Bible Commentaries

Matthew 5:1. And seeing the multitudes— And seeing such a multitude: Heylin: who supposes this verse to be immediately connected with the last of the preceding chapter. It does not appear in what part of Galilee this mountain was situated; and if the cure of the leper which Christ performed at his descending from it, was wrought in the confines of some other city, and not of Capernaum, there is no reason to suppose, as most expositors do, that it was in the neighbourhood of Capernaum. See ch. Matthew 8:1-2.Luke 5:12; Luke 5:12. Maundrell says, that what is now called the mount of the Beatitudes, is a little to the north of mount Tabor. Travels, p. 115. And if this be its true situation, it must be at some considerable distance from Capernaum. Dr.

Doddridge is of opinion, that this discourse was different from and previous to that which St. Luke has given us in the sixth chapter of his gospel, though many of the sentiments and expressions are the same. It is, however, more generally thought that these discourses are the same. And it appears from Luke 6:12; Luk 6:17 that our Saviour having gone up to the top of the mountain to pray, coming down thence, he stood on a plain and even part of the same mountain, whence he could easily be heard. So Moses first ascended mount Sinai alone, but afterwards accompanied by the elders; whence the law was promulged by God. Jesus sat down, according to the custom of the Jewish doctors, when they taught. His disciples, mean, not merely the twelve apostles, but all those in general who followed the Lord Jesus Christ. See Luke 6:13. Joh 9:27 and in most places in the Acts the Christians are called discip

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Matthew 5:2. And he opened his mouth— This phrase denotes speaking in a solemn and authoritative manner, intimating the importance of what is going to be delivered, and is not always used as a pleonasm. Comp. Judges 11:35-36. Job 3:1; Job 33:2.Matthew 13:35; Matthew 13:35.Acts 8:35; Acts 8:35; Acts 10:34. In order to enter into the beauty of this discourse, it is necessary to consider it as addressed not merely to the apostles, but to Christ's disciples in general, and to vast numbers of people, who, affected with the sight or fame of his miracles, were now assembled around him; probably expecting that he would immediately declare himself the Messiah, and full of those false notions of his kingdom which so generally prevailed. Dr. Blair, in his excellent discourses on this sermon, has shewn beyond all others, how directly the beginning of it is levelled against these prejudices; calculated, as the whole of it is, to correct those erroneous notions of the Messiah's kingdom, which were so common, and which would prove so pernicious to those who were governed by them. He has also observed, as it is very necessary to do, what a beautiful correspondence there is between the characters described in these beatitudes, and the blessings connected with them. Jesus began his sermon with the doctrine of happiness; a subject which the teachers of wisdom have always considered as the principal thing in morals; and for that reason they have laboured to give their true disciples an idea of it. Most of the Jews seem to have considered the enjoyments of sense, as the sovereign good. Riches, mirth, revenge, women, conquest, liberty, fame, and other things of the same kind, afforded them such pleasures, that they wished for no better in the Messiah's kingdom, which theyalmost all considered as a secular one: even the apostles themselves long retained this notion of a temporal kingdom, and were at first too much influenced by the expectation of the honours, profits, and pleasures attending the posts which they expected under him. Therefore, to shew his hearers in general, and his disciples in particular, the grossness of their error, our Lord declared that the higher happiness of men consists in the graces of the spirit; because from the possession and exercise of them,thepurest pleasures result,—pleasures, which satisfy the great God himself, and constitute his ineffable felicity. See Wetstein, Doddridge, and Macknight.

It may be proper, before we enter upon this discourse, to observe, once for all, that whoever examines the discourses of our Lord with attention, may find in them a certain character and way of speaking, in a great measure peculiar to himself. This manner, by which our Saviour's discourses are distinguishable, consists in raising matter of instruction and moral reflection from the objects which presented themselves to him and his audience while he was speaking. Hence his sermons to the multitude, and his conversation with his disciples, allude perpetually to the time of the year, to the place where he is, to the objects that surround him, to the occupation and circumstances of those whom he addresses, or to the state of public affairs, &c. Thus the blessed Jesus in the spring went into the fields, where he sat down on an eminence, and made this discourse, which is full of observations arising from things which presented themselves to his view. Hence, when he exhorts hisdisciples to trust in God, he bids them behold, εμβλεψατε, look upon, the birds of the air, which were then flying about them, and were fed by Providence, though they did not sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns. Consider, says our blessed Lord, Matthew 5:28 take notice of the lilies of the field, which were then blown, and were so beautifully clothed by the same power, and yet toiled not like the husbandmen, who were then at work. Being in a place where they had a wide prospect of a cultivated land, he bade them observe how God caused the sun to shine, and the rain to descend upon the fields and gardens, even of the wicked and ungrateful; and he continued to convey his doctrine to them under rural images; speaking of good trees, and corrupt trees; of knowing men by their fruits; wolves in sheep's clothing; grapes not growing upon thorns, nor figs on thistles; of the folly of casting precious things to dogs and swine; of good measure pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, and a variety of other particulars, which will occur to every reader's observation. From this peculiarityin the style and genius of our Saviour's discourses, we may conclude that the writers of the gospel have given us always the substance, and often the very words of our Lord's sermons; and we may also plainly see in the discourses of the Lord Jesus Christ his great design,—which was to instruct; therefore he conveys knowledge in a familiar way: he adapts his language to his hearers. He speaks to their eyes, and to their ears. He chooses images and comparisons which would strike them most powerfully,and make the most lasting impression upon their minds. See Jortin's Discourses, p. 212 and the note on Matthew 5:14.

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Matthew 5:3. Blessed are the poor in spirit— Happy, &c. Doddridge: and so throughout the beatitudes: I use the word happy rather than blessed, says he, as more exactly answering to the original word Μακαριοι, as the word blessed does to the Greek word ευλογημενοι : and I the rather choose to render it thus, because our Lord seems to intimate by it, not only that the dispositions here recommended would be the wayto future blessedness, but that they would immediately be attended with the truest happiness, and the most noble pleasures. In order to render his hearers more attentive, Christ proposes his doctrine in certain paradoxical dogmas, which, at first appearance, may seem false to the carnal eye, but are found most true by the attentive and sincere considerer. "It is notable, says an old writer, that all the beatitudes are affixed to unlikely conditions, to shew that the judgment of the word and of the world, are contrary." Bengelius observes, that in the present sermon we have, first, an exordium, containing a sweet invitation to true holiness and happiness, Matthew 5:3-12.; secondly, a persuasive to impart it to others, Matthew 5:13-16.; thirdly, a description of true Christian holiness, Matthew 5:0; Matthew 3:0—Mat 7:12 in which it is easy to observe, that the latter part exactly answers to the former; fourthly, the conclusion; giving a sure mark of the true way, warning against false prophets, and exhorting to follow after righteousness. St. Luke applies this first beatitude to the poor, properly so called; but though poverty of spirit may include a disposition which bears poverty rightly, there seems no doubt that it here primarily refers to humility of heart. Dr. Heylin's seems the true interpretation: the phrase, poor in spirit, says he, expresses an inward disposition or state of mind, by an outward worldly circumstance; namely, poverty, which signifies want; the sense whereof obliges men to dependence upon others for supply, by begging or servitude: so by exact analogy, poverty of spirit implies want, and consequently an habitual address to, and dependence upon God, for supply, by prayer,faith, and obedience. The beatitude therefore may be thus paraphrased: "You naturally congratulate the rich and the great, and expect, under the reign of the Messiah, to be advanced to wealth, dignity, and power; but your notions of these things are very false and vitiated; for I say unto you, happy are the poor in spirit; those humble souls, who, deeply conscious of their ignorance and guilt, can quietly resign to the divine teachings and disposals, and accommodate themselves to the lowest circumstances which Providence shall appoint them: for, however they may be despised and trampled on by men, theirs is the kingdom of heaven: they will be most likely to embrace the Gospel, and they alone will be intitled to its blessings, both in time and in eternity." See Doddridge, Wetstein, and Bengelius.

Dr. Campbell translates the verse, happy the poor, &c. observing that it has more energy, after the example of the original, and all the ancient versions, to omit the substantive verb. The idiom of our language admits this freedom as easily as the Italian, and more so than the French. None of the Latin versions express the verb. Another reason, he adds, which induced me to adopt this manner is to render these aphorisms, in regard to happiness, as similar in form as they are in the original, to the aphorisms in regard to wretchedness, which are, Luke 6:0 contrasted with them, woe to you that are rich, &c.

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Matthew 5:4. Blessed are they that mourn— "Either for their own sins, or for other men's, and who are steadily and habitually serious; they shall be comforted, most solidly and deeply in this world, and eternally in heaven. What they now sow in tears, they shall reap in joy." See 1Co 5:2 and Bengelius. Possibly our Saviour might refer still farther in this blessing to the mourning rightly improved on account of afflictions; and in this light nothing can be more true than the present aphorism; because, if any thing under the grace of God brings a man to holiness, it is affliction; the natural tendency thereof being to give him a feeling of the vanity of the world, and consequently to convince him how necessary it is that he should seek his happiness in things more solid and durable. Affliction awakens serious thoughts in the mind, composes it into a grave and settled frame, very different from the levity which prosperity inspires; gives it a fellow-feeling of the sorrows of others, and makes it, when accompanied by the operation of the Divine Spirit, sensible of the evil of departing from God, the source and centre of its joy. See Macknight.

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Matthew 5:5. Blessed are the meek— That is, the men of mild and forgiving tempers, who hold all their passions and affections even; they shall inherit the earth; they shall enjoy the protection of civil government, with all the blessings of the present life, the greatest and best of which flow from meekness itself. Meekness, consisting in the moderating of our passions, makes a person beautiful and venerable in the eyes of others, so that he possesses their inward esteem; while the man devoid of this grace is despicable, though dignified with ever so many titles of honour. Hence it is called the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. Farther, this grace secures a man against many injuries to which he may be exposed; a soft answer being powerful to turn away wrath; or, if an injury be done to a meek person, his meekness prevents the storm which pride, anger, and revenge raise within; enables him to bear the injury with tranquillity, and strengthens him to overcome it with good. Thus much seems to be implied in the blessing annexed to the character in this verse; which is a citation from Psa 37:11 and seems to be produced to shew of how great a price the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit is in the sight of God; for the words immediately put us in mind, that under the dispensation wherein God rewarded holiness and virtue with temporal advantages in a peculiar sense, as well as with spiritual blessings, he annexed the highest temporal blessing, even that of inheriting the promised land, to the lovely grace of meekness. See Macknight and Bengelius.

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Matthew 5:6. Blessed are they which do hunger, &c.— Our Saviour uses the ideas of hunger and thirst metaphorically, to express vehement desire. By righteousness seems to be meant that holiness which the Gospel teaches and recommends, in opposition to the righteousness of Scribes and Pharisees. So that the persons here said to hunger and thirst are those who earnestly long for and are sensible of the want of that salvation which is procured by the Lord JesusChrist. This beatitude, therefore, may be thus paraphrased: "Happy are they who, instead of desiring insatiably the possessions of others, and endeavouring to obtain them by violence or deceit, eagerly hunger and thirst after righteousness, and make it the delightful business of life, in dependenceondivinegrace,to improve in all the branches of evangelical holiness and goodness: for they shall, through the grace of God in Christ Jesus, never be disappointedinthesepiouspursuits,butbeabundantlysatisfiedwiththerighteousness which they seek, and be competently supplied with every necessary good." See Matthew 5:10. Proverbs 21:21.Matthew 6:33; Matthew 6:33., Doddridge, and Wetstein.

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Matthew 5:7. Blessed are the merciful— Those who feel for the sorrows of others as their own, and with tender sympathy hasten to relieve them. Dr. Heylin remarks excellently upon this beatitude, nearly in the following words; that the frailty of human nature renders men continually liable to abuse, and perverts the good dispositions which religion would excite;thus mourning for sin may degenerate into a gloomy melancholy and moroseness of temper; and some, because they are displeased, as they have reason, with themselves, become peevish and fretful at all about them; and again, with regard to the hunger and thirst after justice, that is to say, universal holiness and virtue (see on ch. Matthew 3:15.), men, when called to Christ and true religion, have commonlypowerfulconvictions concerning the turpitude of vice, with the danger and guilt of neglecting Christ and holiness, of stopping short of the pardon of their sins, and the sanctification of their natures. And they ought studiously to cultivate these convictions, and impressthem deeply upon their minds by assiduous meditation; but, above all, by going to Jesus Christ in ardent prayer, as the only refuge of the penitent soul. But, notwithstanding, as the speculations of justice are pleasing, and the practice of it laborious; and as it is much easier to desire that others should be holy, than to become so themselves; it too often happens that they misapply their concern for the interests of religion to the morals of other men, and are more intent upon their neighbour's faults than their own. Thus they turn their zeal the wrong way, and suffer it to evaporate in chimeras of reforming the public; while they themselves are under the dominion of sin. But hunger and thirst are personal; for no man hungers for another's want, but for his own. Those holy desires which the Spirit of God excites in his servants, chiefly tend to their own pardon, and theirown purification: and in the progress of that work, I mean while they grieve for their own folly, and pine for their own want of justice, they willcompassionately bear with the follies of other men, and be very indulgent to their want of justice; a want which they so sensibly experience in themselves. To ripen this good disposition to which, through almighty grace, the state already described leads them, Christ here so seasonably pronounces his benediction, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. See the Reflections for farther views on this subject.

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Matthew 5:8. Blessed are the pure in heart— Dr. Blair supposes that this may refer to the expectation which the Jews had of possessing themselves of beautiful captives in the wars by which they fancied the Messiah's kingdom would be established. The large seraglios of eastern princes and great men, which, by a very mistaken taste, were regarded as matters of state and grandeur, might possibly give countenance to such an extravagant notion. Dr. Doddridge, therefore, in the following paraphrase, just touches upon it: "Indulge not a thought of those licentiousgratifications which are often mingled with victory, and are accounted as the pleasures of the great; happy are the men who not only abstain from these gross enormities, but are concerned that they may bepure in heart too; avoiding every irregular desire, and mortifying every unruly passion. This resolute self-denial shall be the source of nobler and more lasting pleasures; for they shall see God: thus purified and refined, they shall enjoy him in his ordinances, and in all the communications of his grace here, and dwell with him for ever in heaven." Dr. Heylin in his usual manner observes, that the purification here pronounced blessed, is an arduous work; beginning in repentance, and attended with that mourning for sin, to which a former beatitude invites. Then must we receive a knowledge of the forgiveness of sins through the blood of the covenant. But this purification is carried on by that hunger and thirst after justice mentioned in the 6th verse; and it advances still more and more in the following benediction upon the merciful; who, by the violence they do themselves, in dependence on and by the power of almighty grace, to mortify their own pride and ill-nature, so as patiently to bear with and compassionate the infirmities of their brethren, draw down upon themselves, through the alone and infinite merit of Christ, the superabundant mercy of God,whichatlengthsoconsummatestheirmortification,byasuperabundantincrease of divine grace, that they become pure in heart, and thereby are qualified for that sublime and efficaciousknowledge of the Deity, which is here called seeing God; the mental eye being irradiated from above; for God, who makethhis sun to rise upon the evil and on the good, does also from himself illumine the minds of all men, in proportion to their desire of, and earnest search after, his light; the path of the just is as a shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day. See more in Heylin. See also the Reflections.

Dr. Campbell reads, the clean in heart. I admit, says he, that our translation, pure in heart, is a just expression of the sense, and more in the English idiom than mine. My only reason for preferring a more literal version of the Greek word καθαρος here is, because I would, in all such instances, preserve the allusion to be found in the moral maxims of the New Testament to the ancient ritual, from which the metaphors of the sacred writers, and their other tropes, are frequently borrowed, and to which they owe much of their lustre and energy. The laws in regard to the cleanness of the body, and even of the garments, if neglected by any person, excluded him from the temple. He was incapacitated for being so much as a spectator of the solemn service at the altar. The Jews considered the empyreal heaven as the archetype of the temple of Jerusalem. In the latter, they enjoyed the symbols of God's presence, who spoke to them by his ministers; whereas, in the former, the blessed inhabitants have an immediate sense of the divine presence, and God speaks to them face to face. Our Lord, preserving the analogy between the two dispensations, intimates that cleanness will be as necessary in order to procure admission into the celestial temple, as into the terrestrial. But as the privilege is inconceivably higher, the qualification is more important. The cleanness is not ceremonial, but moral; not of the outward man, but of the inward. The same idea is suggested, Psalms 24:0. When such allusions appear in the original, they ought, if possible, to have a place in the version.

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