Commentaries:
Adam Clarke
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 shalom , rendered by the Greeks , 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 , 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, ( ), by forcing out the Roman power, that temporal prosperity which they long for; I am not come for this purpose, but to send forth ( ) 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 (note). 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.
Other commentary entries containing this verse:
Luke 12:49
Luke 12:51
Romans 1:7
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