.), and "heathen"
(Neh. 5:8; Psa. 2:1, 8, etc.), the essential element of designation
being that of foreigners. In Smith's _Dict. of the Bible_, we read "It
[the name 'Gentiles'] acquired an ethnographic and also an invidious
meaning, as other nations were idolatrous, rude, hostile, etc., yet the
Jews were able to use it in a purely technical, geographical sense, when
it was usually translated 'nations.'" Dr. Edward E. Nourse, writing for
the _Standard Bible Dictionary_, says: "In New Testament times, the Jew
divided mankind into three classes, (1) Jews, (2) Greeks (Hellenes, made
to include Romans, thus meaning the civilized peoples of the Roman
Empire, often rendered 'Gentiles' in Authorized Version), and (3)
barbarians (the uncivilized, Acts 28:4; Rom. 1:14; 1 Cor. 14:11)." The
injunction laid by Jesus upon the Twelve--"Go not into the way of the
Gentiles"--was to restrain them for the time being from attempting to
make converts among the Romans and Greeks, and to confine their ministry
to the people of Israel.

3. Shaking the Dust from the Feet.--To ceremonially shake the dust from
one's feet as a testimony against another was understood by the Jews to
symbolize a cessation of fellowship and a renunciation of all
responsibility for consequences that might follow. It became an
ordinance of accusation and testimony by the Lord's instructions to His
apostles as cited in the text. In the current dispensation, the Lord has
similarly directed His authorized servants to so testify against those
who wilfully and maliciously oppose the truth when authoritatively
presented (see Doc. and Cov. 24:15; 60:15; 75:20; 84:92; 99:4). The
responsibility of testifying before the Lord by this accusing symbol is
so great that the means may be employed only under unusual and extreme
conditions, as the Spirit of the Lord may direct.

4. The Two Bethsaidas.--It is held by many Bible students that
Bethsaida, in the desert region adjoining which Jesus and the Twelve
sought rest and seclusion, was the town of that name in Perea, on the
eastern side of the Jordan, and known more specifically as Bethsaida
Julias to distinguish it from Bethsaida in Galilee, which latter was
close to Capernaum. The Perean village of Bethsaida had been enlarged
and raised to the rank of a town by the tetrarch, Philip, and by him had
been named Julias in honor of Julia, daughter of the reigning emperor.
The Gospel narratives of the voyage by which Jesus and His com