Jack Pelham

No matter what kind of person you are,
It’s going to be an ugly fact that
Some of your ancestors did
Some pretty terrible things
During their watch on this Earth.

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This article is about the difficult-to-translate and difficult-to-accept wording of a single verse in the Bible. Let me cut to the chase and say that I don’t think the angels at Jesus’ birth declared peace to everyone on Earth, but only to the righteous. In this article, I’ll examine the text of Luke 2:14.

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (ESV)

Wait! What? Is there no peace for those with whom God is not pleased?

Some will think that surely this is a bad translation. And they may immediately remember the King James Version, which seems more universally reassuring:

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (KJV)

The English Standard Version makes it sound like peace was only to be given to those with whom God was pleased, and the King James Version makes it sound like not only peace, but also good will, was to be given to everybody. So which is it?

Well, this is a patient article. In the interests of due diligence, here are about 60 English translations, and I have highlighted in yellow those that seem to be singling out certain people from the blessings that were at hand. I’ll continue the discussion after these passages. If I’ve counted right, 48 out of the 60 make some manner of distinction over which humans this “peace” was to be granted.

And isn’t it interesting if a fact like this should be overlooked by many, and the assumption made that the birth of Jesus was supposed to be a blessing to everybody? Indeed, did he not say in one place, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”? Yet some have no room for a Jesus like that. They have room for a kind Jesus, but not a stern one.

Romans 11:22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.

So as you read the following versions of Luke 2:14, consider whether this proclamation was about kindness only, or also about sternness. Was it an announcement of a blessing for every human, or was it only a blessing for those who were not to be “cut off”?

60 English Translations of Luke 2:14

(The ones in yellow have the peace on Earth only going to certain people.)
You can read these in context, and do further research yourself at BibleGateway here: https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Luke%202:14

AKJV ― Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

AMP ― “Glory to God in the highest [heaven], And on earth peace among men with whom He is well-pleased.”

AMPC ― Glory to God in the highest [heaven], and on earth peace among men with whom He is well pleased [men of goodwill, of His favor].

ASV ― Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased.

BRG ― Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

CEB ― “Glory to God in heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.”

CEV ― “Praise God in heaven! Peace on earth to everyone who pleases God.”

CJB ― “In the highest heaven, glory to God! And on earth, peace among people of good will!”

CSB ― Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors!

DARBY ― Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good pleasure in men.

DLNT ― “Glory to God in the highest [heavens]. And peace on earth among people of [His] good-will”.

DRA ― Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will.

EHV ― “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward mankind.”

ERV ― “Praise God in heaven, and on earth let there be peace to the people who please him.”

ESV ― “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

ESVUK ― “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

EXB ― “Give glory to God in ·heaven [the highest place/heaven], and on earth let there be peace among the people ·who please God [or he favors; ^Lof his pleasure/approval].”

GNT ― “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom he is pleased!”

GNV ― Glory be to God in the high heavens, and peace in earth, and toward men good will.

GW ― “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those who have his good will!”

HCSB ― Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people He favors!

ICB ― “Give glory to God in heaven, and on earth let there be peace to the people who please God.”

ISV ― “Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth to people who enjoy his favor!”

JUB ― Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will in man.

KJ21 ― “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!”

KJV ― Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

LEB ― “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people with whom he is pleased!”

MEV ― “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and good will toward men.”

MOUNCE ― “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth among those whom he has favored!”

MSG ― At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God’s praises: Glory to God in the heavenly heights, Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.

NABRE ― “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

NASB ― “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among people with whom He is pleased.”

NASB1995 ― “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

NCB ― “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to all those on whom his favor rests.”

NCV ― “Give glory to God in heaven, and on earth let there be peace among the people who please God.”

NET ― “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people with whom he is pleased!”

NIRV ― “May glory be given to God in the highest heaven! And may peace be given to those he is pleased with on earth!”

NIV ― “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

NIVUK ― ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.’

NKJV ― “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

NLT ― “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

NLV ― “Greatness and honor to our God in the highest heaven and peace on earth among men who please Him.”

NMB ― Glory be to God on high, and peace on earth, and to men rejoicing.

NOG ― “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those who have his good will!”

NRSVA ― ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’

NRSVACE ― ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’

NRSVCE ― “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

NRSVUE ― “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

NTE ― ‘Glory to God in the highest, and peace upon earth among those in his favour.’

OJB ― Kavod to Hashem in the Highest; and on haaretz shalom among Bnei Adam kavvanah tovah (of good intention). [YESHAYAH 9:5-6; 52:7; 53:5; MICHOH 5:4-5]

PHILLIPS ― And in a flash there appeared with the angel a vast host of the armies of Heaven, praising God, saying, “Glory to God in the highest Heaven! Peace upon earth among men of goodwill!”

RGT ― “Glory to God in the High Heaven! And peace on Earth! And good will to all who please Him!”

RSV ― “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!”

RSVCE ― “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!”

TLB ― “Glory to God in the highest heaven,” they sang, “and peace on earth for all those pleasing him.”

TLV ― “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth shalom to men of good will.”

VOICE ― Heavenly Choir: To the highest heights of the universe, glory to God! And on earth, peace among all people who bring pleasure to God!

WE ― They said, `Praise God in the highest heaven! Peace on earth and loving mercy towards all people!’

WEB ― “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men.”

WYC ― Glory be in the highest things to God, and in earth peace be to men of good will. [Glory in the highest things to God, and in earth peace to men of good will.]

YLT ― `Glory in the highest to God, and upon earth peace, among men — good will.’

Conclusion

I think that these 48 translations in yellow have better captured the idea of what the angels were saying. It’s a popular notion today that Jesus was coming to bring peace to everyone on Earth, but this idea simply doesn’t match up very well with the whole of the scriptures about Jesus. Indeed, almost every church that claims to be Christian believes in a judgment that does not leave every human in peace, but some in torment. Why, then, should the birth of Jesus be different?

Yes, those who turn their hearts to God can have peace, but not all will make peace with God. Sadly, I think that the “baby Jesus” image is so popular because it tends to isolate one part of the story from the hard-hitting whole of it, making Jesus a little easier to stomach for those who don’t like the whole of his message. And since the baby Jesus doesn’t say anything on the record, all they have to do is to twist what the angels said, and Voila!, they’ve got a one-size-fits-all message of peace for every human everywhere.

But we may ask ourselves: If that’s true, how come Herod was so tormented by the birth of Jesus? Why didn’t warm waves of peace wash over his soul? Why was he troubled? Why murder myriad babies in hopes of destroying the baby Jesus?

Indeed, why is it that even today, where so much peace-for-everybody is being preached in so many churches, not everyone who hears that message is at peace?

Is it not clear that no matter what Jesus does, the hearts of the individuals are different in how they can accept Jesus and respond to him? And I think it was this way from the beginning―and by design. Jesus was never meant to be good news for the wicked. No, he was only going to be good news for those of “good will toward God”― or for those with whom God was pleased. But even so, the idea of a Jesus who is not a blessing for everyone is anathema to the sensibilities of much of the modern religion.

If Jesus’ birth brought peace to the entire Earth, where is that peace? How long did it last?
And what happened to it? And why was Jesus murdered 30-something years later?

Rich and exacting language is the interface by which intelligent and responsible humans communicate aptly, efficiently, and even artfully with one another. Sadly, though, some see little need for such, as they haven’t much to say or to ask.

They live underdeveloped in this way, either because nobody ever inspired them to think and talk better, or because they decided for some reason not to care. And in either case, remedies exist!

What is greed if not the lust for more
Than what is rightfully yours?

And what is ambition if not the drive
For power, success, fame, or wealth
That is either gained unjustly,
Or exercised beyond one’s rights?

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I proved to him that the man had lied
And then I sat right there and watched
As he decided he was OK with believing the lie.

And so he became a liar himself in that
Lying-to-yourself way.
And then I bid him farewell,
And we were done.

Cutting to the chase: Not all the ancient Hebrews believed that the literal stars in the sky were literally gods.

One really nasty habit some people have is that even as they hold the Bible to be inspired, they throw the Bible authors and speakers under the bus on some topics as ignorant ancients, stubbornly assuming that those people were wrong about this or that without giving them a fair hearing. For example, I cannot count how many times I have been told that the ancients believed that the literal stars we all see in the sky were literally gods or angels. But this has never set well with me—the idea that the Bible authors/speakers were simply wrong about things that are written into the record as fact. Indeed, if somebody’s in error, why couldn’t it be us? Shouldn’t we exhaust that possibility before we assume that they were wrong?

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I think a lot about what kind of people we are, and about what tends to go wrong in our lives. It’s complicated business in one way, yet in another, it may be fairly simple.

Our lives are set into this real world, without us asking to be put here. And while we’re here, we learn (to some degree) and we make lots of choices (good and bad). And we draw lots of conclusions about what the world is like and what our role in it should be. The following ten items are things that many seem not to learn to love very much while they are here. And I cannot help but to believe that the world would be a much better place if more people did love these things more:

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When we tell ourselves that “God is in charge”, we would do well to process the question,
“In charge of what?” I’m no expert, but while it may well be that God is somehow in charge of everything in some ultimate sense, it does not appear that he is directly in charge of a great many of the things that concern us here on Earth. For example, he doesn’t seem to be in direct control the thermostat in my apartment—or of my diet—or of the hours at which my neighbor comes and goes. Could he be? Sure. But he doesn’t seem to be operating in that way.

And these things are fairly common-sensical. But even so, much of our religious culture and even our own self-talk can blur the lines, so that we end up believing some fuzzy version of the idea that we humans don’t really have charge over ourselves after all. That’s a very dangerous idea, and right on its heels comes the idea that we are not, then, accountable for ourselves.

God is in charge of whatever he chooses to do, and we are in charge of us. And unless there’s been a change in this since the First Century, we will give account for ourselves to God:

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

2 Corinthians 5:10

Though surely he could at any time
Stop to reconsider how it was
Only the “dry land” that
God called “Earth”,
He will never
Ever do it
Even if he should
Live a thousand years,
But will go to his grave being
Certain that the story simply must be
About the whole of what we call Planet Earth.

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Take note of that man
Who longs for an audience
Before he has a message to give.

He is not in it for truth, but for show.
And he will resort to flattery to fill the seats,
Corrupting the very audience he claims to edify.