Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
I came to cast fire (Pur hlqon balein). Suddenly Jesus lets the volcano in his own heart burst forth. The fire was already burning. "Christ came to set the world on fire, and the conflagration had already begun" (Plummer). The very passion in Christ's heart would set his friends on fire and his foes in opposition as we have just seen (Luke 11:53 f.). It is like the saying of Jesus that he came to bring not peace, but a sword, to bring cleavage among men (Matthew 10:34-36).
And what will I, if it is already kindled? (kai ti qelw ei hdh anhfqh). It is not clear what this passage means. Probably ti is be taken in the sense of "how" (pwv). How I wish. Then ei can be taken as equal to oti. How I wish that it were already kindled. Anhfqh is first aorist passive of anaptw, to set fire to, to kindle, to make blaze. Probably Luke means the conflagration to come by his death on the Cross for he changes the figure and refers to that more plainly.
Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing Luke 12:49:
Luke 9:51
Acts 28:2
2 Timothy 1:6
James 3:5
Revelation 8:5
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