74. Accordingly, as our Lord ordained what the apostle declares Him to have ordained,--namely, that those who preach the gospel should live of the gospel,--He gave these counsels to the apostles in order that they might be without the care of providing [989] or of carrying with them things necessary for this life, whether great or the very smallest; consequently He introduced this term, "neither a staff," with the view of showing that, on the part of those who were faithful to Him, all things were due to His ministers, who themselves, too, required nothing superfluous. And thus, when He added the words, "For the workman is worthy of his meat," He indicated quite clearly, and made it thoroughly plain, how and for what reason it was that He spake all these things. It is this kind of power, therefore, that the Lord denoted under the term "staff," when He said that they should "take nothing" for their journey, save a staff only. For the sentence might also have been briefly expressed in this way: "Take with you none of the necessaries of life, neither a staff, save a staff only." So that the phrase "neither a staff" may be taken to be equivalent to "not even the smallest things;" while the addition, "save a staff only," may be understood to mean that, in virtue of that power which they received from the Lord, and which was signified by the name "staff" [or, "rod"], even those things which were not carried with them would not be wanting to them. Our Lord therefore used both phrases. But inasmuch as one and the same evangelist has not recorded them both, the writer who has told us that the rod, as introduced in the one sense, was to be taken, is supposed to be in antagonism to him who has told us that the rod, as occurring again in the other sense, was not to be taken. After this explanation of the matter, however, no such supposition ought to be entertained.
75. In like manner, also, when Matthew tells us that the shoes were not to be carried with them on the journey, what is intended is the checking of that care which thinks that such things must be carried with them, because otherwise they might be unprovided. Thus, too, the import of what is said regarding the two coats is, that none of them should think of taking with him another coat in addition to the one in which he was clad, as if he was afraid that he might come to be in want, while all the time the power (which was received from the Lord) made him sure of getting what was needful. To the same effect, when Mark says that they were to be shod with sandals or soles, he gives us to understand that this matter of the shoe has some sort of mystical significance, the point being that the foot is to be neither covered, nor yet left bare to the ground; by which the idea may be conveyed that the gospel was neither to be concealed, nor yet made to depend on the good things of earth. And as to the fact that what is forbidden is neither the carrying nor the possessing of two coats, but more distinctly the putting of them on,--the words being, "and not put on two coats,"--what counsel is conveyed to them therein but this, that they ought to walk not in duplicity, but in simplicity?
76. Thus it is not by any means to be made a matter of doubt that the Lord Himself spake all these words, some of them with a literal import, and others of them with a figurative, although the evangelists may have introduced them only in part into their writings,--one inserting one section, and another giving a different portion. Certain passages, at the same time, have been recorded in identical terms either by some two of them, or by some three, or even by all the four together. And yet not even when this is the case can we take it for granted that everything has been committed to writing which was either uttered or done by Him. Moreover, if any one fancies that the Lord could not in the course of the same discourse have used some expressions with a figurative application and others with a literal, let him but examine His other addresses, and he will see how rash and inconsiderate such a notion is. For, then (to mention but a single instance which occurs meantime to my mind), when Christ gives the counsel not to let the left hand know what the right hand doeth, [990] he may suppose himself under the necessity of accepting in the same figurative sense at once the almsgivings themselves referred to, and the other instructions offered on that occasion.
77. In good truth, I must repeat here once more an admonition which it behoves the reader to keep in mind, so as not to be requiring that kind of advice so very frequently, namely, that in various passages of His discourses, the Lord has reiterated much which He had uttered already on other occasions. It is needful, indeed, to call this fact to mind, lest, when it happens that the order of such passages does not appear to fit in with the narrative of another of the evangelists, the reader should fancy that this establishes some contradiction between them; whereas he ought really to understand it to be due to the fact that something is repeated a second time in that connection which had been already expressed elsewhere. And this is a remark that should be held applicable not only to His words, but also to His deeds. For there is nothing to hinder us from believing that the same thing may have taken place more than once. But for a man to impeach the gospel simply because he does not believe in the repeated occurrence of some incident, which no one [at least] can prove to be an impossible event, betrays mere sacrilegious vanity.
[961] Regnum evangelii.
[962] Vexati et jacentes.
[963] The mss. read ejicias: some editions have mittat, send.
[964] Matt. ix. 35-x. 42.
[965] In circuitu docens.
[966] Mark vi. 6-11.
[967] Virtutes.
[968] Matt. xiii. 54.
[969] Luke ix. 1-6.
[970] The Ratisbon edition and nineteen mss. read alio nomine, by another name instead of alio loco.--Migne.
[971] In five mss. Lebdæum, Lebdeus, is given instead of Lebbeus, but wrongly, as appears from the Greek text of Matt. x. 3.--Migne. [The Vulgate (Matt x. 3) reads Thaddæus, now accepted by critical editors; so Revised Version. The Authorized Version follows a composite reading (with two early uncials and Syriac versions): "Lebbæus, whose surname was Thaddæus." A harmonistic gloss--R.]
[972] Mark vi. 8. [In Matt. x. 10, Luke ix. 3, the later authorities substitute the plural "staves," probably to avoid the seeming discrepancy. The better sustained reading in both passages is "staff."--R.]
[973] Jas. i. 13.
[974] Deut. xiii. 3.
[975] Judicii. John v. 29.
[976] Discerne.
[977] Ps. xliii. 1.
[978] Pueri.
[979] Parvuli estote ut sensibus perfecti sitis. 1 Cor. xiv. 20.
[980] 1 Cor. iii. 18.
[981] Gal. vi. 2-5.
[982] [Augustin fails to notice that the word "burden" represents different Greek words in Gal. vi. 2-5. His argument here resembles the method of modern expositors who explain the discrepancies of the Authorized Version without consulting the original.--R.]
[983] 1 Cor. iv. 21.
[984] 1 Cor. ix. 7.
[985] 1 Cor. ix. 11, 12.
[986] 1 Thess. ii. 9.
[987] In templo operantur.
[988] 1 Cor. ix. 13-15.
[989] [Ut securi non possiderent.--R.]
[990] Matt. vi. 3.