“Even the dust that clings to our feet… we wipe off against you”

Analysis of Lk 10,10-12

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of Lk 10:10-12, a text in which Jesus instructs the 72 disciples sent on mission, with special attention to the expression “even the dust that clings to our feet…, we wipe off against you” (Lk 10:11a). Such a threatening expression, associated with the reference to Sodom, at first causes oddity to the current reader/listener. However, from the translation, observation of stylistic and grammatical details of the Greek text, as well as the search for elements of inner-biblical intertextuality and synkrisis with Old Testament passages, we ca verify that the Kingdom of God must always be announced, regardless of the conditions imposed on missionaries; everyone should know about the imminence of the coming of the Kingdom. The combination πλήν...ὅτι as an exclusive subordinate conjunction (exception clause) – “unless...” or “except if...” – carries a last possibility of radical change in the Lord’s plans, bearing behind the menacing and eschatological tone a last possibility of experiencing God's mercy. The steps taken for the writing of this article, using the tools of the Biblical and Semitic Rhetorical Analysis, were segmentation and translation of Lk 10,10-12, general observations, and exegetical analysis of the text, as well as the search for contacts with the Old Testament.