Athanasius of Alexandria : Who is the one who has done this, or who is the one who has joined together in peace people who once hated one another, except for the beloved Son of the Father, the Savior of all, even Jesus Christ, who because of his own love suffered all things for our salvation? For from ages past the peace he would initiate was promised. — On the Incarnation of the Word 52:1 Jerome : (Verse 4.) And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. All the eagerness for war will be turned to peace, and instead of discord there will be harmony throughout the world. Swords will be transformed into plowshares, and spears into pruning hooks, so that, having set aside the frenzy of warfare, they may serve agriculture, and with fruitful sickles they may reap abundant harvests. This can also be understood spiritually, when every hardness of our hearts is broken by the plowshare of Christ, and the thorns of vices are uprooted, so that the seed of God's word may grow into fruits: and afterwards we shall enjoy the fruits of our labors, when those who sow in tears shall come in joy, carrying their sheaves (Psalms 126:6). 34 The nations will not lift sword against nation, nor will they learn war anymore. Let us revisit the ancient histories, and we will find that until the twenty-eighth year of the reign of Caesar Augustus (in whose forty-first year Christ was born in Judaea), there was discord throughout the whole world, and each nation rose up against its neighboring peoples with a desire for battle, so that they would strike and be struck. But when the Lord and Savior arose, at the time when a census was first taken of the whole world under the governorship of Syria by Quirinius, and peace was prepared for the Evangelical doctrine by the Roman Empire, all wars ceased, and they were no longer exercised in battles through towns and villages, but were instead devoted to the cultivation of the land, with the duty of fighting against barbarian nations being entrusted solely to Roman soldiers and legions. This was when that song of the angels was fulfilled: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will (Luke 2:14); and in his days justice and a multitude of peace arose. — Commentary on Isaiah John Chrysostom : Not only would the church be firm, steadfast and indestructible, but it would also gain great peace for the world. Governments and monarchies will be destroyed; there will be but one kingdom put together for all people, and, unlike in times past, its greater part will be at peace. For, in the past, all craftsmen and men in public life were trained in warfare and took their place among the ranks. After the coming of Christ, all that was done away with, and wars were confined to widely separated areas. — DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE PAGANS 6:6 Tertullian : Long ago did Isaiah declare that "out of Zion should go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem," some other law, that is, and another word. In short, he says, "He shall judge among the nations and shall rebuke many people," meaning not those of the Jewish people only, but also of the nations which are judged by the new law of the gospel and the new word of the apostles, and are among themselves rebuked of their old error as soon as they have believed. And as the result of this, "They beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears (which are a kind of hunting instrument) into pruning hooks." That is to say, minds that once were fierce and cruel are changed by the gospel and the word of the apostles into good dispositions productive of good fruit. — AGAINST MARCION 4.1 Tertullian : The gospel will be this "way" of the new law and the new word in Christ, no longer in Moses. "And he shall judge among the nations," even concerning their error. "And these shall rebuke a large nation," that of the Jews themselves and their proselytes. "And they shall beat their swords into plowshares"; in other words, they shall change into pursuits of moderation and peace the dispositions of injurious minds, hostile tongues and all kinds of evil and blasphemy.… You learn here that Christ is promised not as powerful in war but pursuing peace. — AGAINST MARCION 3.21