Chapter

Luke 9:5

ESV And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them."
NIV If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them."
NASB And as for all who do not receive you, when you leave that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.'
CSB If they do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them."
NLT And if a town refuses to welcome you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate.'
KJV And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.
NKJV And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”

What does Luke 9:5 mean?

The Twelve have been told that as they travel to spread the news of the kingdom of God, they should find a host who is "worthy"—who is willing to hear their message—and stay there until it is time to move on to the next village (Luke 9:4; Matthew 10:11).

If they find a town where no one will listen, they must not stay and beg for money, as the traveling philosophers do. They are to leave, symbolic of judgment against the town as if it were pagan and unclean. By shaking the dust off their feet, they illustrate there is nothing in that town worthy of their attention. Jesus adds, "Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town" (Matthew 10:15).

Later, when a Samaritan village refuses to show Jesus and the disciples hospitality, James and John will offer to call down fire to destroy everything (Luke 9:54). The disciples are thinking about Jesus' honor; Jesus is thinking about God's honor.

About sixty years later, the apostle John will deal with the issue of hospitality in 3 John. He will write to a believer named Gaius, praising him for his willingness to host traveling Christian teachers. In comparison, another man in the church, Diotrephes, rejects the authority of church leaders like John, refuses to host traveling believers, and persecutes those who do provide lodging. John suggests that Diotrephes "has not seen God" while Gaius' love for other believers is well known (3 John 1:3, 5–6, 11).
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