When they had shaken of the dust of their feet. We may also gather, even by the commandment of Christ, (Matthew 10:14; Luke 9:5; 10:11,) that this was a token of cursing among the Jews. For it is not to be thought that Christ meant to have his [disciples] use an unknown sign, forasmuch as it was his purpose to terrify the gross and professed condemners of his doctrine. Furthermore, he meant by this means to declare that God doth so detest the wicked, that we must take meat heed that we have no fellowship with them, lest we be infected with their uncleanness. All the wicked are said, indeed, to pollute the ground whereon they tread; but the Lord did never command that any, save only the condemners of his word, should be so rejected with such execration. If any adulterer or whoremonger, if any perjured person, if any drunkard, [1] were to be excommunicate, this sign was not used. Therefore, it appeareth how intolerable the contempt of the word of God is in his sight; because, when as he commandeth that the dust of the feet be shaken off, it is as much as if he should pronounce that they are the bond-slaves of Satan, men past hope, and worthy to be banished [2] from off the earth. Wherefore, let this so great;, severity teach us to reverence the gospel. Also the ministers of the word are taught with how great ferventness of zeal they must maintain the majesty of the word, that they do not coldly dissemble and wink at the contempt thereof.

Footnotes

1 - "Si quis homicida," if any murderer, omitted.

2 - "Qui exterminentur," to be exterminated.

But they shook off the dust - See the notes on Matthew 10:14.
And came unto Iconium - This was the capital of Lycaonia. It is now called Konieh, and is the capital of Caramania. "Konieh extends to the east and south over the plain far beyond the walls, which are about two miles in circumference Mountains covered with snow rise on every side, excepting toward the east, where a plain, as flat as the desert of Arabia, extends far beyond the reach of the eye" (Capt. Kinnear). "Little, if anything, remains of Greek or Roman Iconium, if we except the ancient inscriptions and the fragments of sculptures which are built into the Turkish walls." "The city wall is said to have been erected by the Seljukian sultans: it seems to have been built from the ruins of more ancient buildings, as broken columns, capitals, pedestals, bas-reliefs, and other pieces of sculpture contribute toward its construction. It has 80 gates, of a square form, each known by a separate name, and, as well as most of the towers, embellished with Arabic inscriptions I observed a few Greek characters on the walls, but they were in so elevated a situation that I could not decipher them" (Capt. Kinneir). See Colonel Leake's description; and also the work of Colossians. Chesney (1850) on the Euphrates Expedition, vol. i, p. 348, 349.

They shook off the dust of their feet against them - This was a very significant rite; by it, they in effect said: Ye are worse than the heathen: even your very land is accursed for your opposition to God, and we dare not permit even its dust to cleave to the soles of our feet; and we shake it off, in departing from your country, according to our Lord's command, (Matthew 10:14), for a testimony against you, that we offered you salvation, but ye rejected it and persecuted us. The Jews, when travelling in heathen countries, took care, when they came to the borders of their own, to shake off the dust of their feet, lest any of the unhallowed ground should defile the sacred land of Israel.
Came unto Iconium - According to Strabo, Iconium was a small fortified town, the capital of Lycaonia, at present called Cogni. "Lycaonia was a province at the back of Pamphylia, higher up in Asia Minor, and to the northeast of Pamphylia." Pearce.

(21) But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium.
(21) The wickedness of the world cannot prevent God from gathering his Church together, and to foster and cherish it, when it is gathered together.

But they shook off the dust of their feet against them,.... As Christ directed his apostles to do; See Gill on Matthew 10:14.
And came unto Iconium, a city in Lycaonia; here it is placed both by Ptolomy (c) and Strabo (d); Pliny says (e), that
"there was a tetrarchy granted out of Lycaonia, on that part which borders on Galatia, consisting of fourteen cities, the most celebrated city being Iconium.''
It was called by the Syrians , "Ik-ona", which signifies "the bosom of sheep"; the country round about it being famous for feeding great numbers of sheep; and here afterwards was a church of Christ, a bosom for his sheep; it is now in the hands of the Turks, and is called "Conia", or "Cogne".
(c) Geograph. l. 5. c. 6. (d) Ib. l. 12. (e) Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 27.

shook off the dust of their feet against them--as directed (Matthew 10:14).
came unto Iconium--a populous city about forty-five miles southeast from Pisidian Antioch: at the foot of Mount Taurus; on the borders of Lycaonia, Phrygia, and Pisidia; and in later times largely contributing to the consolidation of the Turkish empire.

They shook off the dust of their feet. See Luke 9:5. The Master's command was obeyed.
Iconium. In Lycaonia, about fifty miles east of the Pisidian Antioch. At a later period, Iconium became celebrated as the capital of the Turks, before Constantinople fell into their hands. The Turkish sultan was long called the Sultan of Iconium. It was only after the Turkish conquests in Europe that the capital was moved to Constantinople. It is still a place of 30,000 inhabitants, and is called Konieh.