to traverse · verb — present middle or passive deponent imperative, 2nd person plural
rather
μᾶλλονmallon
G3123
(adverbially) more (in a greater degree)) or rather · adverb
to
πρὸςpros
G4314
a preposition of direction · preposition
the lost
ἀπολωλόταapolōlota
G622
to destroy fully (reflexively · verb — second perfect active participle, accusative plural neuter
sheep
πρόβαταprobata
G4263
something that walks forward (a quadruped) · noun — accusative plural neuter
of the house
οἴκουoikou
G3624
a dwelling (more or less extensive · noun — genitive singular masculine
of Israel
Ἰσραήλ.¶Israēl
G2474
Israel (i.e. Jisrael) · noun — genitive singular masculine, a place
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Jeremiah 50:6 My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone f…
Ezekiel 34:6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none…
Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
1 Peter 2:25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
Acts 13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put i…
Psalms 119:176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.
Matthew 15:24-26 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Ezekiel 34:8 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there wa…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Matthew 10:5-15
We have here the instructions that Christ gave to his disciples, when he gave them their commission. Whether this charge was given them in a continued discourse, or the several articles of it hinted to them at several times, is not material; in this he commanded them. Jacob's blessing his sons, is called his commanding them, and with these commands Christ commanded a blessing. Observe,
I. The people to whom he sent them. These ambassadors are directed what places to go to.
1. Not to the Gentiles nor the Samaritans. They must not go into the way of the Gentiles, nor into any road out of the land of Israel, whatever temptations they might have. The Gentiles must not have the gospel brought the…
But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel--Until Christ's death, which broke down the middle wall of Partition (Eph 2:14), the Gospel commission was to the Jews only, who, though the visible people of God, were "lost sheep," not merely in the sense which all sinners are (Isa 53:6; Pe1 2:25; compare with Luk 19:10), but as abandoned and left to wander from the right way by faithless shepherds (Jer 50:6, Jer 50:17; Eze 34:2-6, &c.).
John Gill on Matthew 10:6
But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. To whom he himself was sent, Matthew 15:24. By "the house of Israel" is meant the whole Jewish nation; for though this phrase, when distinguished from the house of Judah, designs only the ten tribes; yet here it intends all the Jews, then living in the land of Judea, among whom there were some of all the tribes: and by "the lost sheep" of this house, are meant either all the people of the Jews in general, who were wandering, and were lost in error and sin, and to whom the external ministry of the Gospel came; or rather the elect of God among them, for whose sake particularly the apostles were sent unto them. These are called "sheep", be…
The promulgation of the Law deserved also the first preaching of the Gospel; and Israel was to have less excuse for its crime, as it had experienced more care in being warned. Though they are here called sheep, yet they raged against Christ with the tongues and throats of wolves and vipers.
Since it is evident to all, dearest brothers, that our Redeemer came into the world for the redemption of the nations, and since we see Samaritans being called to faith daily, what does it mean that when sending the disciples to preach, He says: "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter into the cities of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel"? Unless we understand from the outcome of the event that He wished the preaching to be first to Judea alone, and afterward to all nations, so that when she, though called, refused to be converted, the holy preachers might come in due order to the calling of the nations, and thus our Redeemer's preaching, rejected by His own people, might seek the Gentile peoples as though they were strangers; and what was done as a testimony to the Jews might become an increase of grace for the Gentiles. For there were then some who were to be called from Judea, and some from the Gentiles who were not yet to be called. For in the Acts of the Apostles we read that when Peter preached, first three thousand Hebrews believed, and afterward five thousand. And when the apostles wished to preach to the Gentiles in Asia, they are recorded to have been forbidden by the Spirit; and yet the same Spirit who first forbade the preaching afterward poured it into the hearts of the Asians. For it has been a long time since all of Asia believed. Therefore He first forbade what He afterward brought about, because there were then in that land those who were not to be saved. There were then in that land those who did not yet deserve to be restored to life, nor yet to be judged more severely for having despised the preaching.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Apostle — A person sent by another; a messenger; envoy. This word is once used as a descriptive designation of Jesus Christ, the Sent of the Father (Heb. 3:1; John 20:21). It is, however, generally used as…
Apostles, The · Sent first to the house of Israel — Sent first to the house of Israel
Commandments · DISCOURSE — DISCOURSE
Jews, The · The gospel preached to, first — The gospel preached to, first
Sheep · .Of lost sinners — .Of lost sinners
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
on Matthew 10:1-8
Matthew 10:1-8
Matthew 10:1-8
Mark 6:7
Luke 9:1-2
1. And having called the twelve disciples, [561] he gave them power against the unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure any disease and any sickness. 2. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3. Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alpheus, and Lebbeus, surnamed Thaddeus; 4. Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. 5. These, twelve in number, Jesus sent out, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, [562] and enter not into a city…
