2. — [Send forth.'] The Greek word so rendered is peculiar. It signifies literally " to cast forth/' or, " send forth with a degree of force." It implies that nothing hut God's powerful and con- straining call will ever move men to become ministers and labourers in the Gospel harvest.
3. — [Oo your ways.] The Greek here is simply one word, " go away,---depart."
[J send you forth.] The Greek for " I " is here emphatically inserted, as if to show the dignity of the disciple's office.
4. — [Nor shoes.] We find in St. Mark vi. 9., that when the apostles went forth, our Lord commanded them to be " shod with sandals/' It should be remembered therefore, that the sandal and the shoes among the Jews, essentially differed. The sandal only covered the sole of the foot and was fastened about the foot and ancle with straps. The shoe, on the contrary, was a more luxurious thing, and covered the whole foot. In the passage before us the prohibition is only against shoes and not against sandals. This is Major's explanation, and seems the most probable one. Shoes were not so suitable as sandals to men whose only business was to preach the kingdom of God.
[Salute no man by the way.] This expression has given rise to many explanatory remarks. One thing is perfectly clear. Our Lord did not intend His disciples to neglect common courtesy. The very next verse enjoins the use of a courteous salutation on visiting a house.
Schoettgen thinks that our Lord refers to a custom among the Jews, according to which people journeying, or praying, and meditating, were exempted from giving or returning salutations.
Others think that our Lord refers to the long and ceremonious salutations which prevail in Eastern countries, and desired His disciples not to waste time in conforming to them. Barnes says, " If two Arabs of equal rank meet each other, they extend to each other the right hand, and having clasped hands, they elevate them, as if to kiss them. Each one then draws back his hand, and kisses it instead of his Mend's, and then places it upon his forehead. The parties then continue the salutation by kissing each other's beards. They give thanks to God that they are once more permitted to see their friend, — they pray to the Almighty in his behalf. Sometimes they repeat not less than ten times this ceremony of grasping hands and kissing."
The explanation of Euthymius seems most natural. He thinks our Lord meant that His disciples should devote them- selves entirely to the work they were engaged in, and not waste precious opportunities of preaching, on things which were not of paramoimt necessity. lie also, very properly refers us to the case of Elisha and Gehazi : *' He said to Gehazi, gird up thy