The words translated peace in both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament come solidly from the root word meaning completeness. There is no serious disagreement among scholars as to that. It also carries with it the meaning: to be sound.
It includes, in its various forms of noun, verb and adjective: wholeness of body and life, right relationship with God and other people, safety, success and fulfillment, and the victory of having absence of strife with enemies.
There is a huge chasm between the peace (the shalom), of Scripture, and complacency or passivity. Nowhere in Scripture is peace equated with those words.
A rabbi once wrote that Shalom (peace) means: “no good thing is withheld.”
The word is often used as a greeting and farewell. I find myself wondering what would happen to me, personally—how it would shape my character—if every time I said to someone, “I wish you peace,” or “be at peace,” what I really meant was “no good thing is withheld from you.”
It makes me think.