Are two swords – The Galileans, it is said, often went armed. The Essenes did so also. The reason was that the country was full of robbers and wild beasts, and it was necessary to carry, in their travels, some means of defense. It seems that the disciples followed the customs of the country, and had with them some means of defense, though they had but two swords among the twelve.

It is enough – It is difficult to understand this. Some suppose that it is spoken ironically; as if he had said, You are bravely armed indeed, with two swords among twelve men, and to meet such a host! Others, that he meant to reprove them for understanding him literally, as if he meant that they were then to procure swords for immediate battle. As if he had said, This is absurd, or a perversion of my meaning. I did not intend this, but merely to foretell you of impending dangers after my death. It is to be observed that he did not say the two swords are enough, but it is enough; perhaps meaning simply, enough has been said. Other matters press on, and you will yet understand what I mean.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 38. Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough.] These words cannot be well understood as being an answer to the supposed command of Christ, for every one who had no sword to go and sell his garment and buy one; for, in this case, they were not enough, or sufficient, as nine of the disciples must be without any instrument of defence; but they may be understood as pointing out the readiness and determination of Peter, and perhaps some others, to defend our Lord: Thou shalt not be treated as a transgressor; here are two swords, and we will fight for thee. In Lu 22:33, Peter had said, he was ready to go with Christ either to prison or death; which showed his strong resolution to stand by and defend his Master, even at the expense of his life. But, alas, he depended too much on himself!

It is enough. The meaning probably is, there is enough said on the subject; as immediately after this he entered into his agony.

I must here confess that the matter about the swords appear to me very obscure. I am afraid I do not understand it, and I know of none who does. Schoettgen and Lightfoot have said much on the subject; others have endeavoured to get rid of the difficulty by translating a knife, which was necessary on long journeys for providing forage and fuel; as they were to depend wholly on their own industry, under God, for all the necessaries of life, while going through the nations of the earth, preaching the Gospel to Jews and Gentiles. I cannot say which sense the reader should prefer.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

38. two swords . . . enoughtheythinking He referred to present defense, while His answer showed Hemeant something else.

Lu22:39-46. AGONY IN THEGARDEN.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And they said, Lord, behold here are two swords,…. That is, the disciples said so, as the Persic version expresses it; for they understood Christ’s words literally; and two swords being among them, and which they might bring with them from Galilee, to defend themselves from thieves, and robbers, which infested the roads between that country and Jerusalem; and one of these, as appears afterwards, belonged to Peter; they mention them with a desire of knowing they were sufficient, or whether they must provide themselves with more:

and he said unto them, it is enough; or, “they are sufficient”, as the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions render it; which must be understood either ironically; yes, two swords, to be sure, are sufficient for eleven men, and against many and powerful enemies: or his meaning is, they were sufficient to answer his purpose, and be an emblem of what he designed by the sword: or this was a short way of speaking, suggesting their stupidity and ignorance: it is enough, it is very well, I perceive you do not understand my meaning, and I shall say no more at present.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Lord, behold, here are two swords ( ). They took his words literally. And before this very night is over Peter will use one of these very swords to try to cut off the head of Malchus only to be sternly rebuked by Jesus (Mark 14:47; Matt 26:51; Luke 22:50; John 18:10). Then Jesus will say: “For all that take the sword shall perish with the sword” (Mt 26:52). Clearly Jesus did not mean his language even about the sword to be pressed too literally. So he said: “It is enough” (H ). It is with sad irony and sorrow that Jesus thus dismisses the subject. They were in no humour now to understand the various sides of this complicated problem. Every preacher and teacher understands this mood, not of impatience, but of closing the subject for the present.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

1) “And they said, Lord, behold,” (ho de eipan kurie idou) “Then they said, Lord, behold,” or just take a look, take note.

2) “Here are two swords.” (amchairai hode duo) “Here are two swords,” that we have.

3) “And he, said unto them, It is enough.” (ho de eipen autois hikanon estin) “Then he said to them, It is enough,” or “that will do,” for He had not yet left them, to go out and away into all parts of the world, as He later mandated them to do, Mat 28:18-20; Mar 15:15; Luk 24:46-53; Joh 20:21; Act 1:8.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

38. Lord, lo, here are two swords. It was truly shameful and stupid ignorance, that the disciples, after having been so often informed about bearing the cross, imagine that they must fight with swords of iron. When they say that they have two swords, it is uncertain whether they mean that they are well prepared against their enemies, or complain that they are ill provided with arms. It is evident, at least, that they were so stupid as not to think of a spiritual enemy. As to the inference which the Doctors of Canon Law draw from these words — that their mitered bishops have a double jurisdiction — it is not only an offensive allegory, but a detestable mockery, by which they ridicule the word of God. And it was necessary that the slaves of Antichrist should fall into such madness, of openly trampling under feet, by sacrilegious contempt, the sacred oracles of God.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(38) Behold, here are two swords.Peter, we find, had one (Joh. 18:10); we can only conjecture who had the other. Possibly, Andrew; possibly, one of the sons of thunder.

It is enough.Here again there is a touch of grave irony. The two swords were enough, and more than enough, for Him who did not mean them to use the swords at all. The word for enough may be noted as used far more often by St. Luke than in the other Gospels. The mystical interpretation which sees in the two swords the symbol of the spiritual and temporal authority committed to St. Peter, and to the Pope as his successor, stands on a level with that which finds the relations of the Church and the State foreshadowed in the two great lights of Gen. 1:16. Both are simply the dreams of a diseased fancy, and find their fit home at last in the limbo of vanities.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

38. They said, Lord two swords At the mention of a sword some of the disciples, taking him literally, bring him forth double his demand, two swords! It is enough To illustrate my metaphor, quite enough; and too much, if it is real bloodshed you contemplate. The words gently rebuke the apostles’ mistake. They had these swords evidently concealed from our Lord. They may have provided them for defence against assailants, as even the priests did in the passage (Luk 10:31) from Jericho to Jerusalem. But they may have been knives for slaying the Passover lamb. See note on Mat 26:51.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘And they said, “Lord, behold, here are two swords.” And he said to them, “It is enough.”

So at His words the blinkered, and no doubt puzzled, disciples, wondering why He had become so suddenly concerned about weapons, assured Him that they already had two swords, confident that that should be sufficient to deal with any passing footpads. They could not grasp what He was worried about and saw any danger that might threaten them as being fairly innocuous. For it is clear from their comment that they had not taken it as a suggestion that they needed to get ready to establish God’s Kingly Rule by force. For even they would have recognised that that would have required more than two swords.

So Jesus, saddened by their inability to understand, and to appreciate the true situation, replied, ‘That is enough’. He was not saying that that was enough swords. Rather it was now clear to Him that they did not, and would not, comprehend what was happening, and that in the little time remaining there was no way in which He could shake them out of their apathy. He realised that any further attempts to awaken them could only end in failure. So He acknowledged to Himself that He would have to leave them in His Father’s hands, and Himself pray for them that their faith might not fail, and then let the question drop.

‘It is enough.’ Enough has been said, He is saying. Now let us forget the matter. In other words He was resigned to their lack of response. Later when an attempt will be made to use their swords Jesus will actually tell them to desist, which demonstrates that His real intention was that His words should be interpreted spiritually. For as the future would demonstrate the battle that was to be fought would be fought with other swords than this, with swords provided by God such as the Sword of the Spirit (Eph 6:17; Heb 4:12; Rev 1:16; Rev 2:12; Rev 2:16; Rev 19:15; Rev 19:21).

Others see ‘it is enough’ as indicating that two swords were enough because, recognising their failure to understand His point, He did not want to discuss the matter any more.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Luk 22:38. Lord, behold, here are two swords. Our Lord’s disciples, mistaking his meaning about the swords, replied, they had two: the reason why they had any at all, probably, was, that they might defend themselves against robbers in their journey from Galilee and Perea, and from the beasts of prey which in those parts were very frequent and dangerous in the night time: it afterwards appears, that one of these swords was Peter’s. See Joh 18:10. Our Lord replies to the disciples, “It is enough for weapons of this sort; my chief intent is, to direct you to another kind of defence; even that which arises from piety and faith.” This is strongly intimated by our Lord’s saying that two swordswere sufficient; which, it is evident, they could not have been for so many men, had our Lord meant what he said in a literal sense.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

38 And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough.

Ver. 38. It is enough ] q.d. You speak absurdly: I mean not such kind of swords; let me hear no more of them.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

38. ] Two of them were armed, either from excess of zeal to defend Him, excited by His announcement of His sufferings during this feast, or perhaps because they had brought their weapons from Galilee as protection by the way. The road from Jericho to Jerusalem (see ch. Luk 10:30 ) was much infested with robbers; and it was the custom for the priests, and even the quiet and ascetic Essenes, to carry weapons when travelling. Chrysostom (Hom. in Matt. lxxxiv. vol. vii. p. 797) gives a curious explanation of the two swords: . This certainly agrees with the number of the disciples sent to get ready the Passover: but it has nothing else to recommend it. They exhibit their swords, misunderstanding His words and supposing them to apply to that night. Our Lord breaks off the matter with , ‘ It is enough; ’ not ‘ they are sufficient; ’ but, It is well, we are sufficiently provided ‘it was not to this that My words referred.’ The rebuke is parallel with, though milder than, the one in Mar 8:17 , as the misunderstanding was somewhat similar.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Luk 22:38 . : how did such a peaceable company come to have even so much as one sword? Were the two weapons really swords, fighting instruments, or large knives? The latter suggestion, made by Chrysostom and adopted by Euthym., is called “curious” by Alford, but regarded by Field ( Ot. Nor. ) as “probable”. , enough! i.e. , for one who did not mean to fight. It is a pregnant word = “for the end I have in view more than enough; but also enough of misunderstanding, disenchantment, speech, teaching, and life generally,” Holtzmann, H. C.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

But now, &c. Showing that precepts given when the kingdom was being proclaimed, no longer held good when it had been rejected.

no sword = not [money]. Greek. me. App-105.

one = a sword.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

38.] Two of them were armed,-either from excess of zeal to defend Him, excited by His announcement of His sufferings during this feast,-or perhaps because they had brought their weapons from Galilee as protection by the way. The road from Jericho to Jerusalem (see ch. Luk 10:30) was much infested with robbers;-and it was the custom for the priests, and even the quiet and ascetic Essenes, to carry weapons when travelling. Chrysostom (Hom. in Matt. lxxxiv. vol. vii. p. 797) gives a curious explanation of the two swords: . This certainly agrees with the number of the disciples sent to get ready the Passover: but it has nothing else to recommend it. They exhibit their swords, misunderstanding His words and supposing them to apply to that night. Our Lord breaks off the matter with ,-It is enough; not they are sufficient;-but, It is well,-we are sufficiently provided-it was not to this that My words referred. The rebuke is parallel with, though milder than, the one in Mar 8:17,-as the misunderstanding was somewhat similar.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Luk 22:38. , here) They had found in the room where they had supped, or else had brought with them, the two swords: see Luk 22:49. [For previously they had not been girt with swords; otherwise the Lord would have interdicted the use of them, when the disciples were being prepared for their embassy, Luk 22:35.-V. g.]-, two) Comp. Joh 6:9[243]- , it is enough) i.e. There is no need of more than two swords. Jesus uttered so brief a reply as this, in order that the disciples might be able sufficiently to understand His mind (intention and meaning in what He said) as to buying a sword, Luk 22:36. Comp. Joh 14:30.[244] [245] not dissimilar phrase occurs, 1Ma 2:33, ; Deu 3:26, .

[243] The two small fishes; expressing the same disproportion, as here, between the means, and the effects produced, when Gods blessing is vouchsafed.-E. and T.

[244] Hereafter I will not talk much with you, for the prince of this world cometh, etc. This accounts for the brevity of His reply.-E. and T.

[245] the Alexandrine MS.: in Brit. Museum: fifth century: publ. by Woide, 1786-1819: O. and N. Test. defective.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

It: Mat 26:52-54, Joh 18:36, 2Co 10:3, 2Co 10:4, Eph 6:10-18, 1Th 5:8, 1Pe 5:9

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

8

This is an incidental item. Jesus had instructed them to procure a sword, and they told him they already had two, which was found to be sufficient.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Luk 22:38. Lord, behold here are two swords. Swords, not knives used at the feast, probably belonging to the disciples. The Galileans often travelled armed, and possibly two of the disciples had thus provided themselves because they expected danger that night

It is enough. The reference is not to the sufficiency of the weapons, but a mild turning away from further explanation in view of their failure to understand. Two swords were of no avail in the spiritual conflict before Him; of this He had just spoken, but they failed to recognize His meaning.The discourse recorded by John (14-17), probably followed; then on the way to Gethsemane, the second prediction of the unfaithfulness of Peter and the other disciples, repelled by them all. See on Mat 26:31. These are passed over by Luke.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Verse 38

It is enough; not they are enough; that is, he did not refer to the words which they presented, but only terminated the conversation, finding, apparently, that they were not in a state of mind to understand his meaning.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

The disciples evidently took Jesus’ words about buying swords literally. They produced two that they had already acquired. They had understood Jesus’ earlier warnings about what lay ahead of Him in Jerusalem and had armed themselves to this extent. This was not Jesus’ intention.

Some interpret "It (or That) is enough" as meaning two swords would be adequate in view of the coming conflict. This does not seem to be what Jesus meant since He later rebuked Peter for using even one sword to defend Him (Luk 22:49-51; cf. Mat 26:52). Furthermore two swords would not be enough to defend Jesus against arrest. Others interpret Jesus as having meant that the possession of two swords was enough to identify Jesus and the disciples as criminals and so fulfill Isa 53:12. [Note: Danker, p. 225; P. S. Minear, "A Note on Luke xxii. 36," Novum Testamentum 7 (1964):128-34; and Martin, p. 260.] However it was not the possession of swords that identified Jesus as a criminal but the false charges that He had claimed to be a king opposed to Caesar. Probably Jesus meant that He wished to pursue the discussion no further. [Note: Manson, p. 342; Morris, p. 310; M. Bailey, p. 148; et al.] The disciples had misunderstood Him. They would only learn what He meant later as they would learn the meaning of many other things that He had taught them that they had failed to perceive. The expression occurs often in the Old Testament in this sense (cf. Gen 45:28; Exo 9:28; Deu 3:26; 1Ki 19:4; 1Ch 21:15).

Luke probably included this part of Jesus’ conversation with His disciples because it is a sober warning to all disciples of our need for personal spiritual preparation. We all face essentially what the Eleven did. We must not rely on physical defenses in spiritual warfare but make responsible preparations and arm ourselves with the resources that only God can provide (cf. Eph 6:10-20). The disciples slept in Gethsemane when they should have been praying (Luk 22:40; Luk 22:46). Likewise we often fail to ask God to help us and instead rely on our own resources.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)