Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 10:8

"Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons: freely ye received, freely give." — Matthew 10:8 (ASV)

Raise the dead — These words are omitted by the best manuscripts, and their absence is more in accordance with the facts of the Gospel history, which records no instance of that highest form of miracle being performed by the disciples during our Lord’s ministry. That was reserved for His own immediate act. The insertion of the words was probably due to a wish to make the command cover such instances of power as that shown in the case of Dorcas (Acts 9:40) and Eutychus (Acts 20:9–12).

Freely ye have received — The English text hardly suggests more than giving liberally. The Greek is much stronger: “Give as a free gift—give gratis.” They had paid Him nothing. They were not, in this first mission, to require payment from others. When the kingdom had been established, the necessities of the case might require the application of the principle that the laborer is worthy of his hire in an organized system of stipends and similar support (1 Timothy 5:18); but the principle of “giving freely” in this sense is always applicable in proportion as the work of Christ’s ministers has the character of a mission. They must proclaim the kingdom until a sense of the blessing it has brought shows itself in the thank-offerings of gratitude. A similar principle of gratuitous teaching had been asserted before by some of the nobler Jewish Rabbis.