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.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Jesus issues this directive to his messengers after ordering them to remain in a single house until departure (Mark 6:10) and immediately before they begin preaching repentance (Mark 6:12). The words — The supplied Greek highlights δέξηται (dexētai), meaning “he may receive,” and τόπος (topos), meaning “place,” anchoring the command to the specific location where hospitality is refused. The thread — This instruction repeats in Matthew 10:14 and Luke 10:10, while the physical act of shaking dust echoes Nehemiah 5:13, where a shaken robe symbolizes divine judgment on unfaithfulness. Why it lands — The text commands believers to withdraw from hostile environments and leave a tangible mark of testimony, requiring practical discernment about when to persist and when to depart.

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

καὶkaiAnd ὃςhoswhatever ἂνanmaybe τόποςtoposplace μὴmēnot δέξηταιdexētaihe may receive ὑμᾶςhumasyou μηδὲmēdenor ἀκούσωσινakousōsinmay hear ὑμῶν,humōnyou,ἐκπορευόμενοιekporeuomenoideparting ἐκεῖθενekeithenfrom there ἐκτινάξατεektinaxatedo shake off τὸνtonthe χοῦνchoundust τὸνtonwhich [is]ὑποκάτωhupokatōunder τῶνtōnthe ποδῶνpodōnfeet ὑμῶνhumōnof you εἰςeisfor μαρτύριονmarturiona testimony αὐτοῖς.¶autoisagainst them.ἈμὴνAmēnAmen λέγωlegōI say ὑμῖν,huminto you ἀνεκτότερονanektoteronmore tolerable ἔσταιestaiwill be ΣοδόμοιςSodomoisfor Sodom ἢēor ΓομόρροιςGomorroisfor Gomorrah ἐνenin ἡμέρᾳhēmeraday κρίσεως,kriseōsof judgment ἢēthan τῇtēafor the πόλειpoleifor city ἐκείνῃ.ekeinēthat [one].

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

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.
Nehemiah 5:13 I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, “May God likewise shake out of his house and possessions every man who does not keep this promise. May such a man be shaken out and have nothing!” The whole assembly said, “Amen,” and they praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised.
Luke 10:10 But if you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go into the streets and declare,
Acts 18:6 But when they opposed and insulted him, he shook out his garments and told them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
Jude 1:7 In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal fire.
Matthew 11:20 Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles had been performed, because they did not repent.
Acts 13:50 The Jews, however, incited the religious women of prominence and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district.
Romans 2:16 on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Christ Jesus, as proclaimed by my gospel.
Hebrews 10:26 If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains,
Ezekiel 16:48 As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did as you and your daughters have done.