MAT. 5:1-21 fUNERAL
1. crowds: The reference to the crowds at the beginning (5:1) and end (7:28–29) of the sermon provides a framework for Jesus’ teaching of Israel. The mention of the disciples in 5:1 need not exclude the crowds. The teaching of the sermon is not intended simply for the inner core of disciples (who in any case need not be limited to the “twelve apostles”). See G. Lohfink, “Wem gilt die Bergpredigt?” TQ 163 (1983) 264–84.
mountain: Readers are expected to picture the hills on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, but attempts at determining the exact site are useless. In the ancient Near East mountains were considered the homes of the gods and sacred sites. In Exodus 19ff. the Torah is revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai. Just as Moses received God’s commandments on Sinai, Jesus reveals God’s will on the mountain. In Matthew important events in Jesus’ life take place on mountains: temptation (4:8–10), feeding of four thousand (15:29–39), transfiguration (17:1–9), arrest (26:30–35), and final commission (28:16).
he sat down: In Jewish schools the teacher sat on a bench with the students on the ground before him. In Matthew Jesus sits to teach in a boat (13:2) and on the Mount of Olives (24:3). Matthew also speaks (literally or symbolically) of the (authoritative) “seat of Moses” (23:2). Luke has Jesus sit down to teach in the synagogue at Nazareth (4:20).
2. he opened his mouth: This is a Semitic expression used of one who is about to begin a public address (Job 3:1–2), a public teaching (Ps 78:2), or a solemn commitment (Judg 11:35–36). See D. A. Black, “The Translation of Matthew 5:2,” Bible Translator 38 (1987) 241–43. The term “teach” (didaskō) is used only in regard to this sermon in Matthew, here and in 7:29.
3. Blessed: Each “Beatitude” states that the possessor of this characteristic will be “blessed” by God. A formal “blessing” is a divine action, sometimes brought about through an intermediary (priest, king, parent, etc.). Beatitudes are common in OT wisdom books (Prov 3:13; 28:14). The NT Beatitudes refer to a future (or eschatological) reward, whereas the wisdom beatitudes assume that the reward is already present.
poor in spirit: Luke 6:20 simply has “the poor.” The word ptōchos denotes a “beggar,” not just a poor person with few possessions. The Beatitudes should be read against the OT tradition of God’s special care for the poor (see Exod 22:25–27; 23:11; Lev 19:9–10; Deut 15:7–11; Isa 61:1). Matthew’s qualification “in spirit” further defines the “poor” as those who recognized God’s kingdom as a gift that cannot be forced. The expressions “poor” and “poor in spirit” were used by members of contemporary Jewish communities to describe themselves as Psalms of Solomon 10:6; 15:1 and the Qumran War Scroll 14:7 show, respectively.
kingdom of heaven: Kingdom refers to God’s reign or sovereignty. Here its eschatological meaning is dominant, though present recompense is not excluded. The term “heaven” is a Jewish substitute for “God” (see 1 Maccabees), apparently intended to avoid using the term “God” too freely. Note the parallelism is in the second parts of the first and the eighth Beatitudes (5:3, 10).
4. the mourners: The background is Isa 61:2–3 where the prophet’s mission involves comforting all those who mourn in Zion. The occasion for their mourning is the devastation of the First Temple in Jerusalem in 587 B.C. According to Sir 48:24, Isaiah “consoled the mourners of Zion.”
5. the meek: The background is Ps 37:11: “But the meek shall possess the land, and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.” The Hebrew word for “the meek” (‘anāwîm) is basically the same as the term for “the poor (in spirit)” in Matt 5:3. The Qumran community took Ps 37:11 as a prophecy of their struggle with their enemies (4QpPsa). The “land” is not necessarily limited to the land of Israel. In apocalyptic literature (see 1 Enoch 5:7) the promise is widened to include the gift of the whole world to the just: “To the elect there shall be light, joy, and peace, and they shall inherit the earth.” Some manuscripts place 5:5 immediately after 5:3, thus joining the two Beatitudes on the ‘anāwîm and the heaven/earth pair.
6. hunger and thirst for righteousness: The background is Ps 107:5, 8–9, which describes God as satisfying the hungry and thirsty. Matthew has expanded the Q form (Luke 6:21) by adding “thirst” (to bring out the background in Psalm 107) and “for righteousness” (to clarify the nature of the hunger and thirst). Righteousness refers first to God’s justice and then to human relationships and behavior. In an apocalyptic context righteousness refers to the vindication of the just at the last judgment. The satisfaction promised in the Beatitude is first and foremost eschatological.
7. the merciful: The background is Prov 14:21; 17:5 (LXX), where “blessing” is the reward for kindness to the poor. Mercy is first of all an attribute of God, who in turn desires mercy from human beings. Matthew twice quotes Hos 6:6 on God’s desire for mercy (9:13; 12:7) and calls mercy a weighty matter of the Law (23:23). The mercy to be obtained will be at the last judgment.
8. the pure in heart: The background is Ps 24:3–4, which describes among those who can ascend “the hill of the Lord” (Mount Zion) those who have “clean hands and a pure heart.” Neither a reference to sexual-ritual purity nor to single-heartedness, “pure in heart” characterizes people of integrity whose moral up-righteousness extends to their inmost being and whose actions and intentions correspond. “Seeing God” here refers no longer to visiting the Jerusalem temple but rather to the last judgment. See M. Barré, “Blessed Are the Pure of Heart,” Bible Today 22 (1984) 236–42.
9. the peacemakers: The background is the OT idea of shalom as the fullness of God’s gifts. Although all peace comes from God and perfect peace will be realized only in God’s kingdom, following Jesus in the present demands the active pursuit of peace. The peacemakers will be invited to join the angels (“sons of God,” see Gen 6:1–4) at the last judgment. A gender-neutral translation such as “children” might obscure the allusion to joining the angels in God’s kingdom.
10. persecuted for righteousness’ sake: The reference to “righteousness” echoes the fourth Beatitude (5:6) and prepares for the demand for a better righteousness (5:20). The reward (“theirs is the kingdom of heaven”) links this Beatitude with the first one. Matthean community members might take this Beatitude as a description of the discipline and social ostracism that they endured for their unusual way of living Judaism.
11. when they revile you: The language shifts from the third person of Matt 5:3–10 to the second person plural (as in the Q Beatitudes of Luke 6:20–23). The verbs in Matt 5:11 (“revile … persecute … speak”) in comparison with Luke 6:22 (“hate … exclude … revile … cast out”) indicate a more active conflict with regard to Matthew’s community, whereas the Lukan verbs suggest that a separation has already occurred.
falsely: The participle pseudomenoi (“falsely”) is not in Luke 6:20 and in Western texts of Matt 5:11. It may have been inserted by a scribe to limit the generalization. But the evangelist could have done this too; see M. W. Holmes, “The Text of Matthew 5:11,” NTS 32 (1986) 283–86.
12. your reward: The idea of God rewarding the persecuted appears in Jewish works (1 Enoch 108:10; 4 Ezra 7:88–101). Christians are persecuted on Jesus’ account (see 5:11), whereas those rewarded in 4 Ezra 7 suffered to “keep the Law of the Lawgiver perfectly” (7:89). The motif of the earlier persecution of the prophets recurs in Matt 23:29–30. See 2 Chr 36:16: “but they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words, and scoffing at his prophets, till the wrath of the Lord arose against this people, till there was no remedy.” In a post-A.D. 70 setting this commentary on the destruction of the First Temple would have been particularly appropriate.
13. salt of the earth: Salt was used to give flavor to food (see Job 6:6), to preserve it, to purify, and as part of sacrifices (see Lev 2:13; Ezek 43:24). The second person plural forms carry on the mode of address begun in 5:11–12. Though salt does not lose its taste, it may become adulterated so that its taste is weakened (see Pliny, Natural History 31.44, 95).
14. light of the world: The background is Isa 2:2–5. The light image is part of the invitation to Israel: “O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord” (2:5). In Isa 42:6; 49:6 Israel’s vocation is to be a “light to the nations.” Paul picked up this theme of Israel’s vocation in Rom 2:19 (“a light to those who are in darkness”). The light imagery is developed in the sayings in 5:15–16 in which Jesus’ followers are challenged to active engagement in their “good works.” The goal of these works is that other people might come to praise God (5:16). The epithet “your Father who is in heaven” (5:16) is characteristically Matthean in comparison with the other NT writers and is a typical Jewish way of talking about God in prayer.
city set upon a mountain: If there is an allusion to Isa 2:2–5, there is also an allusion to Jerusalem built upon Mount Zion. The OT envisions all nations coming to the city of Jerusalem to learn the Torah, with the result being perfect peace. See K. M. Campbell, “The New Jerusalem in Matthew 5:14,” SJT 31 (1978) 335–63.
17. the Law and the Prophets: Matthew uses this expression to refer to the OT as a whole (see 7:12; 11:13; 22:40). In later Jewish parlance the OT consists of the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings.
to fulfill: In what sense does Jesus fulfill the Law and the Prophets? It could be a reference to (1) his obedience toward its precepts during his earthly life, (2) his role in fulfilling the Scriptures emphasized in Matthew 1–2 and elsewhere in the Gospel, or (3) the thrust of his teaching expressed in the love-commandment (22:40) from which the other commandments take their meaning and force.
18. Until heaven and earth pass away: The saying is introduced with great solemnity: “For Amen I say to you.” The passing away of heaven and earth is another way of describing the coming of God’s kingdom in its fullness. The thrust is that the Law and the Prophets remain in force until then. According to Matt 24:35 Jesus’ works will even outlast the Law and the Prophets.
neither one yodh nor one hook: The Greek iota is the equivalent of the Hebrew letter yodh, the smallest letter in the alphabet. The “hook” may refer to a decorative stroke added to certain letters. This may be a case of hendiadys: the smallest part of the smallest letter. Thus the point would be that nothing of the Law and the Prophets will pass away.
until all these take place: The occurrence of a second “until” clause in one sentence is peculiar. If “all” refers to eschatological events, the clause adds nothing to the first. If it refers to Jesus’ death and resurrection, then all of Matt 5:17–19 would be only of historical interest for early Christians.
19. least commandments: It was customary for rabbis to distinguish between grave commandments such as honoring one’s parents (Deut 5:16) and light commandments such as the law of the bird’s nest (Deut 22:6–7), though the reward for both is the same (“that it may go well with you, and that you may live long”).
does them and teaches: Matthew recognizes the distinction between grave and light commandments but urges that all be practiced. The close connection between teaching and doing is one of Matthew’s favorite themes. Rabbi Judah in m. ‘Abot 2:1 teaches: “Be heedful in a light precept as in a grave one.”
20. scribes and Pharisees: The statement points ahead to the critique of the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23 where the major charge is their not practicing what they preach (23:3), in contrast to the ideal of teaching and doing enunciated in 5:19. The “righteousness” involves fidelity to God’s will revealed in the Torah and Jesus’ interpretation of it.