Mar 6:7-11 | Abbott | STEP | By two and two; that they might render to each other mutual assistance and sympathy.

Mark 6:7-11

By two and two; that they might render to each other mutual assistance and sympathy.

That is, that they should go as they were, without making special preparations for the expedition. That the directions were not meant to be insisted upon literally and strictly, is evident from the fact that the accounts differ, in regard to the particulars, in the different evangelists. (Comp. Matt. 10:10, in respect to shoes and staves.) The script was a a leather bag or wallet for provisions,—such as shepherds used.

These directions (7-11) resulted from a wise regard to the circumstances of the case, and a deliberate forethought in providing for the future, in the surest and best way. They were not, as might perhaps be supposed, an abandonment of prudential considerations, under a blind dependence upon the providence of God. So great and general was the interest then felt throughout Galilee, in the ministry and miracles of Jesus, that there could be under those circumstances no safer or surer reliance for support than the spontaneous hospitality of those interested in the cause. We observe that this, though the earliest apostolic practice, is not to be considered as a model for imitation in modern times. Many of the ecclesiastical arrangements of Jesus and his apostles were particularly adapted to their times and circumstances; and, in the same manner, the arrangements which we make must often be accommodated to ours.