peacemakers
I try to understand, reference, and apply scripture as accurately as I possibly can. So, this is not a ‘political’ question, simply a request for hermeneutical interpretation of a passage/word.
I heard a reference to Matt. 5:9 regarding the word, “peacemakers”. They suggested that it would also include the use of ‘righteous anger’ to accomplish this peace and emphasized that the word used wasn’t ‘peace lovers’ but ‘peacemakers. I’ve reviewed several resources (bibles/lexicons/commentaries/etc.) and have yet to find one even hinting at this interpretation (use of righteous anger) in this context, in this passage. As my library is somewhat sizeable at this point, I'm not sure I can possibly search every resource or even know how this extensively. Or, if it's even necessary.
I’m hoping someone can/will suggest some direction on this.
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Your results are my own (including greek secular usage); I'd assume your unnamed source would be the source. Ironically searches are more likely to bring up the Colt variety.
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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Mozzie, when I checked out the Faithlife Study Bible, I got this brief paragraph. Hopefully, it might open up some other avenues to pursue in your quest for an answer. It references an apocryphal resource...2 Enoch. 52.11
5:9 Jewish literature of the time valued those who worked for peace. For instance, 2 Enoch reads “Blessed is one who gives peace and love” (52:11).Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., Whitehead, M. M., Grigoni, M. R., & Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Mt 5:9). Lexham Press.0 -
I couldn't find anything in Logos, but the only thing I found via Google that contrasted "peacemakers" with "peace lovers" and brought up "righteous anger" in connection with this verse was this sermon. It doesn't use rigorous exegesis taking into account the meaning of the Greek word, though.
If I remove "righteous anger" from the search, there are places in my Library that contrast "peace lovers" with "peacemakers" in connection with that verse.
Rick Warren in The Purpose Driven Life writes, "Notice Jesus didn’t say, 'Blessed are the peace lovers,' because everyone loves peace. Neither did he say, 'Blessed are the peaceable,' who are never disturbed by anything. Jesus said, 'Blessed are those who work for peace' — those who actively seek to resolve conflict. Peacemakers are rare because peacemaking is hard work."
Jim Wilson has a whole sermon on this verse in Fresh Sermons in which he discusses the difference between being "peace lovers" and "peacemakers". He brings in an example from Josephus of nonviolent resistance on the part of the Jews, and Bonhoeffer's involvement in a plot against Hitler's life despite being a pacifist.
Thomas Manton's commentary on James has notes on James 3:17 where in Notes 2 and 3 he connects this verse to Matt 5:9, and says that we are to be both "peace lovers" and "peacemakers".
None of those do any in-depth hermeneutical interpretation of the word εἰρηνοποιοί, though.
I don't have time to do a thorough search through all my lexicons, but I did find something toward what you might be looking for in TDNT (the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament). Do you have that? Here's the relevant excerpt.
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“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9) Peace is relatable to God's Glory. Peacemakers and peace lovers seem to be similar. The peacemakers must first make a commitment. Making peace is not being polite. While being kind, establishing peace is not a passive endeavor. It requires us to engage in conflict. In the Bible, mediators would stand between contending parties. When someone has been wronged, the peacemaker starts an effort at reconciliation. The person who promotes peace is ready to apologize after wronging someone.The Greek term translated as "peacemaker" is the adjective form of the verb that means "makes peace." "Peace" is the Greek term that means harmony between individuals and nations" and the general idea of safety.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 1518: εἰρηνοποιός εἰρηνοποιός, ἐιρηνοποιον, masculine a peace-maker (Xenophon, Hell. 6, 3, 4; Dio Cassius); pacific, loving peace: Matthew 5:9; (others (cf. A. V.) dispute this secondary meaning; see Meyer at the passage).Marvin Vincent feels that "peacemakers" "Should be held to its literal meaning, peace-makers; not as Wycliffe, peaceable men. The founders and promoters of peace are meant; who not only keep the peace, but seek to bring men into harmony with each other. Tyndale renders, the maintainers of peace. (Vincent, M. R. Word Studies in the New Testament Vol. 1, Page 3-38).
William Barclay wrote, “The peace which the Bible calls blessed does not come from the evasion of issues; it comes from facing them, dealing with them, and conquering them. What this beatitude demands is not the passive acceptance of things because we are afraid of the trouble of doing anything about them, but the active facing of things, and the making of peace, even when the way to peace is through struggle.” (Barclay's Commentary on the New Testament:)
I will do some more research on this topic and post more to the forum.
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Thanks for all the responses. I forgot about the example of Bonhoeffer.
The verse that spoke most clearly to me (application wise) is:
Romans 12:18 (NET 2nd ed.)
18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people.
And the comment:
Harmony with others may not always be achievable, but believers should not be responsible for that lack of peace (cf. Matt. 5:9).
John A. Witmer, “Romans,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 490.
And:
In rabbinic literature, Hillel (20 b.c.e.) describes Aaron, the brother of Moses and the priest of the people, as pursuing peace. Hillel said, “Be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving others, and drawing them near to the Torah” (m. Avot 1:12).5 Hence according to early Jewish thought, Aaron desired wholeness for the people. This passage from the Mishnah is extremely important as background for the teachings of Jesus. It portrays the Jewish ideal of harmony among God’s people. Not only does Hillel mention Aaron as a model for those who pursue peace, he also teaches that others should follow Aaron’s example. Aaron not only loved peace, he pursued it earnestly. The implication is that peace must be pursued and that sometimes one must be willing to pay a high price in order to obtain it.[1]
5 See J. Hertz, The Authorised Daily Prayer Book (New York: Bloch, 1959) 622–23, and Philip Birnbaum, Daily Prayer Book (New York: Hebrew Publishing, 1949) 481.
[1] Brad H. Young, Jesus the Jewish Theologian (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2011), 86.
Admittedly, in this process, it can become a challenge for me to avoid the temptation to eisegete.
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This quote came up today on my Facebook feed, from Shane Claiborne in Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals:
"Peacemaking doesn't mean passivity. It is the act of interrupting injustice without mirroring injustice, the act of disarming evil without destroying the evildoer, the act of finding a third way that is neither fight nor flight but the careful, arduous pursuit of reconciliation and justice. It is about a revolution of love that is big enough to set both the oppressed and the oppressors free."
Very pertinent to your query, and an excellent quote!
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Rosie Perera said:
This quote came up today on my Facebook feed, from Shane Claiborne in Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals:
"Peacemaking doesn't mean passivity. It is the act of interrupting injustice without mirroring injustice, the act of disarming evil without destroying the evildoer, the act of finding a third way that is neither fight nor flight but the careful, arduous pursuit of reconciliation and justice. It is about a revolution of love that is big enough to set both the oppressed and the oppressors free."
Very pertinent to your query, and an excellent quote!
I find the vocab in the quote aggressive. To whit: interrupting, disarming, revolution.
I do not read books in this area, so am wondering if this verbiage is common.
Perhaps English limits calmer words being used.
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scooter said:
Perhaps English limits calmer words being used.
The greek presumes an active doing something. Not a 'peaceable'. It's the 'something' that gets to be rationalized. Dropping bombs, Protecting home and heath (ergo Colts). Cloaking with 'righteous anger'. Pretty much, anything you don't like and can stop. That sounds a bit ... what.
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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Check out the content in these resources - https://www.logos.com/product/30910/ken-sande-peacemaker-ministries-collection
Ken Sande does a great job at differentiating peacemaking from peacefaking. When we fail to confront in healthy ways (righteous anger) we are faking peace rather than making peace.
Making Disciples! Logos Ecosystem = LogosMax on Microsoft Surface Pro 7 (Win11), Android app on tablet, FSB on iPhone & iPad mini, Proclaim (Proclaim Remote on Fire Tablet).
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scooter said:Rosie Perera said:
This quote came up today on my Facebook feed, from Shane Claiborne in Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals:
"Peacemaking doesn't mean passivity. It is the act of interrupting injustice without mirroring injustice, the act of disarming evil without destroying the evildoer, the act of finding a third way that is neither fight nor flight but the careful, arduous pursuit of reconciliation and justice. It is about a revolution of love that is big enough to set both the oppressed and the oppressors free."
Very pertinent to your query, and an excellent quote!
I find the vocab in the quote aggressive. To whit: interrupting, disarming, revolution.
I do not read books in this area, so am wondering if this verbiage is common.
Perhaps English limits calmer words being used.
I think this verbiage is common and does not mean fighting or being violent or aggressive. It hadn't even occurred to me, since I know Shane Claiborne to be an Anabaptist (or Neo-Anabaptist), co-author of A Faith Not Worth Fighting For: Addressing Commonly Asked Questions about Christian Nonviolence, I know he would not mean doing anything violent by those words.
The word "interrupting" can mean what you do when you gently redirect a child who is having a tantrum towards looking forward to something happy. It doesn't have to mean an abrupt interference. It just means to stop something negative from happening (by peaceful means, is implied in "peacemaking").
Words like "disarming" (and also "defanging" and such) can be used figuratively to mean removing the force of evil or violence from something (e.g., removing the sting of death) through peaceful means, even self-sacrifice, which is how Jesus did it. Yes, you can literally disarm a violent person by shooting them or taking their gun away, or defang a snake by pulling its fangs out with a pair of pliers, but the verb "disarm" also means "to make someone feel less angry or unfriendly because of the way you behave or talk to them." Nothing violent or aggressive or forceful implied there. When you are angry, and the person whom you're angry with treats you with love, it is very disarming, meaning it takes away your desire to get revenge.
The word "revolution" certainly could bring to mind violent movements for change in the past such as the Communist Revolution. But it doesn't necessarily have to involve force. In fact, a second dictionary definition of "revolution" is simply "a sudden or major change, especially in ideas or methods." And when used figuratively in a phrase like "revolution of love" (or "revolution of justice" or "revolution of kindness"), it does not at all involve violence or force. It just means to cause a major change through a massive outpouring of love. The phrase "revolution of love" is used by a number of different people. For example, one is a movement/ministry active in the San Francisco Bay area in the 2010s "which focuses on inner work and outer work in the world through the teachings of nonviolence." When something is a "revolutionary" idea, it means "wow, that's going to bring big changes from how we thought or did things before!" The invention of the Internet revolutionized the way we do computing.
Anyway, I think Shane Claiborne was being literary with his use of language, not aggressive.
Incidentally, I am among the people helping to fund a Center for Peace Studies in Vancouver, connected with an Anabaptist/Mennonite student residence/community near the UBC campus and Regent College. So I do a lot of reading on the area of nonviolence and peacemaking.
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I have read what you have written just above; to let it sink in, I have gone through it three times.
I appreciate you taking the time to open these words to more positive meanings.
Motorvating: this is how I find people get their point across. You become their speed bump. This was what I was picturing from the quote.
Again, thanks.
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scooter said:
I appreciate you taking the time to open these words to more positive meanings.
Thanks.
I just remembered another common use of "revolution" which does not mean anything violent. It is used in science when there is a dramatic change in paradigms. For example, the Copernican Revolution, or Thomas S. Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. ChatGPT writes, "The use of the term 'revolution' to describe this significant shift in scientific understanding is often attributed to Johannes Kepler, who was a key figure in the development of modern astronomy and a strong supporter of Copernican heliocentrism. Kepler used the term 'revolution' in his work 'Astronomia Nova' (New Astronomy), published in 1609, to describe the motion of planets around the Sun in elliptical orbits, which was a departure from the traditional circular orbits of the geocentric model."
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Rosie Perera said:
I just remembered another common use of "revolution" which does not mean anything violent. It is used in science when there is a dramatic change in paradigms.
Or to be a bit silly, there is a revolution around the sun a.k.a. year [:#]
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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MJ. Smith said:Rosie Perera said:
I just remembered another common use of "revolution" which does not mean anything violent. It is used in science when there is a dramatic change in paradigms.
Or to be a bit silly, there is a revolution around the sun a.k.a. year
That's not being silly at all, nor it anything to zip one's lips about. It's exactly what I said came from Kepler. He was the first to describe that motion as a "revolution". [;)]
Rosie Perera said:Kepler used the term 'revolution' in his work 'Astronomia Nova' (New Astronomy), published in 1609, to describe the motion of planets around the Sun in elliptical orbits, which was a departure from the traditional circular orbits of the geocentric model.
And of course John Lennon & Paul McCarthy wrote about wanting to change the world without using destruction or hate in The Beatles' "Revolution". [)]
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Rosie Perera said:
And of course John Lennon & Paul McCarthy wrote about wanting to change the world without using destruction or hate in The Beatles' "Revolution".
In their publishing, they put both their names on songs, but John wrote this one.
Thanks again, Rosie.
Are we ready for the AI-ian revolution?
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scooter said:
Are we ready for the AI-ian revolution?
How about the Xian revolution? Jesus started it, and it is ongoing.
It so happens that a friend recently highly recommended Tom Holland's Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World, and I voted for an existing request for it in Logos.
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Rosie Perera said:scooter said:
Are we ready for the AI-ian revolution?
How about the Xian revolution? Jesus started it, and it is ongoing.
It so happens that a friend recently highly recommended Tom Holland's Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World, and I voted for an existing request for it in Logos.
I'll be X-ian the Big Picture in Holland's book, should it wash upon our shores. I voted.
I see I read 1/2 of Contours of Pauline Theo. I assume this is the same Tom.
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scooter said:
I see I read 1/2 of Contours of Pauline Theo. I assume this is the same Tom.
Pretty sure it is.
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