Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 10:35
For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
35. to set at variance ] The Greek word occurs here only in the New Testament, and is rare elsewhere. The root is the same as that of the word translated to “cut asunder.” The word is used by Plato of a scientific distinction. Here the thought of the dividing sword is carried on. Comp. Mic 7:6, where see Dr Pusey’s note, who quotes Tertullian to shew how true Christ’s words proved in the second century.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Mat 10:35
To set a man at variance against his Father.
The year separation.
I. That union of families in religion is desirable. Because all its members have the same interests at stake; they are all under substantially the same obligations; it promotes the happiness of a family, gives consolation in times of affliction, promotes the eternal welfare of all.
II. That religion does, in fact, make a separation in families, It divides families at the Communion table; in respect of their prospects of future glory, and at the judgment-bar with unerring accuracy. Lessons: Pray more for impenitent children, &c.; contemplate the possibility of a family being united in heaven. (Dr. A. Barites.)
Those who are most near, are most easily divided. (Bengel.)
Children and parents
There is a climax of three degrees. Brother shall be against brother, parent against child, child against parents-each worse than the preceding. The history of the Church has many illustrations of this. Such were the histories of Perpetua and Felicitas, in the persecution of Severus, where the children refused to listen to parents entreaties to give up Christ, and died in their steadfastness; and such was the dreadful speech recorded of Philip II. of Spain, who thought that he was showing zeal for God by declaring of the Protestants, If it were my own son, I would bring the faggot. (W. Benham.)
Domestic variance occasioned by religion
Too often is this prediction fulfilled in the case of converts (especially those from Judaism) even at the present day-the most devoted son or daughter has too often to feel that their adopting Christianity has severed them from beloved parents. The Rev. Moses Margdionth, in a narrative drawn up in the year 1842, illustrates this by his own experience. Mr. Margdionth had been led, by a remarkable chain of circumstances, to embrace Christianity. He was a native of Poland, but did not receive baptism until his arrival in London, having left his country for the purpose of study, and more especially of acquiring religious knowledge. He felt it his duty as soon as possible to acquaint his parents with his change of faith, and his father at first wrote him an affectionate answer, entreating him to come home and recant his apostacy, but finding that nothing would induce him to renounce Christianity and return to his house, ceased to answer his letters, and for a long time seemed to ignore his existence. Still, however, Margdionth persevered in writing, and at length, to use his own words-I received a most severe letter from my father, telling me that if I did not return immediately to his house, I should never be permitted to call myself his son: that he should hate me with perfect hatred, and that he should prohibit my writing to him any more. My dear mother wrote again with affectionate sadness, telling me that she had not ceased to weep for me, and had even injured her eyes with weeping. It is consolatory to find that Mr. Margdionth, who spared no effort or exertion to win hack the heart of his father, was rewarded at length by a complete reconciliation, though we have no ground to believe that his parents ever embraced Christianity. Yet sadder tales meet us in the annals of missions among the heathen. Harriet Winslow, the devoted American missionary in Ceylon, mentions the very sad case of a youth named Tupyen, who had become interested in Christianity by reading part of a Tamil Bible, lent him by another young man. He begged permission to attend the mission school at Tillipally, but when it came to his fathers knowledge that he had there avowed himself a Christian, the poor fellow was, when he next returned home, shut up, and otherwise most severely treated. Once he made his escape to Tillipally, and there told the missionary, Mr. Peel, what had befallen him. He took a Testament, and pointing to this very passage (Mat 10:31-39), said, with tears-That very good. But again falling into the hands of his father, Tupyen was beaten, tabooed, threatened, insulted in every possible way, so that at length, alas, he signed a recantation of Christianity.
Social obstacles to religion
I. The reasons why men labour to prevent their fellows from rising to a vital Christian experience.
1. We are to remember that social life is not merely the accidental juxtaposition of man with man; it organizes itself. Men stand related to each other in such a way that if one goes out of the circle, it is like the going of one out from a quartette of singers.
2. It is frequently the case that the escape of one from a circle towards a true and high religious life, is hindered on account of the social ambitions which prevail. Circles defend themselves against men going to desert for religion.
3. Another reason why persons endeavour to prevent the escape of men to a higher religious plane, is the judgment and rebuke which is always reflected, by such a course, upon their own career.
II. What the motives are by which this social hindrance works.
1. There is the battle of fear into which men go.
2. Next is the battle of interest. Men try to dissuade their fellow-men from true religion on account of the effects which it will have upon their interests in life.
3. Then there are persons who are peculiarly sensitive to praise. They cannot bear the shady side of mens opinions. A circle, by a judicious silence, can make a man feel as though the fogs of Newfoundland were on him.
4. Then there is the battle of dissuasion.
III. The modes of resistance that one may lawfully set up against these things.
1. It should be made clear that you are in earnest and sincere.
2. That that which is upon you is not a mere whim.
3. Remember that you need and shall have the help of God. (H. W. Beecher.)
The souls longing for God not hindered by social obstacles
As birds, when their time of emigration comes, and they feel the impulse to fly to the summer-land, and will not be stopped, either by the snap of the fowlers gun or by the sweep of the hawk, or by any solicitation, but rise, and fly through night and through day, to find that summer-land: so souls feel the fascinating call of God, and, rising, soar-and must, because the Holy Ghost is upon them. (H. W. Beecher.)
Society troubled by men leafing it for a better life
The smallest wheel in my watch, emigrating, would leave all the rest of the wheels, big and little, in a very sorry plight. Although it may be very small, and stand on its own rights as a wheel, yet, after all, it has been cogged, and notched, and adjusted, so that the whole structure depends on that. You might as well smash the watch as to take that out. Frequently it is the case that the members of a circle are so affiliated, so exactly fitted to each other, that if you take one out, all the rest are dissevered. And it is not surprising, it does not imply any great degree of depravity, to say that where a number of men are living an ordinary, an average, social life, and one of them is inspired with a higher, a holier religious purpose, and desires and means to go up on a level that none of them have been standing on, his emigration upward wrenches them all. And it is not strange that they try to stop it. (H. W. Beecher.)
Unrest a vital process
The unrest of a Christless soul, a Christless nation, a Christless world, is really the beginning of a vital process, which in its first stages is always a travail. The Lord is not afraid of the storm of strife and frenzy which He stirs in the world. We think that these are death pains; He knows that they are birth pains, through which the glorious golden future is being born. (J. B. Brown, B. A.)
A boys foes at school
When a boy first comes from home, full of the natural desire of doing his duty, of improving himself, of getting on well, he is presently beset by the ridicule of all the worthless and foolish boys around him, who want to sink him to their own level. How completely true it is that his foes are they of his own household-that is, they who are most immediately about him, those of his own age, and his own place in the school. They become his idol; before their most foolish, most low, and most wicked voices he gives up his affections, his understanding, and his conscience; from this mass of ignorance, and falsehood, and selfishness, he looks for the guide of his opinions and his conduct. (T. Arnold, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
35. For I am come to set a man atvariance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, andthe daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law(See on Lu12:51-53).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 submitting to his institutions, is contradicted, opposed, and persecuted by his own son, and a mother by her own daughter; in both which relations, natural affection knit them together; and the mother-in-law by her daughter-in-law, who before lived together in the most peaceable, kind, and tender manner: which must be imputed, not to Christ, and the doctrines of Christ, and the natural tendency of them, embraced by the father, the mother, and mother-in-law; but to the natural enmity of the son, the daughter, and the daughter-in-law, to everything divine, spiritual, and evangelical, or “vice versa”.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Set at variance (). Literally divide in two, . Jesus uses Mic 7:1-6 to describe the rottenness of the age as Micah had done. Family ties and social ties cannot stand in the way of loyalty to Christ and righteous living.
The daughter-in-law (). Literally bride, the young wife who is possibly living with the mother-in-law. It is a tragedy to see a father or mother step between the child and Christ.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Set at variance [] . Lit., part asunder. Wyc., to depart = part.
Daughter – in – law [] . So. A. V. and Rev.; but the full force is lost in this rendering. The word means bride, and though sometimes used in classical Greek of any married woman, it carries a notion of comparative youth. Thus in Homer, “Odyssey,” 4 743, the aged nurse, Euryclea, addresses Penelope (certainly not a bride) as numfa filh (dear bride), of course as a term of affection or petting. Compare “Iliad,” 3 130, where Iris addressed Helen in the same way. The radical and bitter character of the division brought into households by the Gospel is shown by the fact of its affecting domestic relations in their very freshness. They newly – married wife shall be set at variance with her mother – in – law. Wycliffe’s rendering is peculiar : And the son’s wife against the wife ‘s or husband ‘s mother.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “For I am come to set a man at variance against his father,” (elthon gar dichasai anthropon kata toy patros autou) “Because I came to make men (a man) hostile against his father,” regarding right and wrong, moral and ethical standards, Mic 7:6; Luk 21:16; 1Jn 3:11-12.
2) “And the daughter against her mother,” (kai thugatera kata tes metros autes) “And a daughter against her mother,” differences of opinion that are sharp and tense, that bring strife of words and clash of emotions, Joh 9:18.
3) “And the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” (kai numphen kata tes pentheras autes) “And a bride (daughter-in-law) hostile against her mother-in-law,” where one knows Christ and the other does not know or try to obey Him, Luk 12:51-53.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Mat 10:35
To 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, [Mal 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 formerly combined no sooner hear the voice of Christ than they separate into opposite parties, and proceed so far as to break up the ties of relationship. In a word, Christ foretells that the world will come to such a state of confusion, that all the bonds of kindred will be treated with indifference, and humanity will be no longer regarded. When Micah complains [Mic 7:6 ] that a man’s enemies are the men of his own house, he deplores it as a state of extreme and ruinous corruption. Christ declares that the same thing will happen when his doctrine shall be published, which otherwise could not have been believed. At the same time, he does not mean that this will uniformly take place, as certain fretful persons foolishly imagine that it will be impossible for them to be good disciples without forsaking parents, children, and wives. On the contrary, every lawful bond of union is confirmed by unity of faith: only Christ warns his followers, that when it does happen, they must not be alarmed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(35) The words are partly, as the marginal reference shows, an echo of Mic. 7:6, but the selection of the special relationships as typical instances suggests the thought of some personal application. Had Zebedee looked with displeasure on the calling of his two sons? or was there variance between the daughter-in-law and the mother-in-law in the household of Peter? Were the brethren of the Lord, who as yet believed not, as the foes of a mans own household?
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
35. I am come to set a man at variance against his father So God set faithful Abraham at variance against his father, the idolatrous Terah. So religion sets the pious child in opposition to the impious parent. So temperance sets the sober child at variance with the drunken father. For the right, the pure, the good are at variance with the wrong, the defiled, the bad. Light is as much opposed to darkness, as darkness is to light. Truth would annihilate error, and holiness hates sin. The daughter against her mother The Christianized daughter shall abhor the lusts and licentiousness of her heathen mother. The converted mother shall turn with horror from the impurity of her heathen daughter. The daughter-in-law The ties of marriage are often dearer than the ties of consanguinity. Yet even these must yield to higher claims and the ties of God and truth, higher than any ties of man to man.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“For I came to set a man at variance against his father,
And the daughter against her mother,
And the daughter in law against her mother in law,
And a man’s foes will be those of his own household.”
(Note the pattern, which will be repeated again twice below, a threefold statement followed by a conclusion).
The sword will divide and even slay. But the picture here is not of warfare. It is of a world at war with Christ. ‘At variance’ does not in itself signify fighting. It signifies being in disagreement with and having different conflicting views. The fighting comes from the other side, and from their reactions. The idea is that the belligerence that results will all be on the side of the opposing family members. It is they who will become the ‘foes’ of the disciple, not he of them. But Jesus’ warning is that often that will be the sad result of a disciple believing the truth and holding to it, as he must. But there is no thought here of him fighting back.
For fighting in the name of Christ is never justified. When men choose to go to war for what they believe in, they do not do it as Christians, even though sadly they may often have thought that they did so. It is true that Christians may have to fight in order to defend themselves and their families and allies against attack. They have a right to defend themselves. But they should never fight in order to defend what they believe in. That should be ‘fought for’ by revealing love and suffering for Christ’s sake.
So the point here is that by receiving the truth and believing in Christ, men and women will find themselves disagreeing with their families in a spirit of love, but will often find in return that the reaction will be a spirit of hate, because of the strong feelings involved as a result of cherished ideas being set at nought. In this case the following of Christ will be seen as an attack on the old beliefs, and may result in difficulties, persecution or even worse, as He has already warned (Mat 5:10-12). And it is at that point that the crunch choice will have to be made.
The relationships described are the deepest known to man, and were sacred to the Jews. A man must honour and respect and give filial obedience to his father. It is central to the covenant (Exo 20:12). A daughter must honour and respect her mother who, until she is married, rules the female side of the family. A daughter-in-law must honour and respect the one who has become to her as a mother in the place of her own mother. And Jesus agreed with all three principles. But nevertheless when it came to honouring them or honouring Him, He must come first. Loyalty to Him outranked the all. For as He will now point out, their love and respect for Him must exceed that for their dearest and closest relatives. While the Rabbis to some extent put the Teacher in a more exalted place than the father, they would never have been as extreme as this.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 10:35-36 . Comp. Mat 10:21 . Involuntary recollection of Mic 7:6 . Comp. also Sota xlix. 2, in Schoettgen.
] solemn repetition.
] to separate (Plat. Polit . p. 264 D), i.e. to place a man in that attitude of party hostility ( ) toward his father which results in their separation , and so on.
: young wife (common in classical writers), specially in the sense of daughter-in-law (in the LXX.).
, . . .] imminent, as if already present: and a man’s enemies (are) the members of his own family! is a predicate.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Ver. 35. For I am come to set a man at variance, &c. ] By accident it happened so, through men’s singular corruption, causing them as bats to fly against the light of the gospel, to hate it as thieves do a torch in the night; or as the panther, which so hates man, that he tears his picture wherever he finds it.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mat 10:35 . escription of the discord. , to divide in two ( ), to separate in feeling and interest, here only in N.T.; verifies the truth of Grotius’ comment as to the “sword”. . In this and the following clauses it is the young that are set against the old . “In all great revolutions of thought the change begins from the young” (Carr, Cambridge Gr. T.). , a young wife, here as opposed to , a daughter-in-law.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
set . . . at variance. Greek. dichazo. Occurs only here. Quoted from Mic 7:6.
the daughter, &c. See App-117.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Mat 10:35. , to separate) A necessary consequence of what precedes.-, a man) sc. a son who loves Me: see Mat 10:37.-, against) In this passage those are put in opposition, who are otherwise naturally most attached, to each other.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Mat 10:21, Mat 24:10, Mic 7:5, Mar 13:12, Luk 21:16
Reciprocal: 2Sa 3:1 – between 1Ki 2:20 – Ask on Psa 69:8 – and an alien Son 1:6 – my mother’s Jer 9:4 – ye heed Mic 7:6 – son Joh 7:43 – General Joh 10:19 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
0:35
The conditions described in this verse are the opposite of the specific definition of “peace” in the preceding one. These relatives will be set at variance with each other because some of them will accept the teaching of Christ and some will not.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 10:35. A quotation (or reminiscence) from Mic 7:6, which contains the same general thought of wars and sorrows ushering in the kingdom of peace. The sword shall enter into the family. The conversion of individual members to Christ will cause variance. Domestic peace, the highest earthly peace, is thus disturbed by peace with God through Christ. It is supposed that the terms: a man (i.e., a son in this case), a daughter, a daughter in law (or bride), refer to those converted, because the younger members and the female members of households were commonly the first to embrace the gospel, and because Christ speaks of these as set by Himself.
Mat 10:36, from the same prophecy, is a more general statement of the same thought.
A mans foes. The idea here expressed is the reverse of that stated in Mat 10:21.