Lukas 12:49

Not Peace, but Division

12:49 “I have come ¹  to bring ²  fire on the earth – and how I wish it were already kindled!

Lukas 21:38

21:38 And all the people ³  came to him early in the morning to listen to him in the temple courts. ⁴ 

Lukas 22:31

22:31 “Simon, ⁵  Simon, pay attention! ⁶  Satan has demanded to have you all, ⁷  to sift you like wheat, ⁸ 

[12:49]  ¹ 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.

[12:49]  ² tn Grk “cast.” For βάλλω (ballw) in the sense of causing a state or condition, see L&N 13.14.

[21:38]  ³ sn Jesus’ teaching was still quite popular with all the people at this point despite the leaders’ opposition.

[21:38]  ⁴ tc Some mss (those of ˹³) place John 7:53-8:11 here after v. 38, no doubt because it was felt that this was a better setting for the pericope.

[21:38]  tn Grk “in the temple.”

[22:31]  ⁵ tc The majority of mss (א A D W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 Ï as well as several versional witnesses) begin this verse with an introductory comment, “and the Lord said,” indicating a change in the subject of discussion. But this is apparently a reading motivated by the need for clarity. Some of the best witnesses, along with a few others (Ì⁷⁵ B L T 1241 2542^c sy^s co), do not contain these words. The abrupt shift is the more difficult reading and thus more likely to be original.

[22:31]  ⁶ tn Grk “behold” (for “pay attention” see L&N 91.13).

[22:31]  ⁷ sn This pronoun is plural in the Greek text, so it refers to all the disciples of which Peter is the representative.

[22:31]  ⁸ sn Satan has demanded permission to put them to the test. The idiom “sift (someone) like wheat” is similar to the English idiom “to pick (someone) apart.” The pronoun you is implied.