NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible CBSB_Digital Sampler | Page 41

Matthew 5:3  | 1617
Jesus Begins to Preach
12  When J
­ esus h
­ eard that John had been
put in pris­on,  p he with­drew to Gal­i­lee.  q
13  Leav­ing Naz­a­reth, he went and ­lived in
Ca­per­na­um,  r ­which was by the lake in
the area of Zeb­u­lun and Naph­ta­li — ​ 14  to
ful­fill what was said t ­ hrough the proph­et
Isa­iah:
15 “Land of Zebulun and land of
Naphtali,
the Way of the Sea, beyond the
Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles — ​
16 the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the
shadow of death
a light has dawned.”  a   s
17  
From that time on ­
Jesus be­
gan to
preach, “Re­pent, for the king­dom of heav­
en  t has come near.”
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
4:18-22pp —​ Mk 1:16-20; Lk 5:2-11; Jn 1:35-42
18  As ­
Jesus was walk­ing be­side the Sea
of Gal­i­lee,  u he saw two broth­ers, Si­mon
­called Pe­ter  v and his broth­
er An­
drew.
They were cast­ing a net into the lake, for
they were fish­er­men. 19  “Come, fol­low
me,”  w ­Jesus said, “and I will send you out
to fish for peo­ple.” 20  At once they left t ­ heir
nets and fol­lowed him.
21  Go­ing on from t ­ here, he saw two oth­
er broth­ers, ­James son of Zeb­e­dee and his
4:12 p  Mt 14:3
q  Mk 1:14
4:13 r  Mk 1:21;
Lk 4:23, ​31;
Jn 2:12; 4:46, ​47
4:16 s  Isa 9:1, ​2;
Lk 2:32
4:17 t  Mt 3:2
4:18 u  Mt 15:29;
Mk 7:31; Jn 6:1
v  Mt 16:17, ​18
4:19
w  Mk 10:21, ​
28, ​52
4:21 x  Mt 20:20
4:23 y  Mk 1:39;
Lk 4:15, ​4 4
z  Mt 9:35;
13:54; Mk 1:21;
Lk 4:15; Jn 6:59
a  Mk 1:14
b  Mt 3:2;
Ac 20:25
c  Mt 8:16; 15:30;
Ac 10:38
4:24 d  Lk 2:2
e  Mt 8:16, ​28;
9:32; 15:22;
Mk 1:32; 5:15, ​
16, ​18 f  Mt 17:15
g  Mt 8:6; 9:2;
Mk 2:3
4:25 h  Mk 3:7, ​8;
Lk 6:17
5:3 i  ver 10, ​19;
Mt 25:34
4:13  Capernaum. A fishing town of perhaps 1,000 or
2,000 on the Sea of Galilee. ­Jesus is never mentioned as
ministering in the two largest cities in Galilee, Sepphoris
or Tiberias, but Capernaum was well situated for contact
with the rest of Galilee. Later sources show that Caper-
naum became a stronghold for Galilean followers of ­Jesus.
4:15 – 16  The context of the cited passage (Isa 9:1 – 2) is
clearly Messianic (Isa 9:6 – 7). This passage also allows Mat-
thew to connect ­Jesus again (cf. 1:3,5 – 6; 2 :1 – 2) with mis-
sion to the Gentiles. Despite the historic connection with
Gentiles in Galilee, however, its Jewish cities and towns
observed the Law of Moses.
4:17  the kingdom of heaven has come near. See the article
“Kingdom,” p. 1616.
4:18  they were fishermen. Family businesses were com-
mon. Many scholars argue that commercial fishermen
were better off economically than peasants, who com-
prised the majority of the empire’s (and Galilee’s) popula-
tion. Most people could not usually afford meat, but fish
was more available, and fishing was a major occupation
on the Sea of Galilee. Note that the sea was actually a lake;
only Galileans called it a sea. The Gospels’ usage of this
word reflects their dependence on J ­ esus’ original Galilean
setting.
4:19  Come. Respectable teachers usually waited for dis-
ciples to choose them; only the most radical sages were
reputed to choose their own disciples. follow me. A dis-
ciple would come “after,” or walk behind, his teacher. fish
broth­er John.  x They were in a boat with
their fa­ther Zeb­e­dee, pre­par­ing ­their nets.
Jesus ­called them, 22   and im­me­di­ate­ly they
left the boat and t ­ heir fa­ther and fol­lowed
him.
Jesus Heals the Sick
23  ­Jesus went through­out Gal­i­lee,  y teach­
ing in ­their syn­a­gogues,  z pro­claim­ing the
good news  a of the king­dom,  b and heal­
ing ev­ery dis­ease and sick­ness ­among the
peo­ple.  c 24  News a ­ bout him ­spread all over
Syr­ia,  d and peo­ple ­brought to him all who
were ill with var­i­ous dis­eas­es, t ­ hose suf­
fer­ing se­vere pain, the de­mon-pos­sessed,  e
those hav­ing sei­zures,  f and the par­a­lyzed;  g
and he h
­ ealed them. 25  Large ­crowds from
Gal­i­lee, the De­cap­o­lis,  b Je­ru­sa­lem, Ju­dea
and the re­gion ­across the Jor­dan fol­lowed
him.  h
Introduction to the Sermon on the
Mount
Now when J ­ esus saw the c ­ rowds, he
went up on a moun­tain­side and sat
down. His dis­ci­ples came to him, 2  and he
be­gan to t ­ each them.
5
The Beatitudes
5:3-12pp —​ Lk 6:20-23
He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.  i
a  16 Isaiah 9:1,2    b  25 
That is, the Ten Cities   
for people. In Scripture, God sometimes used people’s
backgrounds, e.g., as shepherds (Ex 3:1; 1Sa 17:15; 2Sa 5:2;
Isa 63:11).
4:22  immediately they left the boat and their father. Leav-
ing one’s family and livelihood was a rare and serious
commitment. Disciples were usually in their teens, and
many of ­Jesus’ disciples may have been in this range.
4:24  all over Syria. Judea and Galilee belonged to the
Roman province of Syria; even Syria’s major Gentile cit-
ies (such as Damascus and especially Antioch) included
many Jewish residents. The Decapolis, a group of Hel-
lenistic cities in Syria near Galilee, included such towns
as Gadara, Gerasa, Hippos and Pella. The primary feature
of these cities that connected them was their Hellenistic
(Greek) character, but many Jewish residents lived there
in this period. all who were ill. Sickness was pervasive and
people gathered at hot springs or any place they hoped
to find a cure.
4:25  Large crowds. That crowds would follow one
reputed to work miracles is to be expected. Even hot
springs with apparent curative properties drew large
numbers of ailing people.
5:1  sat down. Senior teachers of the law would sit to
explain it. Some scholars compare ­Jesus’ teaching from a
mountain here to Moses’ giving the law from a mountain
(cf. Ex 24:12).
5:3  Beatitudes constitute a common literary form (e.g.,
Ps 1:1). See note on Lk 6:20.