"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." Matthew 10:34
Think not that I am come to send peace, etc. - The meaning of this difficult passage will be plain, when we consider the import of the word peace, and the expectation of the Jews. I have already had occasion to remark, (
Matthew 10:12)*, that the word שלום shalom, rendered by the Greeks ειρηνη, was used among the Hebrews to express all possible blessings, temporal and spiritual; but especially the former. The expectation of the Jews was, that, when the Messiah should come, all temporal prosperity should be accumulated on the land of Judea; therefore την γην, in this verse, should not be translated the earth, but this land. The import of our Lord's teaching here is this, Do not imagine, as the Jews in general vainly do, that I am come to send forth, (βαλλειν), by forcing out the Roman power, that temporal prosperity which they long for; I am not come for this purpose, but to send forth (βαλλειν) the Roman sword, to cut off a disobedient and rebellious nation, the cup of whose iniquity is already full, and whose crimes cry aloud for speedy vengeance. See also on
Luke 12:49**. From the time they rejected the Messiah, they were a prey to the most cruel and destructive factions; they employed their time in butchering one another, till the Roman sword was unsheathed against them, and desolated the land.
Adam Clarke - British Methodist theologian
*"And when ye come into an house, salute it." Matthew 10:12
Salute it - Λεγουτες, ειρηνη εν τω οικω τουτω, saying, "Peace be to this house." This clause, which, as explanatory of the word ασπασασθε, is necessary to the connection in which it now stands, is added, by the MSS. D and L, and forty-three others, the Armenian, Ethiopic, Slavonic, Saxon, Vulgate, all the copies of the old Itala, Theophylact, and Hilary. The clause is also found in several modern versions. The modern Greek has λεγοντες· ειρηνη εις το σκηπρι τουτο. The Italian, by Matthew, of Erberg, and of Diodati, renders it thus: Pace sia a questa casa. Peace be to this house.
It is found also in Wickliff, and in my old MS. Seyinge, pees be to this hous. Some suppose it is an addition taken from Luke; but there is nearly as much reason to believe he took it from Matthew.
Peace, שלום, among the Hebrews, had a very extensive meaning: - it comprehended all blessings, spiritual and temporal. Hence that saying of the rabbins, גדול שלום שכל הברכות כלולות בו Gadal shalom, shecol haberacoth culoloth bo. Great is Peace, for all other blessings are comprehended in it. To wish peace to a family, in the name and by the authority of Christ, was in effect a positive promise, on the Lord's side, of all the good implied in the wish. This was paying largely even beforehand. Whoever receives the messengers of God into his house confers the highest honor upon himself, and not upon the preacher, whose honor is from God, and who comes with the blessings of life eternal to that man and his family who receives him.
In India, it is customary for a way-faring man, when night draws on, to enter a house, and simply say, "Sir, I am a guest with you this night." If the owner cannot lodge him, he makes an apology, and the traveler proceeds to another house.
Adam Clarke - British Methodist theologian
**"I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?"Luke 12:49
I am come to send fire - From the connection in which these words stand, both in this place and in Matthew, it appears as if our Lord intended by the word fire, not only the consuming influence of the Roman sword, but also the influence of his own Spirit in the destruction of sin. In both these senses this fire was already kindled: as yet, however, it appeared but as a spark, but was soon to break out into an all-consuming flame.
Adam Clarke - British Methodist theologian