Berean Standard Bible
Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.
King James Version
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
About this verse
The opening words are the language of a bequest: "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you." This is a man settling his estate, and what he wills to his friends is peace — specifically "My peace," the personal possession, the composure he himself carried. Then the contrast: "I do not give to you as the world gives." The world's peace is circumstantial; it lasts exactly as long as the quiet does. His is portable into trouble.
The setting seals it. These words come from the upper room, on the night of his arrest, spoken to disciples he has just told he is leaving. Within hours: Gethsemane, betrayal, trial, cross. The speaker is not a man whose circumstances are peaceful; he is a man walking into the worst night of human history — and he speaks of "My peace" as something real enough, that night, to be given away.
The verse ends with a command: "Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid." The grammar implies agency — the gift is given, and receiving it is something you do, a refusal to let the heart run unattended. Peace here is not the absence of turbulence. It is an inheritance, already transferred.
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