Matthew 10:14 - Clarke's commentary and critical notes on the Bible

And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Shake off the dust of your feet - The Jews considered themselves defiled by the dust of a heathen country, when was represented by the prophets as a polluted laud, Amos 7:17, when compared with the land of Israel, which was considered as a holy land, Ezekiel 45:1; therefore, to shake the dust of any city of Israel from off one's clothes or feet was an emblematical action, signifying a renunciation of all farther connection with them, and placing them on a level with the cities of the Heathen. See Amos 9:7.