Matthew 10:8

New Testament

5 Jesus sent out these 12, instructing them as follows: “Do not go on a road that leads to Gentile regions and do not enter any Samaritan town. 6 Go instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near!’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. 9 Do not take gold, silver, or copper in your belts; 10 no bag for the journey; or an extra tunic, or sandals or staff; for the worker deserves his provisions. 11 Whenever you enter a town or village, find out who is worthy there and stay with them until you leave. 12 As you enter the house, greet those within it.

Bekhorot 29a

Babylonian Talmud
Rabbinic

GEMARA: The mishna teaches that the rulings of one who takes wages to judge cases are void. The Gemara asks: From where is this matter, that a judge may not be paid for his rulings, derived? Rav Yehuda says that Rav says that it is derived from a verse, as the verse states: “Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do so in the midst of the land that you are going in to possess” (Deuteronomy 4:5). This teaches that just as I, Moses, learned the word of God for free, so too, you learned it from me for free, and this is also how you should act with all future generations. This halakha is also taught in a baraita: “Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, as the Lord my God commanded me” (Deuteronomy 4:5). Just as I learned from God for free, so too, you learned from me for free. And from where is it derived that if one cannot find someone to teach him for free that he should learn even by giving payment? The verse states: “Buy the truth, and do not sell it; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding” (Proverbs 23:23). And from where is it derived that one should not say: Just as I learned by giving payment, so too, I will teach it by receiving payment? The verse states: “Buy the truth, and do not sell it.”

 Notes and References

"... A number of the most striking correspondences in all of Matthew’s Gospel are found in this chapter. For example, Jesus’ statement to his apostles, “You received for free, so give for free” (Matthew 10:8), is almost identical to a baraita in b. Bekhorot 29a. Also, his suggestion to his apostles that they “be cunning as serpents and pure as doves” (verse 16) is likewise found almost verbatim in Song of Songs Rabbah 2:30. His declaration that it “is sufficient for a student to be like his teacher, and [it is sufficient for] the slave to be like his master” (verse 25) is found word for word in many places in the rabbinic literature, for example in b. Berakhot 58b ..."

Basser, Herbert W. The Gospel of Matthew and Judaic Traditions: A Relevance-Based Commentary (p. 250) Brill, 2015

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