---
title: Matthew 10:11
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/matthew-10-11/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/matthew-10-11.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Matthew 10:11
testament: NT
section: Gospels
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Matthew 10:11

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> Whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy there and stay at his house until you move on.

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (2013 revision): "Into whatever city or village you enter, search out who in it is deserving, and stay there until you leave."

## JW Usage

Matthew 10:11 is sometimes cited by JW publications to ground the door-to-door ministry — Jesus sent his disciples into villages to "search out who in it is deserving" before staying there. The Watchtower reads "search out" as canvassing every household to identify receptive ones, mirroring the JW practice of door-to-door witnessing.

## Protestant Usage

Read the verse alongside Luke 10:7 — "do not keep transferring from house to house." Jesus's instruction in Matthew 10:11 is to "search out who in it is deserving and stay there until you leave" — find one receptive household, stay there, and use it as a base for ministry. The instruction is the opposite of modern JW canvassing: identify a worthy host and remain rather than moving from door to door through an entire neighbourhood. Pair Matthew 10:11 with Luke 10:7 and the kat' oikon / ex oikias eis oikian distinction (Acts 5:42 / Acts 2:46 vs. Luke 10:7) — Luke uses different Greek phrasing for "in homes" (where teaching happened in house churches) versus "out of house into house" (the prohibited movement). The door-to-door pattern the Watchtower made the signature of true Christianity is precisely the pattern Jesus instructed his disciples to avoid.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [Jesus Said 'Do Not Go From House to House'](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/luke10-house-to-house.md) — Luke 10:7 / Acts 5:42 / Acts 20:20 [Practice]