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MARK 6:11 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Mark 6:10Mark 6:12
And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.
And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them — the dust-shaking is a symbolic act of testimony: leaving behind even the dust of an unwelcoming place communicates complete disassociation. Jewish travelers returning from Gentile territory would shake the dust from their sandals to avoid bringing impurity into the land; Jesus' instruction reverses this — the disciples shake off the dust of a Jewish town that has refused the kingdom's message. The act is a testimony against them — a public declaration that they have had the opportunity and refused it.

Church Fathers on Mark 6:11

The Lord not only preached in the cities, but also in villages, that we may learn not to despise little things, nor always to seek for great cities, but to sow the word of the Lord in abandoned and lowly villages.

Theophylact · 11th century

Now our kind and merciful Lord and Master did not grudge His servants and their disciples His own virtues, and as He Himself had healed every sickness and every infirmity, so also He gave the same power to His disciples.

Bede · 8th century · in Marc., 2, 24

Or else; according to Matthew, the Lord immediately subjoined, 'The workman is worthy of his meat,' [Matt 10:19] which sufficiently proves why He forbade their carrying or possessing such things; not because they were not necessary, but because He sent them in such a way as to shew, that they were due to them from the faithful, to whom they preached the Gospel.

Augustine · 4th century · de Con. Evan., 2, 30
Read all 11 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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Mark 6:11 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy