Mark 6:8 - Exposition

They should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only . St. Matthew says ( Matthew 10:10 ), according to the best authorities ( μηδὲ ῥάβδον ), they were not to take a staff. St. Luke says the same as St. Matthew. The meaning is that they were not to make any special provision for their journey, but to go forth just as they were, depending upon God. Those who bad a staff might use it; those who had not one were not to trouble themselves to procure one. The scrip ( πήρα ) was the wallet for food. They were to take no money in their purse ( μὴ εἰς τὴν ζώνην χαλκόν ); literally, brass in their girdle. St. Mark, writing for Romans, uses this word for money. St. Luke, writing for Greeks, uses the term ( ἀργύριον ) "silver." St. Matthew ( Matthew 10:9 ) says, "provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass."