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William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Matthew 10:34-39

10:34-39 "Do not think that I came to send peace on earth: I did not come to send peace, but a sword. I came to set a man at variance against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies shall be the members of his own household. He that loves father or mother more than he loves me is not worthy of me; and he who does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me: He who finds his life will lose it; and... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Matthew 10:34-39

(iii) Jesus offers a cross. People in Galilee well knew what a cross was. When the Roman general, Varus, had broken the revolt of Judas of Galilee, he crucified two thousand Jews, and placed the crosses by the wayside along the roads to Galilee. In the ancient days the criminal did actually carry the crossbeam of his cross to the place of crucifixion, and the men to whom Jesus spoke had seen people staggering under the weight of their crosses and dying in agony upon them. The great men,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 10:34

Think not ye that I am come to send peace on earth ,.... The Jews had a notion of great outward peace and prosperity in the days of the Messiah; which was grounded on several prophecies of the Old Testament, not rightly understood by them; and the disciples of Christ had imbibed the same notion: wherefore our Lord thought fit to let them know the contrary; and that they must not expect outward ease and quiet, and worldly tranquillity would attend their ministry; for though he came to be a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 10:35

For I am come to set a man at variance against ,.... Or "to divide a man from his father". Here our Lord opens and explains what he means by the sword, intestine divisions, domestic broils, family differences, as well as such as appear in towns, cities, and kingdoms, which are exemplified by other instances following; and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law : the case is this, a father believing in Christ, embracing his Gospel, and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 10:36

And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. His children, and his servants, such that he has either begotten and brought up, or are daily fed at his table, and maintained by him. This, with the former instances, are borrowed from Micah 7:6 and the times of the Gospel are set forth in the same dismal and black characters, as those in which the prophet lived; and much such a description do the Jews themselves give, of the times of their expected Messiah; which agreeing in words, as... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 10:35

I am come to set a man at variance - The spirit of Christ can have no union with the spirit of the world. Even a father, while unconverted, will oppose a godly child. Thus the spirit that is in those who sin against God is opposed to that spirit which is in the followers of the Most High. It is the spirits then that are in opposition, and not the persons. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 10:36

A man's foes shall be they of his own household - Our Lord refers here to their own traditions. So Sota, fol. 49. "A little before the coming of the Messiah, the son shall insult the father, the daughter rebel against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and each man shall have his own household fur his enemies." Again, in Sanhedrin, fol. 97, it is said: "In the age in which the Messiah shall come, the young men shall turn the elders into ridicule; the elders shall rise... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 10:35

Verse 35 Matthew 10:35To set a man at variance Hence we see more clearly what was stated a little before, that wars and tumults arise, contrary to the nature of the Gospel, through the fault of wicked men. What Malachi says about John the Baptist, [Malachi 4:5 ] applies to all the ministers of Christ. They are sent for this purpose to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers. But in consequence of the malice of wicked men, those who were... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 10:1-42

The "commanding" of the twelve. This was a grand historic occasion indeed. The honoured but ever-comparatively feeble and now dimmed, dying, or dead schools of the prophets are to be succeeded by a scion of Christianity that marks at one and the same time its noblest and most amazing human institution, and Heaven's most condescending gift and human trust. Now begins "the great company of preachers" of the New Testament. They began with twelve;. they very soon grew to seventy; and... read more

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