1618 | Matthew 5:4
4 Blessed are those who mourn ,
for they will be comforted . j
5 Blessed are the meek ,
for they will inherit the earth . k
6 Blessed are those who hunger and
thirst for righteousness , for they will be filled . l
7 Blessed are the merciful ,
for they will be shown mercy .
8 Blessed are the pure in heart , m
for they will see God . n
9 Blessed are the peacemakers ,
for they will be called children of God . o
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted
because of righteousness , p for theirs is the kingdom of heaven .
11 “ Blessed are you when peo ple in sult
you , q per se cute you and false ly say all kinds of evil against you be cause of me .
12 Re joice and be glad , r be cause great is
your re ward in heav en , for in the same way they per se cut ed the proph ets who were be fore you . s
Salt and Light
13 “ You are the salt of the earth . But if the salt los es its salt i ness , how can it be
5:4 j Isa 61:2 , 3 ; Rev 7:17 5:5 k Ps 37:11 ; Ro 4:13 5:6 l Isa 55:1 , 2 5:8 m Ps 24:3 , 4 n Heb 12:14 ; Rev 22:4 5:9 o ver 44 , 45 ; Ro 8:14 5:10 p 1Pe 3:14 5:11 q 1Pe 4:14 5:12 r Ac 5:41 ; 1Pe 4:13 , 16 s Mt 23:31 ,
37 ; Ac 7:52 ; 1Th 2:15
5:13 t Mk 9:50 ; Lk 14:34 , 35 5:14 u Jn 8:12 5:15 v Mk 4:21 ; Lk 8:16 5:16 w Mt 9:8 5:17 x Ro 3:31 5:18 y Lk 16:17 5:19 z Jas 2:10 made salty again ? It is no lon ger good for any thing , ex cept to be thrown out and trampled underfoot . t
14 “ You are the light of the world . u A
town built on a hill can not be hid den .
15 Nei ther do peo ple light a lamp and put
it un der a bowl . In stead they put it on its stand , and it gives light to ev ery one in the house . v 16 In the same way , let your light shine be fore oth ers , that they may see your good deeds and glo ri fy w your Fa ther in heaven .
The Fulfillment of the Law
17 “ Do not think that I have come to
abol ish the Law or the Proph ets ; I have not come to abol ish them but to ful fill them . x 18 For tru ly I tell you , un til heav en and earth dis ap pear , not the small est letter , not the least stroke of a pen , will by any means dis ap pear from the Law un til ev ery thing is ac com plished . y 19 There fore any one who sets aside one of the least of these com mands z and teach es oth ers accord ing ly will be called least in the kingdom of heav en , but who ev er prac tic es and teach es these com mands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven . 20 For I tell
5:4 those who mourn . Repentance , whether over one ’ s own sins or those of one ’ s society , was often expressed in mourning . God promised future comfort to his people ( Isa 40:1 ; 51:3 ; 61:2 – 3 ; 66:13 ). 5:5 the meek . Ps 37:11 promises that the meek ( the humble , the lowly , those who depend on the Lord rather than themselves [ cf . Ps 37:9 ; cf . also “ poor in spirit ” in Mt 5:3 ]) would inherit the earth . the earth . Although this could mean simply “ the land ,” by Jesus ’ day Jewish people spoke of the righteous “ inheriting the kingdom ” and thus ruling the world ( cf . Da 7:14 ). 5:8 the pure in heart . God would bless the “ pure in heart ” ( Ps 73:1 ). God ’ s people in the end time would “ see ” him . 5:9 the peacemakers . Some Judeans and Galileans believed that God would help them wage war against the Romans to establish God ’ s kingdom , but Jesus assigns the kingdom instead to the meek ( v . 5 ), those who show mercy ( v . 7 ), those who are persecuted ( v . 10 ), and those who make peace ( v . 9 ). 5:10 theirs is the kingdom of heaven . Ancient writers sometimes bracketed off a special section of material by starting and finishing it with the same point — here , that “ the kingdom of heaven ” ( cf . v . 3 , see also the article “ Kingdom ,” p . 1616 ) will be given to the righteous and humble . 5:11 because of me . Jewish people spoke of suffering for God ’ s name ; Jesus thus may fill a divine role here . 5:12 persecuted the prophets . In Scripture , prophets sometimes faced persecution ; by Jesus ’ day , Jewish tradition highlighted this point even more . 5:13 salt loses its saltiness . Some commentators note that much ancient salt contained impurities , which could dissolve ; but Jesus also uses a graphic image — how can true salt stop being salt ? When asked what to do with unsalty salt , a later rabbi advised , “ Salt it with the afterbirth of a mule .” Mules are sterile and thus lack afterbirth ; his point was that the question was stupid . If salt could lose its saltiness , what would it be useful for ? Jesus compares a disciple who does not live out the values of the kingdom with unsalty salt — salt that cannot fulfill its purpose . 5:14 light of the world . God had called his people to be a light to the nations ( Isa 42:6 ; 49:6 ), so his salvation would reach the ends of the earth ( Isa 49:6 ). town built on a hill . Many ancient cities were built on hills ; their lights could also make them visible against the horizon at night . 5:15 light a lamp and put it under a bowl . The most common oil lamps of this period were small enough to hold in the hand ; placing such a lamp under a container would obscure and likely extinguish it . Invisible light was about as useful to ancient Galileans as was tasteless salt ( v . 13 ). 5:18 truly I tell you . Lit . “ Amen , I tell you ”; “ amen ” normally concluded a prayer , and most scholars believe that beginning a saying this way implied distinctive authority . smallest letter . The smallest Hebrew letter was a yod , formed by a single stroke of the pen . One Jewish story recounted that the yod removed from Sarai ’ s name ( when it was changed to Sarah , Ge 17:15 ) protested to God from one generation to another , lamenting its removal from Scripture , until finally God put the yod back in the Bible . When Hoshea ’ s name was changed to Joshua ( Nu 13:16 ), a yod was reinserted in Scripture . “ So you see ,” remarked Jewish teachers , “ not a single yod can pass from God ’ s Word .” In a similar Jewish story , a yod protested that King Solomon was trying to remove it from Scripture ; “ A thousand Solomons shall be uprooted ,” God declared , “ but not a single yod will pass from my Word .” Such illustrations were merely graphic ways of emphasizing that all of God ’ s Word must be respected ; no part was too small to matter . 5:19 least of these commands . Jewish teachers sometimes spoke of the least and greatest commandments , and of people who were least and greatest in the kingdom . Normally they did not mean such statements as matters of mathematical precision , but as graphic ways of emphasizing the value of all the commandments . Thus , e . g ., some later rabbis declared that the least commandment was