Mat 10:1-5 | TNotes | STEP | 10:1 Jesus called his twelve disciples as workers in the harvest (9:37-38 ). The choice of twelve is not accidental—it recalls the twelve tribes of Israel. Jesus was appointing new leaders for the new people of God under his reign as Messiah (16:18-19 ; 18:18 ; 19:28 ; 21:43 ). • gave them authority (9:6-8 ; 28:18 ): Jesus enabled the Twelve to perform ministries that the Jewish leaders could not accomplish (9:32-34 ; 10:5-8 ). The authority to cast out evil spirits (8:28 ) and to heal are ascribed to Jesus (4:23 ; 8:1

10:1 ^a Jesus called his twelve disciples as workers in the harvest (9:37-38 ^b). The choice of twelve is not accidental—it recalls the twelve tribes of Israel. Jesus was appointing new leaders for the new people of God under his reign as Messiah (16:18-19 ^c; 18:18 ^d; 19:28 ^e; 21:43 ^f).

• gave them authority (9:6-8 ^g; 28:18 ^h): Jesus enabled the Twelve to perform ministries that the Jewish leaders could not accomplish (9:32-34 ⁱ; 10:5-8 ^j). The authority to cast out evil spirits (8:28 ^k) and to heal are ascribed to Jesus (4:23 ^l; 8:1–9:35 ^m) in similar terms.
Summary for Matt 10:2-4: 10:2-4 ⁿ The four lists of the apostles (see also Mark 3:16-19 ^o; Luke 6:14-16 ^p; Acts 1:13 ^q) are all different, although the differences are minimal. The order within each list varies slightly, but only the names Thaddaeus (10:3 ^r; Mark 3:18 ^s) and Judas son of James (Luke 6:16 ^t; Acts 1:13 ^u) differ. They might be two names for the same man. 10:2 ^v The apostles are ambassadors or messengers, authorized and sent by an authority to represent and accomplish prescribed tasks (see 10:1-8 ^w, 40 ^x; 28:16-20 ^y). The term is also used for Paul (Gal 1:1 ^z).

• first, Simon (also called Peter): Peter had priority in time (Matt 4:18-22 ^aa; 16:17-19 ^ab) and position as the representative leader of the apostles (see 19:27 ^ac; 26:33 ^ad; Acts 2:14 ^ae).
10:3 ^af Matthew (the tax collector) (see 9:9 ^ag) is also called Levi (Mark 2:14 ^ah).
10:4 ^ai the zealot: Zealots were militant Jews who thought violence and war were capable of accomplishing the will of God. As a Jewish nationalist, Simon was probably zealous for the law (Acts 22:3-5 ^aj; Gal 1:14 ^ak; Phil 3:6 ^al). Josephus blamed the Zealot party for the great war with Rome in AD 66–70.

• Iscariot might refer to someone from Kerioth in southern Judea (Josh 15:25 ^am) or from Kerioth in Perea (Jer 48:24 ^an).
10:5 ^ao Don’t go to the Gentiles: Jesus’ mission was limited to Jews at this stage (15:24 ^ap). Through the Jews, God would reach the Gentiles (Isa 2:2-4 ^aq; 42:6-7 ^ar; 49:6 ^as; 60:3 ^at).

• Jews regarded Samaritans as impure Jews (Luke 17:18 ^au) because of their intermarriage with Gentiles during and after the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles (2 Kgs 17:24-41 ^av). Tension was provoked in 128 BC when the Jewish leader John Hyrcanus destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim (Josephus, Antiquities 13.9.1).