The Greek verb dichazō means to divide or set against one another — to create a split or opposition between people. It appears in Jesus' teaching about the division His mission would bring.
Dichazō appears in Matthew 10:35, where Jesus says He came not to bring peace but a sword, to set a man against his father. This shocking statement is not a rejection of peace but an honest description of what the Gospel does when it enters a household — it divides by demanding ultimate allegiance. Faith in Christ reorders all other loyalties. The word confronts any comfortable, costless Christianity. Jesus was no sentimental peacemaker but the very Prince of Peace who purchased peace at the cost of division, suffering, and death.