peace: a whole, rightly-ordered, flourishing life, above all the mended relationship with God
In ordinary Greek this word meant little more than the absence of war, a pause between fights. The Greek Old Testament poured into it the much fuller Hebrew idea of shalom (שׁלום): not just quiet, but soundness, health, safety, prosperity, and right relationships. So when the New Testament writers use it, they almost always mean far more than a ceasefire. They mean life as it is meant to be, whole and unbroken.
Its deepest use is the peace Christ makes between people and God. Once enemies, they are now brought near and no longer at odds with him. From that mended relationship the word fans out:
- a settled calm that God gives and that guards the heart in trouble
- harmony among people who were divided
- the broad well-being that the gospel announces and the new age will complete
Because peace is so plainly God's gift, the word also became a near-constant greeting and parting blessing. To say peace over a household, to send someone on their way in peace, or to open a letter with grace and peace is not small talk but a real wish that the other person's whole life be sound. The same word that names what Christ accomplished also names what one believer hopes for another.
Nuances
Disputed
Whether the New Testament writers, especially Paul and John, deliberately set their peace language against the Roman empire's boast of bringing peace to the world (the Pax Romana).
- contestedPeace language is consciously counter-imperial in many texts.; Klaus Wengst, Pax Romana and the Peace of Jesus Christ; Richard A. Horsley, ed., Paul and Empire; Jeffrey A. D. Weima, "'Peace and Security' (1 Thess 5.3): Prophetic Warning or Political Propaganda?", New Testament Studies 58 (2012)
- contestedThe anti-imperial reading is mostly overdrawn; the Hebrew shalom background is primary, and only a few texts carry an additional anti-imperial charge.; Seyoon Kim, Christ and Caesar; Christoph Heilig, Hidden Criticism? The Methodology and Plausibility of the Search for a Counter-Imperial Subtext in Paul; Joel R. White, "'Peace and Security' (1 Thessalonians 5.3): Is It Really a Roman Slogan?", New Testament Studies 59 (2013)