Section 12:49–53

Jesus’ message will cause divisions among people

In this section Jesus was still talking to his disciples. He told them that a difficult time was coming. He warned them that in many families, some family members would follow him and some would not. This would cause family members to disagree and separate.

Some other headings for this section are:

Jesus Causes Division (New Century Version)
-or-
Not Peace but Division (New International Version)

There is a parallel passage for this section in Matthew 10:34–36.

Paragraph 12:49–53

12:49a

This is the first verse in a new section. Jesus continued to speak, and he used a metaphor. In some languages it may be helpful to make this information explicit. For example:

Then Jesus said, using an illustration

I have come to ignite a fire on the earth: In this verse fire is a complex metaphor. It may symbolize several things in this context:

(a) It may symbolize judgment. Jesus came to prepare people to face God’s judgment, and he himself was punished by God on behalf on those who would repent.

(b) It may symbolize purification. God would purify and remove evil from his people.

(c) It may symbolize division. Jesus came with a message that caused people to disagree with one another and separate from one another.

In some languages people may not understand that Jesus was using fire in a figurative way. If that is true in your language, you may be able to keep the figure of fire by using a simile. For example:

What I came to bring to the earth is like fire.

• In other languages, the meaning of fire in this context may not be understood. If that is true in your language, you may need to make the meaning more explicit. Try to use a general expression that could imply any of the meanings listed above. If that is not possible, use an expression that refers to judgment. For example:

I came to bring judgment like fire on the earth.

• If the meaning is still not clear, translate the meaning without the figure of speech. For example:

I came to bring judgment and division on the earth.

You may also want to put the possible interpretations in a footnote. A possible footnote is:

There are several ways to interpret “fire” in this verse: (1) Most scholars think it symbolizes God’s judgment on sin (as in Luke 3:16–17). This could refer to Jesus’ death on the cross or to the future judgment of unbelievers. (2) Other scholars think that it is a symbol of people being divided or in conflict. (3) Other scholars think that it is a symbol of God purifying people. It is probable that fire symbolizes more than one thing here.

I have come to ignite: The phrase I have come to ignite indicates purpose. In some languages it may be more natural to use an explicit purpose statement. For example:

I came ⌊to this earth⌋ in order to cause something like fire to burn ⌊among people⌋.

12:49b

how I wish it were already kindled: The expression how I wish it were already kindled means “I want very much for the fire to begin burning.” This implies that the fire had not yet begun. Another way to translate this is:

and I wish it were already burning (New Century Version)

If you made the meaning more explicit in 12:49a, you may need to do that here, as well. For example:

and I wish that the judgment had already begun!

© 2009, 2010, 2013 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.