Matthew 10:9 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Brass in your purses— The Greek word κτησησθε, which signifies to possess, signifies also to get, to furnish oneself with; which is the meaning of it here. The stress seems to lie on this word: they might use what they had already, but they might not delay at all to provide any thing more, nor take any thought about it. Nor indeed were they to take any thing with them, more than was strictly necessary; lest it should retard them, and because they were to learn hereby to trust God in all future exigencies. In your purses, in the Greek is ζωνας , girdles. The Eastern girdles being doubled, and sewed along the edges, were more convenient for carrying a quantity of money than purses, because money, being distributed round the body in the fobs of the girdle, the weight of it was not so much felt. By money, therefore, in their girdles, is to be understood a considerable sum. See Calmet, Beausobre and Lenfant, and Shaw's Travels, p. 227.