Luke 12:49-53
New English Translation
Not Peace, but Division
49 “I have come[a] to bring[b] fire on the earth—and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism[c] to undergo,[d] and how distressed I am until it is finished! 51 Do you think I have come to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division![e] 52 For from now on[f] there will be five in one household divided, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided,[g] father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Luke 12:49 sn This mission statement, “I have come to bring fire on the earth,” looks to the purging and division Jesus causes: See Luke 3:9, 17; 9:54; 17:29 for fire, 5:32; 7:34; 9:58; 12:51 for the topic of mission.
- Luke 12:49 tn Grk “cast.” For βάλλω (ballō) in the sense of causing a state or condition, see L&N 13.14.
- Luke 12:50 sn The figure of the baptism is variously interpreted, as some see a reference (1) to martyrdom or (2) to inundation with God’s judgment. The OT background, however, suggests the latter sense: Jesus is about to be uniquely inundated with God’s judgment as he is rejected, persecuted, and killed (Pss 18:4, 16; 42:7; 69:1-2; Isa 8:7-8; 30:27-28; Jonah 2:3-6).
- Luke 12:50 tn Grk “to be baptized with.”
- Luke 12:51 tn Or “hostility.” This term pictures dissension and hostility (BDAG 234 s.v. διαμερισμός).sn For rhetorical reasons, Jesus’ statement is deliberately paradoxical (seeming to state the opposite of Matt 10:13, for example, where the messengers are to bring peace). The conflict implied by the division (the parallel in Matt 10:34 has “sword”) is not primarily eschatological in this context, however, but immediate, and concerns the hostility and discord even among family members that a person’s allegiance to Jesus would bring (vv. 52-53).
- Luke 12:52 sn From now on is a popular phrase in Luke: 1:48; 5:10; 22:18, 69; see Mic 7:6.
- Luke 12:53 tn There is dispute whether this phrase belongs to the end of v. 52 or begins v. 53. Given the shift of object, a connection to v. 53 is slightly preferred.
Luke 12:49-53
Mounce Reverse Interlinear New Testament
49 “ I came erchomai to cast ballō fire pyr on epi the ho earth gē, and kai would thelō that tis it were already ēdē kindled anaptō! 50 I have echō a baptism baptisma · de to be baptized baptizō with , and kai how pōs distressed synechō I am until heōs hostis it is completed teleō! 51 Do you think dokeō that hoti I came paraginomai to give didōmi peace eirēnē in en the ho earth gē? No ouchi, I tell legō you hymeis, but alla rather ē division diamerismos! 52 For gar from apo now nyn on there will be eimi · ho five pente in en one heis household oikos divided diamerizō, three treis against epi two dyo and kai two dyo against epi three treis; 53 father patēr will be divided diamerizō against epi son hyios and kai son hyios against epi father patēr, mother mētēr against epi · ho daughter thugatēr and kai daughter thugatēr against epi · ho mother mētēr, mother-in-law penthera against epi · ho her autos daughter-in-law nymphē and kai daughter-in-law nymphē against epi · ho mother-in-law penthera.”
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