Luke 12:53 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Luke 12:53
The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
a "father" (literally or figuratively · noun — nominative singular masculine
shall be divided
διαμερισθήσονται,diameristhēsontai
G1266
to partition thoroughly (literally in distribution · verb — future passive indicative, 3rd person plural
against
ἐπὶepi
G1909
properly · preposition
the son
υἱῷhuiō
G5207
a "son" (sometimes of animals) · noun — dative singular masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
the son
υἱὸςhuios
G5207
a "son" (sometimes of animals) · noun — nominative singular masculine
against
ἐπὶepi
G1909
properly · preposition
the father
πατρί,patri
G3962
a "father" (literally or figuratively · noun — dative singular masculine
the mother
μήτηρmētēr
G3384
a "mother" (literally or figuratively · noun — nominative singular feminine
against
ἐπὶepi
G1909
properly · preposition
the daughter
θυγατέραthugatera
G2364
a female child · noun — accusative singular feminine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
the daughter
θυγάτηρthugatēr
G2364
a female child · noun — nominative singular feminine
against
ἐπὶepi
G1909
properly · preposition
the mother
μητέρα,mētera
G3384
a "mother" (literally or figuratively · noun — accusative singular feminine
the mother in law
πενθερὰpenthera
G3994
a wife's mother · noun — nominative singular feminine
against
ἐπὶepi
G1909
properly · preposition
her
αὐτῆςautēs
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular feminine
daughter in law
νύμφηνnumphēn
G3565
compare Latin "nupto · noun — accusative singular feminine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
the daughter in law
νύμφηnumphē
G3565
compare Latin "nupto · noun — nominative singular feminine
against
ἐπὶepi
G1909
properly · preposition
her
αὐτόςautós
G846
the reflexive pronoun self
mother in law
πενθεράνpentheran
G3994
a wife's mother · noun — accusative singular feminine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Micah 7:6 For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man’s enemi…
Matthew 10:21-22 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and c…
Matthew 24:10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Zechariah 13:2-6 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall n…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Luke 12:41-53
Here is, I. Peter's question, which he put to Christ upon occasion of the foregoing parable (Luk 12:41): "Lord, speakest thou this parable to us that are thy constant followers, to us that are ministers, or also to all that come to be taught by thee, to all the hearers, and in them to all Christians?" Peter was now, as often, spokesman for the disciples. We have reason to bless God that there are some such forward men, that have a gift of utterance; let those that are such take heed of being proud. Now Peter desires Christ to explain himself, and to direct the arrow of the foregoing parable to the mark he intended. He calls it a parable, because it was not only figurative, but weighty, solid…
peace . . . ? Nay, &c.--the reverse of peace, in the first instance. (See on Mat 10:34-36.) The connection of all this with the foregoing warnings about hypocrisy, covetousness, and watchfulness, is deeply solemn: "My conflict hasten apace; Mine over, yours begins; and then, let the servants tread in their Master's steps, uttering their testimony entire and fearless, neither loving nor dreading the world, anticipating awful wrenches of the dearest ties in life, but looking forward, as I do, to the completion of their testimony, when, reaching the haven after the tempest, they shall enter into the joy of their Lord."
Adam Clarke on Luke 12:52
Five in one house divided - See on Mat 10:35, Mat 10:36 (note).
John Gill on Luke 12:53
The father shall be divided against the.... Shall oppose him, differ with him, and be alienated from him, and so the other relations as follow; See Gill on Matthew 10:35, See Gill on Matthew 10:36.
John Calvin on Luke 12:35-53
Luke 12:35-50
Matthew 24:43-51
Mark 13:34-37
Luke 12:35-50
43. But know this, that if the householder had known at what hour the thief would come, he would certainly have watched, and would not have permitted his house to be broken into. 44. Therefore, be you also ready; because the Son of man will come at an hour when you are not aware. 45. Who is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master hath appointed over his household, to give them food in due season? 46. Blessed is that servant, whom his master, when he cometh, shall find acting in this manner. 47. Verily I say to you, He will appoint him [165] over all his property. 48. But if that wicked servant shall say in his heart, My ma…
The Church Fathers
The mother against her daughter, and the daughter against her mother. The mother is the synagogue, the daughter is the early Church, which both endured the persecution of faith from that synagogue from which she derived her lineage, and also contradicted the synagogue in the truth of faith.
The father against his son, and the son against his father. Here, the father is the devil, whose sons we once were, not by his creation, but by imitating him, as the Lord said: You are of your father the devil (John VIII). But after we heard the voice of admonition, Forget your people and the house of your father's (Psalm 45:10), that fire came, that is, the spiritual grace that separated us from one another, showing us another father, to whom we would say, Our Father who art in heaven (Matthew VI).
But to those who not only did not believe, but set themselves in opposition to His doctrine, He proclaims the war of the word and of confutation, and says that 'henceforth you shall see son separated from father, and husband from wife, and daughter from mother, and brother from brother, and daughter-in-law from mother-in-law, and a man's foes shall be they of his own house.' For in every house, when there begins to be a difference between believer and unbeliever, there is necessarily a contest: the unbelievers, on the one hand, fighting against the faith; and the believers on the other, confuting the old error and the vices of sins in them.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Closet — As used in the New Testament, signifies properly a storehouse (Luke 12: 24), and hence a place of privacy and retirement (Matt. 6:6; Luke 12:3).
Fire · Illustrative of: Persecution — Illustrative of: Persecution
Strife · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
