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UPDV Updated Bible Version

Matthew Chapter 10 — The Sending, the Feeding, and the Sea

Overview

UPDV chapter 10 follows a coherent Markan narrative arc that the compiler of canonical Matthew fragmented across multiple chapters: the sending of the Twelve on mission (10:1-6), Herod's reaction to Jesus' fame (10:7-8), the return of the apostles (10:9-13), the feeding of the five thousand (10:14-20), the walking on the water (10:21-27), and healings at Gennesaret (10:28-30). This material comes from canonical Matthew 14:1-36 (itself based on Mark 6:14-56), with the mission sending drawn from Luke 9:1-6 and the return of the apostles restored directly from Mark 6:30-34.

The most significant editorial decision in this chapter is the replacement of the compiler's massive Mission Discourse (canonical Matt 9:35-10:42) with Luke's compact sending narrative. The most significant source-critical decision is the removal of the Peter-walks-on-water episode (canonical Matt 14:28-31) and the Son of God confession (14:33), both of which Davies and Allison identify as secondary developments of the Markan tradition.

The Sending of the Twelve (10:1-6)

"And Jesus called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. And he sent them forth to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick." The UPDV draws this compact mission narrative from Luke 9:1-6 rather than from canonical Matthew 10.

The compiler's Mission Discourse is the second of his five great teaching blocks, and it is one of his most thoroughly composite creations. Davies and Allison confirm that Matt 10:5-25 is "primarily a conflation of Q and Markan materials," noting that Matt 10:1-4 is "clearly an insertion inspired by Mk 3:13-19." Q had its own mission discourse — its core was "very close to what is now Lk 10:3-12" — but the compiler expanded far beyond it, importing persecution warnings from Q's eschatological contexts (Matt 10:17-25, paralleled in Mark 13 and Luke 21), the "sword not peace" saying from Luke 12:51-53, and cross-bearing language from Luke 14:26-27. The result is a discourse that functions more as a theology of discipleship under persecution than as a set of practical mission instructions.

The UPDV strips the discourse and preserves the narrative act: Jesus sends the Twelve out with authority and instructions. Luke 9:1-6 preserves this act in its simplest form — authority over demons and diseases, commands to travel light, instructions about hospitality and rejection, and a notice that the disciples departed and did as they were told. The Q-derived sayings the compiler embedded in his discourse are redistributed to their original contexts elsewhere in the UPDV reconstruction.

Herod's Perplexity (10:7-8)

"At that season Herod the tetrarch heard the report concerning Jesus, and said to his household slaves, This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead; and therefore these powers work in him." This comes from canonical Matt 14:1-2, based on Mark 6:14-16.

Davies and Allison confirm that "Mark 6:14-29 is the only source" for this material, and that "none of these nor any other changes need be traced to the influence of a non-Markan source." The compiler's text corrects Mark's "Herod the king" to the historically accurate "Herod the tetrarch" — Antipas was never a king, dying in exile after unsuccessfully petitioning Caligula for the royal title — and drops the alternative popular opinions about Jesus' identity (Mark 6:15-16), placing the John-identification directly on Herod's lips. These are editorial abbreviations that the UPDV retains.

The death of the Baptist (canonical Matt 14:3-12) is not repeated here — it was already placed at UPDV 7:23-29, appended to the Q Baptist block where the surrounding material is entirely about John. The compiler's text of 14:12 — "and his disciples came and took up the corpse and buried him; and they went and told Jesus" — served as the compiler's narrative bridge between the death story and the feeding. The UPDV replaces this bridge with the return of the apostles from Mark.

The Return of the Apostles (10:9-13)

"And the apostles gathered themselves together to Jesus; and they told him all things that they had done, and that they had taught. And he says to them, You come yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest awhile." This section (10:9-13) is the most important restoration in the chapter: the Markan sequence of Mark 6:30-34, which the compiler of canonical Matthew eliminated entirely.

Davies and Allison explain why the compiler dropped this material: "Because Matthew has narrated the sending of the twelve in chapter 10, and because so much has transpired since then, it is impossible for him to make the twelve's return coincide with the withdrawal of 14:13." In the compiler's architecture, the Mission Discourse is delivered in chapter 10, but the feeding does not arrive until chapter 14 — four chapters later — with the Beelzebul controversy, the parables discourse, the Nazareth rejection, and the Baptist's death intervening. The return of the apostles from their mission could not possibly be narrated four chapters after they were sent, so the compiler simply deleted it.

The UPDV restores this narrative link. The Twelve are sent (10:1-6), Herod hears of Jesus' activities (10:7-8), and then the apostles return and report what they have done (10:9-13). The sequence creates the coherent arc that Mark intended: mission, return, withdrawal, feeding. The UPDV uses Mark's text here, not the compiler's, because the compiler did not abbreviate this material — he removed it.

The shepherd motif also returns to its original Markan position: "he had compassion on them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things" (10:13). Davies and Allison note that the compiler relocated this image to 9:36, where it serves as part of the editorial inclusio framing the Mission Discourse (9:35-36 / 11:1). The UPDV restores it here where Mark placed it — as the immediate motive for the feeding.

The Feeding of the Five Thousand (10:14-20)

"And when evening came, the disciples came to him, saying, The place is desert, and the time is already past; send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves food." The feeding narrative comes from canonical Matt 14:13-21, based on Mark 6:30-44. Davies and Allison confirm: "Dependence upon Mk 6:30-44 is indicated."

The UPDV uses the compiler's text for the feeding itself. His revisions of Mark — abbreviation, replacing teaching with healing, dropping questions by Jesus, accentuating the disciples' role as intermediaries, omitting the detail about groups of fifties and hundreds — are all editorial condensation that preserves the narrative structure. The feeding of the five thousand is one of the best-attested episodes in the Gospel tradition; as Davies and Allison observe, "no other gospel miracle has the attestation this one does — Mk 6:32-44 par.; Mk 8:1-9 par.; Jn 6:1-13."

Davies and Allison identify several layers of significance in the narrative. The feeding is "above all about the compassionate Jesus and his supernatural ability to meet the lack of those in physical need," classified as a "gift miracle" (Geschenkwundergeschichte). But it also functions as a Eucharistic foreshadowing — the verbal parallels with the Last Supper account (Matt 26:20-29) are extensive and occur in precisely the same order: evening, reclining, taking, bread, blessing, breaking, giving to the disciples, eating, all. The compiler strengthened these Eucharistic echoes beyond what Mark provides, adding ὀψίας δὲ γενομένης ("when evening came") to match 26:20, and dropping the mention of fish from the distribution and leftovers — because fish play no role in the Last Supper. These modifications are part of the compiler's verse-level handling of a preserved pericope. Following the two-level rule established in chapter 4 — where the compiler preserved a pericope from his sources, the UPDV uses his text — they are retained as part of the compiler's working of Mark, not stripped as standalone editorial insertions.

The OT background runs deep. The protest-and-provision pattern mirrors 2 Kings 4:42-44, where Elisha commands his servant to feed a hundred men with twenty loaves, the servant objects, and the people eat with food left over. Jesus' command — "You give them to eat" (10:15) — is modeled on Elisha's imperative: "Give to the people that they may eat." The notice that those who ate were "about five thousand men, besides women and children" (10:20) is the compiler's editorial addition, but Davies and Allison suggest it may allude to Exodus 12:37, where the Israelites in the wilderness are counted as "six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children" — the same counting convention applied to the same theme of feeding in the wilderness.

Walking on the Water (10:21-27)

"And right away he constrained the disciples to enter into the boat, and to go before him to the other side, until he should send the multitudes away." The walking on the water (10:21-27) comes from canonical Matt 14:22-27 and 14:32, based on Mark 6:45-52. This is the pericope where the UPDV's source-critical methodology produces its most significant result in this chapter: the removal of Peter walking on the water (canonical Matt 14:28-31) and the disciples' confession of Jesus as Son of God (14:33).

Davies and Allison provide a thorough analysis of these additions. On the Peter material, they write: "the case for a redactional genesis is strong." Two considerations are particularly compelling. First, the vocabulary is thoroughly Matthean: κύριε (kyrie, "Lord"), κέλευσόν με (keleuson me, "bid me"), ὀλιγόπιστε (oligopiste, "O you of little faith"), ἐδίστασας (edistasas, "you doubted") — all characteristic of the compiler's editorial hand. Second, the catchword links with the surrounding verses betray compositional seaming: εἰ σύ εἶ ("if it is you") in verse 28 answers the ἐγώ εἰμι ("it is I") of verse 27; Peter's walking ἐπὶ τὰ ὕδατα ("on the waters") in verse 29 stands in chiastic relation to Jesus' walking ἐπὶ τὴν θάλασσαν ("on the sea") in verse 25. The episode is stitched into its context with the compiler's characteristic technique of verbal echoing.

Davies and Allison note that the Peter material may alternatively derive from oral tradition — "the author of Matthew seems to have had access to non-Markan traditions about Peter" (cf. 16:17-19, 17:24-27) — and that the episode may be "a displaced resurrection story," given its striking similarities to the post-resurrectional scene in John 21 and the theme of faith versus doubt that pervades the resurrection tradition (cf. Matt 28:17). But even if the material predates the compiler, its placement here is his editorial work, and the UPDV methodology removes editorial insertions into Markan pericopes regardless of their ultimate origin.

On the Son of God confession (14:33), Davies and Allison's argument is structural rather than merely stylistic. The confession "reduces the dramatic tension of the Matthean narrative by making the scene at Caesarea Philippi a bit anticlimactic. When Jesus asks the all-important question, 'But who do you say that I am?', Peter simply repeats the acclamation of 14:33: 'You are the Son of God.' In Mark, however, the answer returned — 'You are the Christ' — has not been uttered before, so the scene retains its dramatic impact. This seems to us original and Matthew's text by comparison secondary." The Johannine parallel confirms this judgment: John 6:16-21 "witnesses to the shorter, Markan form of the story, not the longer, Matthean form." John's walking-on-water is briefer, puts less emphasis on the miraculous, and does not mention stilling the storm — suggesting that "John probably gives us the most undeveloped form of the story."

The UPDV's text of the walking on water therefore follows the compiler's version of verses 22-27 (which abbreviates Mark without distortion) and then jumps to the wind ceasing when Jesus boards the boat (10:27), omitting the Peter episode and the confession entirely. The result is closer to the primitive form of the story that both Mark and John attest: Jesus comes to the disciples on the water, identifies himself with the numinous ἐγώ εἰμι (egō eimi, "I am") — a formula of revelation recalling the divine "I am" of Exodus 3:14 and Isaiah 41:4, 43:10 — tells them not to fear, and enters the boat. The theophanic character of the scene remains fully intact. What is removed is the compiler's secondary elaboration.

The UPDV also inherits two Matthean omissions from Mark that it does not reverse. The compiler dropped Mark 6:48's enigmatic notice that Jesus "wanted to pass them by" (ἤθελεν παρελθεῖν αὐτούς) — a clause Davies and Allison note was "neglected by the First Evangelist because it seemingly states that Jesus was unable to do something he wished to do." And the compiler replaced Mark's conclusion about the disciples' incomprehension ("they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened," Mark 6:51b-52) with the Son of God confession. With the confession now removed, the UPDV does not restore Mark's incomprehension motif. This is not an oversight. The UPDV restores Markan material only when its absence creates a narrative gap — as with the return of the apostles (10:9-13), where the compiler left the Twelve sent out with no return. No such gap exists here; the story concludes naturally with the wind ceasing. Furthermore, Mark's "hardened hearts" language is itself likely a Markan editorial addition rather than pre-Markan tradition — the verb πωρόω (pōroō, "harden") appears in Mark at 6:52, 8:17, and 3:5, forming a distinctly Markan incomprehension motif tied to his messianic-secret theology. Davies and Allison themselves call Mark 6:51b-52 "difficult." Restoring one editor's gloss after removing another's would not serve the UPDV's purpose of recovering the underlying tradition.

Gennesaret Healings (10:28-30)

"And when they had crossed over, they came to the land, to Gennesaret." The closing summary (10:28-30) comes from canonical Matt 14:34-36, itself based on Mark 6:53-56. Davies and Allison describe it as "Matthew's edition of Mk 6:53-56, probably a Markan composition," characterized by "brevity and lack of detail, especially when compared with the Markan counterpart."

The compiler's abbreviation of Mark is significant: he has "eliminated Jesus' movements from place to place, added a biblical phrase, 'the men of that place,' made the scene less graphic (e.g. by omitting 'on their pallets'), and, as in the other healing summaries, added 'all', a little word which stresses Jesus' unbounded success as a healer." This is straightforward editorial condensation that the UPDV retains.

The detail that the sick "implored him that they might only touch the border of his garment: and as many as touched were made whole" (10:30) assimilates to the hemorrhaging woman's healing at UPDV 9:21 (canonical Matt 9:20-22), where the same language appears. This internal cross-reference is the compiler's work, but it draws on traditional material — the connection between the two healing episodes exists already in Mark — so the UPDV preserves it.

What the UPDV Removes from This Section

  • Matt 9:35-10:42 (Mission Discourse): The compiler's second discourse, conflating Q, Mark, and M material into a theology of mission and persecution. Replaced by Luke 9:1-6. Q elements are redistributed to their Lukan contexts.
  • Matt 14:3-12 (Death of the Baptist): Already placed at UPDV 7:23-29 in the Q Baptist block.
  • Matt 14:28-31 (Peter walks on water): Davies and Allison: "the case for a redactional genesis is strong" — redactional vocabulary throughout, catchword links with surrounding verses, possibly a displaced resurrection story.
  • Matt 14:33 (Son of God confession): Secondary. "Reduces the dramatic tension" by making Caesarea Philippi anticlimactic. John 6:16-21 witnesses to the shorter, Markan form.

References

  • Davies, W. D. and Dale C. Allison Jr. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to Saint Matthew. 3 vols. International Critical Commentary. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1988–1997.
  • Lane, William L. The Gospel according to Mark. New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974.
  • Evans, Craig A. Mark 8:27–16:20. Word Biblical Commentary 34B. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2001.
  • France, R. T. The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text. New International Greek Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.
  • Collins, Adela Yarbro. Mark: A Commentary. Hermeneia. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2007.
  • Marshall, I. Howard. The Gospel of Luke: A Commentary on the Greek Text. New International Greek Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978.
  • Bovon, François. Luke. 3 vols. Hermeneia. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2002–2012.
  • Nolland, John. Luke. 3 vols. Word Biblical Commentary 35. Dallas: Word, 1989–1993.