“Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Don’t think that I came to send peace on the earth. I didn’t come to send peace, but a sword.
- KJV Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
- BSB Do not assume that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
- NKJV “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.
- NASB “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus came not to bring superficial peace but a 'sword' that divides. The gospel inevitably provokes conflict between belief and unbelief.
Overview
Though Christ is the Prince of Peace who reconciles sinners to God, His coming also forces a decision that divides households and societies. The 'sword' is the division created when some receive Him and others reject Him. This honest warning prepares disciples for the cost of following a Lord whom the world opposes.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Luke 12:49–53“I came to throw fire on the earth. I wish it were already kindled.
- Acts 14:4But the multitude of the city was divided. Part sided with the Jews, and part with the apostles.
- Acts 13:45–50But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with jealousy, and contradicted the things which were spoken by Paul, and blasphemed.
- Acts 14:2But the disbelieving Jews stirred up and embittered the souls of the Gentiles against the brothers.
- John 7:40–52Many of the multitude therefore, when they heard these words, said, “This is truly the prophet.”
- Jer 15:10Woe is me, my mother, that you have borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have not lent, neither have men lent to me; yet everyone of them curses me.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 10:34 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.