So now “the Galilean peasants wear a coarse shoe, answering to the sandal of the ancients, but never take two pair with them.”

two coats] That is, they were not to take with them a change of raiment.

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.

But be shod with sandals,.... Which were different from shoes, and more fit to travel with, and therefore allowed when shoes were forbidden; See Gill on Mat 10:10, though some think there was no difference between shoes and sandals, and that Christ, in Mat 10:10, does not forbid the taking of shoes, but two pair of shoes; as not two coats, nor two staves, but one of a sort only. And

not put on two coats; that is, at a time; an inner and an outward one, or one at one time, and another at another: they were forbid change of raiment; the reasons for it See Gill on Mat 10:10. From all which it appears, that as a minister of the Gospel ought not to be a worldly minded man, that minds earth and earthly things, and seeks to amass wealth and riches to himself, and preaches for filthy lucre's sake; nor to be a sensual and voluptuous man, serving his own belly, and not the Lord Jesus Christ, feeding himself, and not the flock; so neither should he be filled with worldly cares, overwhelmed in worldly business, and entangled with the affairs of this life: he ought to have his mind free from all solicitude and anxious concern, about a subsistence for himself and his, that so he may with greater and more close application attend to his ministry, to preparations for it, and the performance of it; and give up himself entirely to the word and prayer, and not have his mind distracted with other things: upon which account it is highly necessary, that the people to whom he ministers should take care, that a sufficient provision be made for him; that he may live without any anxious care and thought about such things, and his mind be more intent about the work he is called unto: and which is what our Lord chiefly designs by all this, who has ordained that they that preach the Gospel, should be comfortably provided for, and live of it; and which, as it makes for the peace of their minds that minister, it issues in the advantage of those who are ministered to.

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

9 But be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats.

Ver. 9. {See Trapp on "Mat 10:9"} {See Trapp on "Mat 10:10"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Go in your ordinary habits, making no provision for yourselves, as travellers, who think they may need something before their return.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

9. Be shod with sandals — They were to take no shoes, as being a special and more costly provision, but wear their ordinary sandals.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But be shod with sandals. This is quite consistent with what St. Matthew says, (Mat_10:9) that they were not to provide themselves with shoes (mhde upodhmata). According to St. Matthew, shoes are forbidden directly; according to St. Mark, they are forbidden by implication, where he says that they were to be shod with sandals. Shoes are here forbidden which cover the whole foot, not sandals which only protect the soles of the feet lest they should be injured by the rocky ground. The soil of Judaea was rocky and rough, and the climate hot. The sandals therefore protected the soles of the feet, and yet, being open above, kept the feet more cool, and therefore fit for the journey. It is worthy of our notice that, after our Lord"s ascension, we find St. Peter using sandals when the angel, who delivered him out of prison, said to him, (Act_12:8) "Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals."

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

Be shod with sandals - As you usually are. Sandals were pieces of strong leather or wood, tied under the sole of the foot by thongs, something resembling modern clogs. The shoes which they are in St. Matthew forbidden to take, were a kind of short boots, reaching a little above the mid-leg, which were then commonly used in journeys. Our Lord intended by this mission to initiate them into their apostolic work. And it was doubtless an encouragement to them all their life after, to recollect the care which God took of them, when they had left all they had, and went out quite unfurnished for such an expedition. In this view our Lord himself leads them to consider it, Luke xxii, xxxv, When I sent you forth without purse or scrip, lacked ye any thing?

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

9. Be shod with sandals. Matthew forbids shoes, instead of which they were to wear sandals. The ancient shoe resembled the modern; the sandal was a sole tied on the foot. The latter was usually worn by the common people and they were to dress like them.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

9. It is difficult to decide between ἐνδύσασθε ([1136][1137] ἐνδύσασθαι ([1138]2[1139][1140]), and ἐνδύσησθε ([1141][1142][1143][1144][1145]). Perhaps the first would most easily have produced the other readings.

[1136] Codex Vaticanus. 4th cent., but perhaps a little later than א. In the Vatican Library almost since its foundation by Pope Nicolas V., and one of its greatest treasures. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1889.

[1137] asterisk denotes that the word is not found elsewhere in N.T., and such words are included in the index, even if there is no note on them in the commentary.

[1138] Codex Vaticanus. 4th cent., but perhaps a little later than א. In the Vatican Library almost since its foundation by Pope Nicolas V., and one of its greatest treasures. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1889.

[1139] Codex Vaticanus. 10th cent. Dated A.D. 949.

[1140] Codex Petropolitanus. 9th cent. Gospels almost complete. Mar 16:18-20 is in a later hand.

[1141] Codex Sinaiticus. 4th cent. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the Monastery of St Katharine on Mount Sinai. Now at St Petersburg. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1911.

[1142] Codex Alexandrinus. 5th cent. Brought by Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of Constantinople, from Alexandria, and afterwards presented by him to King Charles I. in 1628. In the British Museum. The whole Gospel. Photographic facsimile, 1879.

[1143] Codex Ephraemi. 5th cent. A palimpsest: the original writing has been partially rubbed out, and the works of Ephraem the Syrian have been written over it; but a great deal of the original writing has been recovered; of Mark we have Mar 1:17 to Mar 6:31, Mar 8:5 to Mar 12:29, Mar 13:19 to Mar 16:20. In the National Library at Paris.

[1144] Codex Bezae. 6th cent. Has a Latin translation (d) side by side with the Greek text, and the two do not quite always agree. Presented by Beza to the University Library of Cambridge in 1581. Remarkable for its frequent divergences from other texts. Contains Mark, except Mar 16:15-20, which has been added by a later hand. Photographic facsimile, 1899.

[1145] Codex Sangallensis. 9th or 10th cent. Contains the Gospels nearly complete, with an interlinear Latin translation. The text of Mark is specially good, agreeing often with CL. At St Gall.

9. ἀλλὰ ὑποδεδεμένους σανδάλια. A violent anacoluthon, illustrating Mk’s want of literary skill, and showing how completely ἵνα after verbs of exhorting has become equivalent to the acc. c. infin. Mk goes on here as if he had used the acc. c. infin., for εἶναι or πορεύεσθαι is understood here. The identity of σανδάλια (Act 12:8) and ὑποδήματα (Mar 1:7; Mat 10:10; etc.) is clear, for both are used to translate the same Hebrew, naal (Jos 9:5; Isa 20:2 and Exo 3:5; Exo 12:11). Here and in Acts, σανδάλια may have been preferred in order to avoid the unpleasing repetition, ὑποδέομαι ὑποδήματα.

Μὴ ἐνδύσασθε. If this is the right reading, we have a change from or. obliqua to or. recta, as in Luk 5:14; Act 23:22. Mar 11:32 is different. There is a similar change if we read ἐνδύσησθε (R.V.). We may take ἐνδύσασθαι as coordinate with the infin. understood with ὑποδεδεμένους, or as an infin. imperat. It is strange criticism to see in these broken constructions signs of clumsy copying from a document. They are signs of Mk writing just as he would talk. In Mt. the Twelve are forbidden to get two chitons, in Lk. to have two, in Mk to put on two. The χιτών was the less necessary garment, worn under the almost indispensable ἱμάτιον (Mat 5:40; Joh 19:23); therefore a “shirt” rather than a “coat.” The Baptist told those who had two chitons to “give a share,” i.e. one of the two, to some one who had none (Luk 3:11). The high-priest rends “his chitons” (Mar 14:63), and two were sometimes worn in travelling (Joseph. Ant. XVII. Mar 6:7). We learn from Luk 22:35 that the Twelve found this very small outfit sufficient. Origen thinks that these regulations were not intended to be taken literally, and Bede interprets the prohibition of two chitons as an admonition non dupliciter sed simpliciter ambulare.

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.

9. ὑποδεδεμένους] Scil. πορεύεσθαι, or some equivalent infinitive. We have another change of construction in ἐνδύσησθε. These breaks serve to give the narrative a more lively form.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. ὑποδεδεμένους—The participle is put in the acc. as if to agree with a preceding acc. with an inf. The command to wear sandals seems superfluous, but it is really a part of the injunction against any luxury in their outfit, being contrasted with shoes protecting the upper part of the feet as well as the soles. There is no contradiction between this and the command not to buy sandals for the journey, Mat 10:9, the latter being directed against the purchase of extra sandals over and above what they were wearing. But, while there is no contradiction, there is a difference; they are two orders about this same matter of sandals. All that we can gather about it is, that Jesus gave some direction about sandals in connection with the general direction for simplicity of equipment, of which the several Gospels have preserved different accounts. μὴ ἐνδύσησθε δύο χιτῶνας—do not wear two tunics.1 Mt. and Lk. say that they were not to have or provide two tunics. But this forbids their wearing two, referring to a custom of dress belonging to persons of distinction, who wore two χιτῶνας, an inner and an outer. See Bib. Dic., article Dress, and Dic. of Antiq., article Tunica. In general, these directions are against luxury in their equipment, and also against their providing themselves with what they could procure from the hospitality of others. Evidently, if they took no food and no money, this dependence on others would be their only resort. See Mat 10:10.

Treg. marg. WH. read ἐνδύσασθαι, which is also the reading of Beza and Elzevir, with B2 S Π*. L and some others read ἐνδεδύσθαι. Improbable and unsupported.

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