Luke 22:35

And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(35) When I sent you without purse, and scrip.—The words refer specially to the command given to the disciples in Luke 10:4; Matthew 10:9-10. The whole incident is peculiar to St. Luke. The appeal to their past experience is interesting as showing that on their first mission they were welcomed by those who heard them, and received food and shelter that met all their wants.

Benson Commentary

Luke 22:35-37. And he said, When I sent you without purse, &c. — “Our Lord, having finished what he had to say to Peter in particular, now turned to the other disciples, and put them in mind how they had been prohibited, when they were first sent out, to make any provision for their journey, and directed to rely wholly on God; and that, though they had accordingly gone away without purse, scrip, and shoes, they had never wanted any thing, but had had abundant provision made for them by the kindness of men whom God had disposed to befriend them: but he told them that matters were now altered; they were to be violently assaulted by their enemies, were to meet with the strongest temptations, and to be so hotly persecuted by their countrymen, that they could no longer expect any succour at their hands; for which reason, he ordered them in their future journeys to provide money, and clothes, and swords for themselves: that is, besides relying on the Divine Providence, as formerly, they were to use all prudent precautions in fortifying themselves against the trials that were coming on them.” — Macknight. Or rather, these commands to arm themselves against dangers, are to be considered merely as predictions and warnings given them of the dangers and trials they were to meet with. For the predictions of the prophets are often announced under the form of commands. Thus Isaiah, foretelling the destruction of the family of the king of Babylon, Isaiah 14:21, says, Prepare slaughter for his children, &c. And Jeremiah, foretelling in like manner the destruction of the Jews, exhibits God as thus addressing them, Jeremiah 9:17-18, Call for the mourning women, &c. And in the prophecy of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 39:17-19) and in the Apocalypse (Revelation 19:17-18) this allegoric spirit is carried so far, that orders are given to brute animals to do what the prophet means only to foretel they would do. For this prophecy that is written, must yet be accomplished — As all the other predictions of the prophets concerning me must also be: and he was numbered with the transgressors — Prepare, therefore, to meet a most violent persecution; for I, your Leader, am to be treated as a malefactor, and of course you, my followers, will not escape suffering. Nor are these trials at a distance, they are just at hand. For the things which are written concerning me have an end — Are now drawing to a period, are upon the point of being accomplished. And they said, Behold, here are two swords — Our Lord’s disciples, mistaking his meaning about the swords, replied, they had two: the reason why they had any at all, probably, was, that they might defend themselves against robbers in their journey from Galilee and Perea; and from the beasts of prey, which in those parts were very frequent, and dangerous in the night- time: And he said unto them, It is enough — To show them their mistake, he told them that two swords were sufficient, which it is evident they could not have been for so many men, had he meant what he said in a literal sense. He only meant, This will be a time of extreme danger; to meet which, it will be necessary to be prepared by faith, fortitude, and patience.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

22:21-38 How unbecoming is the worldly ambition of being the greatest, to the character of a follower of Jesus, who took upon him the form of a servant, and humbled himself to the death of the cross! In the way to eternal happiness, we must expect to be assaulted and sifted by Satan. If he cannot destroy, he will try to disgrace or distress us. Nothing more certainly forebodes a fall, in a professed follower of Christ, than self-confidence, with disregard to warnings, and contempt of danger. Unless we watch and pray always, we may be drawn in the course of the day into those sins which we were in the morning most resolved against. If believers were left to themselves, they would fall; but they are kept by the power of God, and the prayer of Christ. Our Lord gave notice of a very great change of circumstances now approaching. The disciples must not expect that their friends would be kind to them as they had been. Therefore, he that has a purse, let him take it, for he may need it. They must now expect that their enemies would be more fierce than they had been, and they would need weapons. At the time the apostles understood Christ to mean real weapons, but he spake only of the weapons of the spiritual warfare. The sword of the Spirit is the sword with which the disciples of Christ must furnish themselves.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

When I sent you ... - See the notes at Matthew 10:9-10.

Lacked ye ... - Did you want anything? Did not God fully provide for you? He refers to this to convince them that his words were true; that their past experience should lead them to put confidence in him and in God.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

35-38. But now—that you are going forth not as before on a temporary mission, provided for without purse or scrip, but into scenes of continued and severe trial, your methods must be different; for purse and scrip will now be needed for support, and the usual means of defense.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Ver. 35-38. Those who interpret Luke 22:35,36, as a precept of our Saviour’s imposing a duty upon his disciples, or a counsel concerning the proviting arms which they might use for the protection and defence of themselves, will not only find a difficulty to reconcile their notion of it to several other precepts, and the will of God declared by the apostles’ practice, who never went about by force and arms to defend themselves in the first plantation and propagation of the gospel; but also to reconcile it to the last words of our Saviour, who said, when his disciples told him they had two swords, It is enough; which he would never have said, if he had intended any such thing; for two swords was much too little to have conquered that multitude of adversaries which the disciples of Christ were to meet with. Our Saviour doth doubtless speak in a figure, and all that he intends amounts but to this: Hitherto I have been with you, and you have had my special protection; though you went out without a purse or a scrip, yet you have wanted nothing; though you went without a sword, yet none did you any harm. But the time is now come, when the posture of your affairs will be much altered; your friends will be few, your enemies many, therefore you stand concerned to make as good preparation as you can do in those things that are consistent with the general precepts that I have given you. The tragedy will begin with me; for what is written of me must now be accomplished, Isaiah 53:12, He was numbered with the transgressors. I must be brought before magistrates as a common malefactor, and hanged on a cross between two thieves. And

the things concerning me shall shortly have an end: you will next come upon the stage, and therefore prepare what in you lieth for the performance of your part.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And he said unto them,.... To the disciples, as the Persic version reads; not to Peter only, but to them all:

when I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes; without the necessaries of life, without proper accommodations for a journey, without provisions, or money, to buy any with: so , "without a purse", is, by the Scholiast on Aristophanes (t), interpreted by , "without money and expense": Christ here refers to his mission of them in Matthew 10:5

lacked ye any thing? any of the common blessings of life, food to eat, or raiment to wear?

and they said, nothing; they lacked nothing at all; wherever they came, they had friendly accommodations; they were provided with every thing necessary for them; they had both food and raiment, and good lodgings in every place; the houses and hearts of men were opened by Christ to receive them, though they were sent out by him so empty and destitute.

(t) In Avibus, p. 548.

Geneva Study Bible

And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Luke 22:35-38. Peculiar to Luke, from tradition or from some other unknown source. But the utterance itself is in respect of its contents so remarkably significant, that we are bound to hold by its originality, and not to say that it was introduced into this place for the sake of explaining the subsequent stroke with the sword (Schleiermacher, Strauss, de Wette), or the reason why Judas is afterwards represented as appearing with armed men (Holtzmann).

καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς] A pause must be supposed as occurring before what follows, the connection of the thought being: not without reason have I uttered words so momentous (Luke 22:31-34), for now your position, when I am no more with you, will be entirely different from what it was formerly; there comes for you the time of care for yourselves and of contest!

ὅτε ἀπέστειλα κ.τ.λ.] Luke 9:3; comp. Luke 10:4.

Luke 22:36. οὖν] in consequence of this acknowledgment.

ἀράτω] not: “tollat, ut emat gladium” (Erasmus, Beza, and others), but: let him take it up, in order to bear it. The representation of the thought now refers to the time when ye can no more be unconcerned about your maintenance, but must yourselves care for it in the world which for you is inhospitable.

καὶ ὁ μὴ ἔχων] to wit, βαλλάντιον καὶ πήραν. The contrast allows nothing else. Hence μάχαιραν is erroneously suggested as implied (Beza, Jansen, Paulus, Baumgarten-Crusius, Lange, Ewald, Bleek, and others), and equally erroneously is the general reference suggested: he who is without means (Kuinoel, Olshausen, Schegg). Jesus means to say, how far more necessary still than purse and scrip, nay, even more necessary than the upper garment, should now be to them a sword, for defence and protection against hostile attacks. But observe in this connection (1) that he wishes for the purchase of the sword, not by those merely who have no purse and knapsack, but, on the contrary, whilst he requires it of these, yea, requires it with the sacrifice of the cloak, otherwise so needful, yet he regards it as a self-evident duty on the part of those who have the means for the purchase. The form of his utterance is a parallelism, in which the second member supplements and throws a new light upon the first. (2) Nevertheless Jesus does not desire that His disciples should actually carry and use the sword (Matthew 26:52), but He speaks in such a manner as figuratively to represent in what a hostile relation they should henceforth find the world arrayed against them, and what resistance and struggle on their part would now be necessary in their apostolic missionary journeys. That the discourse is in reference to these is clearly proved by βαλλάντ. and πήραν, in opposition to Olshausen, who perversely allegorizes the whole passage, so that βαλλάντ. and πήρ. are taken to signify the means for the spiritual life, and μαχ. sword of the Spirit, Ephesians 6:17 (comp. also Erasmus).

Luke 22:37. A confirmation of the ἀλλὰ νῦν κ.τ.λ. For since, moreover, that (“etiamnum hoc extremum post tot alia,” Bengel) must still be fulfilled on me which is written in Isaiah 53:12; so ye, as my disciples, cannot expect for yourselves anything better than what I have announced to you, Luke 22:36. The cogency of the proof follows from the presupposition that the disciple is not above his master (Matthew 10:24 f.; John 15:20). On the δεῖ of the divine counsel, comp. Matthew 26:54 (Acts 2:23), and observe how inconsistent therewith it is to regard the passion of Jesus as a fortuitous occurrence (Hofmann).

καὶ μετὰ ἀν. ἐλογ.] καί, and, adopted together with the rest as a constituent part of the passage quoted. The completion (the Messianic fulfilment, Luke 18:31) of the prophecy began with the arrest (Luke 22:52), and comprehended the whole subsequent treatment until the death.

καὶ γὰρ τὰ περὶ ἐμοῦ τέλ. ἔχει] for, moreover, that which concerneth me has to come to an end; i.e., for, moreover, with my destiny, as with the destiny of him of whom Isaiah speaks, there is an end. Observe that Jesus did not previously say τὸ εἰς ἐμὲ γεγραμμένον κ.τ.λ. or the like, but τὸ γεγρ. δεῖ τελεσθ. ἐν ἐμοί, so that He does not explain the passage immediately of Himself (Olshausen), but asserts that it must be fulfilled in Him, in respect of which it is plain from καὶ γὰρ κ.τ.λ. that He conceived of another as the subject of the first historical meaning of the passage (whom? is another question, comp. Acts 8:34), of whom He was the antitype, so that in Him is found the antitypal historical fulfilment of that which is predicted in reference to the servant of God. On τὰ περὶ ἐμοῦ, see Kühner, II. p. 119; on τέλος ἔχει, Mark 3:26; Plat. Pol. iii. p. 392 C; Dem. 932. 4, and the examples from Xenophon in Sturz, IV. p. 275. Most commentators (Euthymius Zigabenus, Luther, Beza, Calvin, Bengel, and many others, including Kuinoel, Olshausen, de Wette, Bleek) read: for, moreover, that which is written of me, like other prophecies, is about to be accomplished, as though γεγραμμένα formed part of the sentence, as at Luke 24:44, or flowed from the context, as at Luke 24:27. Comp. Fritzsche, ad Rom. II. p. 380. But what a nugatory argument! and what is the meaning of the καί (which certainly most of them leave wholly unnoticed), since, indeed, it is just the Messianic prophecies which constitute the main substance of prophecy, and do not come in merely by the way?

Luke 22:38. The disciples, not understanding the utterance about the sword, imagined that Christ required them to have swords actually[254] ready for defence from impending violence. Peter had one of the two swords (Luke 22:50). They may have been worn on the last journey, or even on account of the risk of these days they may have been first procured with a view to circumstances that might occur. Butcher’s knives (from the cutting up of the lamb, as supposed by Euthymius Zigabenus, following Chrysostom) they could not be, according to Luke 22:36, although the word, so early as the time of Homer (Döderlein, Glossar. I. p. 201 f.), but never in the New Testament, has this signification.

ἱκανόν ἑστι] a gentle turning aside of further discussion, with a touch of sorrowful irony: it is enough! More than your two swords ye need not! Comp. Castalio on the passage. The disciples, carrying out this idea, must have at once concluded that Jesus had still probably meant something else than an actual purchase of swords, Luke 22:36.[255] The significance of the answer so conceived gives to this view the preference over the explanation of others (Theophylact, Calovius, Jansen, Wolf, Bisping, Kuinoel): enough of this matter! Compare the Rabbinical דייך in Schoettgen, p. 314 ff. Olshausen and de Wette combine the two, saying that Jesus spoke in a twofold sense; comp. Bleek. Without sufficient reason, since the setting aside of the subject is found also in our view.

Boniface VIII. proves from the passage before us the double sword of the papal sovereignty, the spiritual and temporal jurisdiction! “Protervum ludibrium” (Calvin).

[254] Schleiermacher even has forced this misunderstanding (L. J. p. 417 f.) to a groundless combination; namely, that Jesus wished the swords for the case of an unofficial assault.

[255] Comp. Luther’s gloss: “It is of no more avail to fight with the bodily sword, but henceforth it is of avail to suffer for the sake of the gospel, and to bear the cross; for the devil cannot be fought against with steel, therefore there is need to venture all on that, and only to take the spiritual sword, the word of God.”

Expositor's Greek Testament

Luke 22:35-38. Coming danger, peculiar to Lk. There is danger ahead physically as well as morally. Jesus turns now to the physical side. What He says about a sword is not to be taken literally. It is a vivid way of intimating that the supreme crisis is at hand = the enemy approaches, prepare!

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

35. without purse, &c.] See Luke 9:3, Luke 10:4.

Bengel's Gnomen

Luke 22:35. Καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, and He said to them) This is intended to stir up the disciples to watchfulness, that they may not rely on their own strength.—ὅτε) when, not, as often soever. For we read of the Seventy having been so sent but once, ch. Luke 10:4; and the Twelve also but once, ch. Luke 9:3 [Comp. the note on Matthew 10:1].—ἀπέστειλα, I sent) The Lord fed and supplied them whilst they were present with Him.—βαλαντίου καὶ πήρας, purse and wallet [‘scrip”]) On the difference between these words, see the note on Matthew 10:9-10.[240]

[240] The former was for money; the latter, for bread and other provisions.—E. and T.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 35, 36. - And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye anything. And they said, Nothing. Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip; and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one. The Lord speaks one more word to his own before leaving the upper room, More occupied with the future trials of his disciples than with his own tragic destiny, which he knew was about to be fulfilled, he reminds his friends of the comparatively quiet and serene existence they had been spending during the last two years and a half with him. In that period, generally speaking, they had been welcomed and kindly entertained by the people, sometimes, they would remember, even with enthusiasm. But they must prepare now for a different life - cold looks, opposition, even bitter persecution, would be their lot for the future. They must order themselves now to meet these things. No ordinary prudent forethought must be omitted by them. He had more than hinted that this future lay before them in his words, "Behold I send you forth as lambs in the midst of wolves;" now he plainly tells them what kind of life awaited them in the immediate future. Of course, the advice as to the sword was not meant to be taken literally. It was one of those metaphors the Lord used so often in his teaching. For a similar metaphor still more elaborately developed, see Ephesians 6:17, and following verses. Luke 22:35