Blessed Are the Peacemakers

The Seventh Beatitude

Matthew 5:9 — "Blessed [are] the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God."

The verse is the seventh of Jesus's nine Beatitudes that open the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3–12). It is unique to Matthew — Luke's parallel Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:20–26) has a shorter set of blessings and does not include this one.

The Greek Word: Eirēnopoioi

"Peacemakers" translates eirēnopoioi (εἰρηνοποιοί, Strong's G1518) — a compound of eirēnē ("peace") + poieō ("to make, to do"). Literally: "peace-makers." The word appears only here in the New Testament.

The verbal form eirēnopoieō appears once — in Colossians 1:20, where Paul writes that God has "made peace through the blood of his cross." The same compound verb, applied there to Christ's reconciling work.

Koine Greek used eirēnopoios in secular contexts for diplomats, mediators, and those who brokered agreements. The word denotes active making — not passively holding peace within oneself, but actively producing peace between parties.

The Hebrew Backdrop: Shalom

The Greek eirēnē translates the Hebrew shalom (שָׁלוֹם, Strong's H7965). Shalom is much broader than English "peace":

• Wholeness, soundness — the root shalem means "complete, whole, intact."
• Wellbeing, health — used as a general greeting of flourishing.
• Friendly relations — between individuals or nations.
• Restored relationship — peace after conflict, reconciliation.

When Jesus blesses "peacemakers," the Hebrew backdrop includes all of this — not merely the absence of hostility, but the active production of wholeness. Numbers 6:24–26 (the priestly blessing) asks God to "give thee peace" — shalom as divine gift.

"They Shall Be Called the Children of God"

The reward clause is autoi huioi theou klēthēsontai — "they shall be called sons of God." The Greek huioi is the masculine plural "sons," though the collective sense is inclusive — "children of God." Two notes:

• Future passive — "shall be called." The passive implies a divine namer. God will name them his children.
• Character identification — in biblical Hebrew and Greek idiom, "son of X" often means "one who bears the character of X" (son of peace, son of wrath, son of thunder). Peacemakers are called children of God because peacemaking is how God himself acts.

The Sermon on the Mount a few verses later extends the pattern: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you… that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 5:44–45). The naming "children of God" is not metaphor — it is the grammar of bearing the family resemblance.

What Peacemakers Are Not

Three clarifications from the surrounding teaching:

• Not peace-keepers. The Greek is "peace-makers" — poiētai, those who produce. Passive tolerance is not what is blessed; active reconciliation is.
• Not peace at any cost. Paul writes, "if it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men" (Romans 12:18). The two qualifications — "if possible" and "as much as lies in you" — concede that peace is not always attainable and not always one-sided.
• Not the absence of hard words. Jesus himself uses sharp rebuke throughout the Gospels (the money-changers, Matthew 23). Peacemaking in biblical usage coexists with prophetic confrontation of injustice. True peace is not fragile harmony; it is restored wholeness after wrong is named and addressed.

Related Passages

• Psalm 34:14 — "Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it." (Cited in 1 Peter 3:11.)
• Romans 14:19 — "Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace."
• Hebrews 12:14 — "Follow peace with all [men], and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord."
• James 3:18 — "And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace."
• Ephesians 2:14 — "For he is our peace, who hath made both one..." The same poieō root.

The Structure of the Beatitudes

Matthew's nine Beatitudes form a deliberate structure. The first four (poor in spirit, mourn, meek, hunger for righteousness) describe inner postures. The next four (merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, persecuted for righteousness) describe character and action. "Blessed are the peacemakers" stands in the second half of the list — among those whose inner disposition has become outward shape. The ninth Beatitude (v. 11–12, "blessed are ye when men shall revile you") extends the persecution blessing.

Summary

• Peacemakers — Greek eirēnopoioi, "peace-makers." Active, not passive.
• The Hebrew backdrop is shalom — wholeness, not merely absence of hostility.
• "Children of God" names the family resemblance: peacemaking is how God acts.
• The seventh of nine Beatitudes in Matthew's Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3–12).