Bible Strands
Luke 10:11
‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off as a testimony against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus directs the seventy-two disciples on their missionary tour, specifying their exact words when a host town refuses them entry. He issues this instruction at the moment of rejection, bridging the command to depart and the warning of judgment.
The words — κονιορτὸν (koniorton) refers to the fine dirt or dust that travels with a person, and κολληθέντα (kollēthenta) literally means having clung or adhered fast. The phrase describes the literal grime on sandals that the messengers deliberately remove as a symbolic act.
The thread — This gesture of shaking off dust appears as a deliberate protest in Acts 13:51 and parallels the commission to proclaim the kingdom in Luke 10:9. The motif traces a consistent biblical pattern where rejection of the messenger severs fellowship and confirms judgment.
Why it lands — The text states that messengers wipe off adhering dust as a formal testimony against unresponsive towns while declaring the kingdom's nearness. It requires the reader to treat the rejection of the message as a definitive boundary that demands immediate reckoning with God's reign.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.
Cross-references
- Luke 10:9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’
- Acts 13:51 So they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.
- Deuteronomy 30:11 For this commandment I give you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.
- Matthew 10:14 And if anyone will not welcome you or heed your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town.
- Mark 6:11 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that place, as a testimony against them.”
- Acts 13:26 Brothers, children of Abraham, and you Gentiles who fear God, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent.
- Acts 13:40 Watch out, then, that what was spoken by the prophets does not happen to you:
- Acts 13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.
- Romans 10:8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming:
- Hebrews 1:3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.