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Matthew 10:16

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

KJV

Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποστέλλω ὑμᾶς ὡς πρόβατα ἐν μέσῳ λύκων· γίνεσθε οὖν φρόνιμοι ὡς οἱ ὄφεις καὶ ἀκέραιοι ὡς αἱ περιστεραί.

Greek NT

Ecce ego mitto vos sicut oves in medio luporum. Estote ergo prudentes sicut serpentes, et simplices sicut columbæ.

Vulgate

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

ASV

Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and simple as doves.

Douay-Rheims

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In the original Greek

17 distinct Greek words appear in this verse.

γίνομαι
ginomai
verb · 667×
καί
kai
conjunction · 8973×
λύκος
lukos
noun · 6×
μέσος
mesos
adjective · 61×
οὖν
oun
conjunction · 489×
περιστερά
peristera
noun · 10×
πρόβατον
probaton
noun · 39×
φρόνιμος
phronimos
adjective · 14×
ἀκέραιος
akeraios
adjective · 3×
ἀποστέλλω
apostello
verb · 131×
ἐγώ
ego
pronoun · 1720×
ἐν
en
preposition · 2743×
o
article · 19778×
ὁράω
orao
verb · 682×
ὄφις
ophis
noun · 14×
ὑμεῖς
umeis
pronoun · 1828×
ὡς
os
adverb · 502×

Themes

Historic Christian voices

16 passages from patristic writers, Reformers, and church catechisms citing this verse.

§764"This Kingdom shines out before men in the word, in the works and in the presence of Christ."163 To welcome Jesus' word is to welcome "the Kingdom itself."164 The seed and beginning of the Kingdom are the "little flock" of those whom Jesus came to gather around him, the flock whose shepherd he is.165 They form Jesus' true family.166 To those whom he thus gathered around him, he…
Homilies on Matthew · 2 passages
2. But do thou consider, I pray you, who they are that hear these injunctions, so hard and laborious: the timid and ignorant; the unlettered and uninstructed; such as are in every respect obscure, who have never been trained up in the Gentile laws, who do not readily present themselves in the public places; the fishermen, the publicans, men full of innumerable deficiencies. For…
2. Then, having rid them of all distress, and fears, and anxiety, and set them above men's reproaches, then, and not till then, He seasonably discourses to them also of boldness in their preaching. For, What I tell you, says He, in darkness, that speak ye in light; and what you have heard in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. Matthew 10:27 Yet it was not at all darknes…
1. A great virtue is boldness and freedom of speech, and the making all things second in importance to the confessing of Christ; so great and admirable, that the Only-begotten Son of God proclaims such an one in the presence of the Father. Luke 12:8 Yet the recompense is more than just, for you confess upon earth, He in heaven, thou in the presence of men, He before the Father …
1. Beloved, we need great diligence in all things, for we shall render account of and undergo a strict enquiry both of words and works. Our interests stop not with what now is, but a certain other condition of life shall receive us after this, and we shall be brought before a fearful tribunal. For we must appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the…
1. They who for the sake of the truth and the confession of Christ suffer anything terrible and are insulted, these are especially honored. For as he who loses his possessions for His sake, the same it is who most finds them; as he who hates his own life, the same it is who most loves it; so too he who is insulted, is the same who is most honored. As fell out in the case of the…
2. Having shown then even from the prophecy, that the sign in question is not of great use, he adds, 1 Corinthians 14:22 Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to the unbelieving: but prophesying is for a sign not to the unbelieving, but to them that believe. 1 Corinthians 14:23 If therefore the whole Church be assembled together, and all speak with ton…
1. They who drink bitter medicines, first submit to some unpleasantness, and afterwards feel the benefit. For such is virtue, such is vice. In the latter there is first the pleasure, then the despondency: in the former first the despondency, and then the pleasure. But there is no equality; for it is not the same, to be first grieved and afterwards pleased, and to be first pleas…
Be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove. Be thou more diligent than thou art. Discern the times. Look for Him who is above all time, eternal, invisible, yet who became visible for our sakes; impalpable and impassible, yet who became passible on our account; and who in every way suffered for our sakes.
18. If then, as we have many times said, the Word of God is the same with us, and nothing differs from us except in time, let Him be like us, and have the same place with the Father as we have; nor let Him be called Only-begotten, nor Only Word or Wisdom of the Father; but let the same name be of common application to all us who are like Him. For it is right, that they who have…
Of the goodness of God explained in the creation of things, and of the Trinity as found in the first words of Genesis. The story concerning the origin of the world (Genesis 1) is allegorically explained, and he applies it to those things which God works for sanctified and blessed man. Finally, he makes an end of this work, having implored eternal rest from God. Chapter 1. He Ca…
Chapter 1.— Signs, Their Nature and Variety. 1. As when I was writing about things, I introduced the subject with a warning against attending to anything but what they are in themselves, even though they are signs of something else, so now, when I come in its turn to discuss the subject of signs, I lay down this direction, not to attend to what they are in themselves, but to th…
Chapter 1. Summary of the Foregoing Books, and Scope of that Which Follows. I. The man who fears God seeks diligently in Holy Scripture for a knowledge of His will. And when he has become meek through piety, so as to have no love of strife; when furnished also with a knowledge of languages, so as not to be stopped by unknown words and forms of speech, and with the knowledge of …

Cross-references

  • 1Cor 14:20 — Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.
  • 1Sam 16:2 — And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the LORD said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the LORD.
  • 1Sam 18:5 — And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s se
  • 1Sam 24:22 — And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the hold.
  • 1Sam 25:36 — And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or
  • 1Sam 26:4 — David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul was come in very deed.
  • 1Thess 2:10 — Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe:
  • 1Thess 3:3 — That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.
  • 1Thess 5:22 — Abstain from all appearance of evil.
  • 2Cor 1:12 — For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and mor
  • 2Cor 8:20 — Avoiding this, that no man should blame us in this abundance which is administered by us:
  • 2Cor 11:3 — But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
  • 2Cor 11:14 — And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
  • 2Sam 2:6 — And now the LORD shew kindness and truth unto you: and I also will requite you this kindness, because ye have done this thing.
  • 2Sam 17:22 — Then David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they passed over Jordan: by the morning light there lacked not one of them that was not gone over Jordan.
  • Acts 4:3 — And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide.
  • Acts 16:37 — But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch u
  • Acts 20:29 — For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
  • Acts 20:29 — For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
  • Col 1:9 — For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
  • Col 4:5 — Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.
  • Col 4:5 — Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.
  • Eccl 10:10 — If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.
  • Eph 5:15 — See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
  • Eph 5:15 — See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
  • Esth 2:10 — Esther had not shewed her people nor her kindred: for Mordecai had charged her that she should not shew it.
  • Esth 5:1 — Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king’s house, over against the king’s house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in t
  • Ezra 4:3 — But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto
  • Gen 3:1 — Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
  • Gen 3:1 — Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
  • Gen 3:13 — And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
  • Gen 32:7 — Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands;
  • Gen 32:8 — And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.
  • Hab 1:3 — Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.
  • John 2:24 — But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men,
  • John 7:10 — But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.
  • John 8:6 — This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
  • John 10:12 — But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
  • John 20:21 — Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
  • Josh 7:2 — And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Bethaven, on the east side of Bethel, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai.