Matthew 5:1-16

PART SECOND

Christ manifesting Himself in outward obscurity as the true Saviour, by His works; and proving Himself the promised Prophet, Priest, and King, in His continual conflict with the spurious notions entertained by the Jews concerning the Messiah (Matthew 5:1 to Matthew 16:12).

_____________FIRST SECTIONCHRIST MANIFESTING HIMSELF AS THE PROPHET. A. AS TEACHER OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT, CH. 5–7

Structure of the Sermon on the Mount.—The grand fundamental idea of the Sermon on the Mount is to present the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven in its relation to that of the Old Testament theocracy. This idea is arranged in three parts. Part first, which comprises the Sermon on the Mount in the narrower sense, presents the nature and character of the righteousness of the kingdom of God, from the commencement of spiritual life to its completion. Matthew 5:1-16.—At the close of this section, the contrast between this righteousness and that of Jewish traditionalism is brought out in its fullest manifestation (to suffer persecution for Christ’s sake). This induces the Lord to explain, in Part 2, the relation between the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven (in doctrine and life) and that of the Jewish theocracy. The former is the genuine fulfilment of the Old Testament theocracy (of the Law and the Prophets), in opposition to that false development of Jewish traditionalism, which only preserved the letter of the law and the prophets. Matthew 5:17 to Matthew 7:6.—As the first section contained a description of the elevation of the blessed to their final reward in heaven, although their course seems to the world one of continual humiliation; so the second section exhibits the righteousness of the Pharisees in its real character and results, to the judgment which shall finally sweep it away (beneath “dogs and swine”), although to the world it seems to rise to the greatest height of exaltation. Lastly, Christ shows in the third and practical section, how to avoid the false and choose the right way; indicating, at the same time, the mode and manner of genuine spiritual life ( Matthew 7:7-27). The concluding verses ( Matthew 5:28-29) record the impression produced by this sermon of Jesus.

Literature:—Comp. Tholuck, Comment, on the Sermon on the Mount, 4th ed., 1856 [transl. into Engl. by R. Lundin Brown, Edinb. and Philad., 1860]; Kling, Die Bergpredigt Christi, Marburg. 1841; Arndt, Die Bergpredigt Jesu Christi, Magdeb., 1837 and 1838; Braune, Die Bergpredigt unseres Herrn Jesu Christi, 2d ed., Altenburg 1855.—For the older literature of the subject, see Winer, Danz, and Heubner.

IThe Sermon on the Mount in the narrower sense. The law of the Spirit. The fundamental laws of the kingdom of heaven as fundamental promises and beatitudes of the Gospel. Gradual progress upward to perfectness in righteousness, or, what is the same, in Christ.

Matthew 5:1-16

( Matthew 5:1-12, the Gospel for the 27th Sunday after Trinity.)

1And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain; and when he was set [had sat down], his disciples came unto [to] him: 2And he opened his mouth, and taught3them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.5Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: 6for they shall inherit the earth.1 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after 7righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain 9mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: 10for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil againstyou falsely,2 for my sake. 12Rejoice, and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which [who] were before you. 13Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 14Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.15Neither do men light a candle and put it under a [the]3 bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which [who] is in heaven.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

General Remarks on the Sermon on the Mount.—The Sermon on the Mount may be regarded as the central-point of Christ’s ministry in Galilee. It was delivered during the first year of His public career, some time between the winter of 781 and the spring of 782 A. U. “The activity of John by the banks of Jordan probably continued till toward the winter of the year 781. While he baptized in Galilee, Christ labored in Judæa. About the time that John was imprisoned in Galilee, the Sanhedrim of Jerusalem began to view with dislike the growing authority of Jesus. On this account, He left Judæa, and retired to Galilee. In the spring of the year 782, John was still in prison. At that time he sent the well-known embassy to Christ. From Matthew 11:1-2, we gather that this inquiry was made at the close of the first journey of Christ through Galilee; hence before His attending the feast of Purim, which is related in the Gospel of John ( Matthew 5:0). Soon afterward the execution of John took place, probably between Purim and Easter of the year 782” (see my Leben Jesu, ii. 1, p. 162).

We mark three stages in the journey of Jesus through Galilee. The first comprises the journey of Christ through the mountainous district of Upper Galilee. This is alluded to in general terms by Matthew in Matthew 4:23. The calling of the first four Apostles, together with the miraculous draught of fishes, Luke 5:1, and the sermon of the Lord by the Lake of Galilee, preceding that miracle, formed the commencement of this journey. Its close is marked by the Sermon on the Mount. On His second journey, the Lord passed beyond the bounds of Galilee proper into Upper Peræa. This tour commenced with His second sermon by the Lake of Galilee, on which occasion the Lord probably uttered the greater part of the parables concerning the kingdom of God. Other three Apostles were now added to the former. That journey closed with the expulsion of the Lord from Gadara, and some conflicts between Jesus and the Pharisees, and a few of the disciples of John (Matthew 19:0). During His third tour, the Lord passed through the towns on the Lake of Galilee to Lower Galilee, and toward Samaria and Judæa. The number of the assistants and followers of Jesus was now increased from seven to twelve, who are set apart as His Apostles. The four companions of His first journey, and the seven who attended Him during the second, had only been His followers; but others are now added to their number. They are set apart to be His Apostles; and the Lord sends them before Him,—as yet, however, with limited powers, and for a definite purpose. The narrative of this journey commences with the calling of the Apostles, and with the instructions given to them. While the Apostles precede the Lord, holy women gather around and minister unto Him (Luke 8:1-3). The towns of Magdala, in the southern part of the western shore of the lake, and Nain, between the southern side of Mount Tabor and the Lower Hermon, are mentioned as special points touched during this journey. Its goal—as appears from the sending of the twelve Apostles—was Jerusalem, where, according to John 5:0, Jesus attended the feast of Purim. This journey, which was intended to terminate in Judæa, was interrupted by two events—the resolution of the Sanhedrim at Jerusalem to compass the death of Jesus (John 7:1), and the execution of John the Baptist (Matthew 14:12; Mark 6:30; Luke 9:10).

A close review of this tour shows that Jesus undertook three public journeys to Jerusalem in order to awake the attention of His people, and to lead them to decide for the truth (John 2:13; John 5:0; John 12:9).

It is important to understand the relation between the Sermon on the Mount as given by Matthew and the account of it in Luke 6:12 sqq.

According to Augustine (De consensu evang. ii. 19), Andr. Osiander, Büsching, Hess, Storr, Gratz, and others, the two sermons were delivered at different times. But most modem interpreters are agreed that they are only two different accounts of one and the same sermon of Jesus. Calvin, Schneckenburger, and Olshausen hold that the account in Matthew is the less authentic of the two; while Tholuck, Ebrard, and Meyer (p. 168), think that Luke derived his narrative from Matthew. Lastly, according to Strauss, neither of the two accounts is strictly authentic. In our opinion, they should be regarded as two different sermons delivered in close succession,—the one on the summit of a mountain in Galilee, the other, on a lower ridge of the same mountain; the one, addressed only to His disciples; the other, to all the people who had followed Him. Still, so far as their fundamental ideas and real subject-matter are concerned, the two sermons are identical, differing only in form and adaptation,—that reported by Matthew being addressed to the disciples, and hence esoteric in its form; while that given by Luke is exoteric, being addressed to the people. The fundamental idea of both is evidently the same—the exaltation of the humble and the humiliation of the proud. This idea is couched so as to correspond to the description of the Jewish year of jubilee, and expressed in the form of beatitudes. But the different aspects under which this fundamental truth is presented, show that originally two sermons had been delivered by the Lord; for, 1. the number of the beatitudes is not the same in the two sermons, and the beatitudes themselves are differently couched; 2. in the Gospel by Luke, there is always a woe to correspond to each of the beatitudes. This contrast appears, indeed, also in that portion of the sermon, as reported by Matthew, which treats of the righteousness of the Pharisees and its consequences, but in a form quite different from that in Luke. Add to this, 3. the difference in the account of the locality and the audience. According to Matthew, Jesus delivered the sermon on the top of a mountain, and sitting; while Luke relates that He came down and stood in the plain or on a plateau, to preach to the people. According to Matthew, “seeing the multitudes,” He retired among His disciples; while Luke records that He came down with His disciples, and stood among the multitude in order to address them. “Thus we have evidently two different discourses on the same subject, and containing the same elements; and, before we adopt any hypothesis which would represent the one as inferior to the other, we should first endeavor to study them more closely, and to understand the peculiar characteristics of the two Gospels. Viewed in that light, these discourses bear each a distinctive character. The Sermon on the Mount, strictly so called, is a discourse which Christ could not, at the time, have addressed to the people generally. This remark specially applies to His description of the Pharisees and scribes, and of their righteousness, and to His exposition of the contrast between His own teaching and theirs. Manifestly, Jesus could not have addressed in this manner the Jewish people generally, without thereby needlessly exposing His own followers. Nor were the people prepared to understand or receive such doctrine. And even though we were to assume that the Evangelist had introduced into this discourse some things said on other occasions, yet this sermon is so thoroughly connected in its structure, that it is impossible to ascribe its composition, so far as its leading features are concerned, to the Evangelist himself.” (Leben Jesu, ii. 2, p. 369.) Manifestly, this discourse is esoteric—an exposition of the fundamental doctrines of the kingdom of heaven in their relation to the teaching of the Old Testament, and to the ordinances and practices of a spurious traditionalism, which could only have been intended for the disciples. Hence the choice of the locality, the retirement from the multitude, and the gathering of the disciples around Him. The Evangelist, indeed, records at the close, “that the people were astonished at His doctrine;” but this apparent inaccuracy—on our supposition—only confirms the view that, after His descent from the mountain, the Lord addressed to the people generally the discourse communicated by Luke. The latter is just what we would have expected in the circumstances—a popular and lively address, short, and illustrated by similes. This exoteric form agrees with the context as mentioned by Luke, who records that Jesus delivered this address standing among the people, though His eye would, no doubt, chiefly rest in blessing upon the disciples.

The time when these two discourses were delivered.—From some events recorded by Luke before his account of the Sermon on the Mount ( Matthew 6:1, etc.), it might appear to have been delivered at a later period. But this apparent inaccuracy must have been occasioned by considerations connected with the structure of his Gospel. The context shows that both Evangelists record it as having taken place at the same time. Both in Luke and in Matthew the history of the centurion of Capernaum immediately follows the Sermon on the Mount. Manifestly, then, the two discourses were delivered during the same journey of Jesus through Galilee. Similarly, the circumstances mentioned by Luke prove that the discourse reported by him followed immediately upon that reported by Matthew. According to Matthew, Jesus left the multitude, and retired with His disciples to the top of the mountain; while Luke relates that He again descended from the mountain, with His disciples, “into the plain” (ἐπὶ τὀπου πεδινοῦ), among the waiting multitude. If to this we add the manifest internal connection between the two discourses, we obtain a very distinct view of the subject. On the top of the mountain Jesus addressed to His disciples the discourse about the kingdom of heaven in an esoteric form: while immediately afterward He repeated it in an exoteric form, in the midst of the people, on a plateau of the same mountain.

The locality, or the mountain.—According to Latin tradition, the Mount of Beatitudes was what is now called the “Horns of Hattin,” between Mount Tabor and Tiberias. Robinson gives the following description of this mountain (ii. p. 370): “The road passes down to Hattin on the west of the Tell; as we approached, we turned off from the path toward the right, in order to ascend the Eastern Horn.—As seen on this side, the Tell or mountain is merely a low ridge, some thirty or forty feet in height, and not ten minutes in length from east to west. At its eastern end is an elevated point or horn, perhaps sixty feet above the plain; and, at the western end, another not so high; these give to the ridge, at a distance, the appearance of a saddle, and are called Kurun Hattin, ‘Horns of Hattin.’ But the singularity of this ridge is, that, on reaching the top, you find that it lies along the very border of the great southern plain, where this latter sinks off at once by a precipitous offset, to the lower plain of Hattin, from which the northern side of the Tell rises very steeply, not much less than 400 feet..… The summit of the Eastern Horn is a little circular plain; and the top of the lower ridge between the two horns is also flattened to a plain. The whole mountain is of limestone.”—The situation and the appearance of this mountain agree well with the supposition that it was the Mount of Beatitudes. It lay in a southwesterly direction, about seven miles from Capernaum. We can well conceive that, when, on His return from the journey through Galilee, Jesus reached this point, He partly dismissed the multitudes who had followed Him. The description of the top of the mountain, and of “the plain,” agrees with the requirements of the case. Robinson has indeed shown that no weighty grounds can be urged in favor of this tradition (ii. p. 371). It is found only in the Latin Church, and is first mentioned in the 13th century by Brocardus [about a. d. 1283]; while this tradition is apparently contradicted by another, which designates the same mountain as the spot where Christ fed the five thousand with the five loaves. Still, no valid ground can be urged against it. A striking historical illustration, by way of contrast, is connected with the Horns of Hattin, assuming that ridge to be the Mount of Beatitudes. On the spot where Jesus had described the kingdom of heaven, and pronounced the meek and the peacemakers blessed, the most bloody battles have been fought! (See C. v. Raumer, p. 37.) On the 5th of July, 1187, the celebrated battle of Hattin took place, in which the last remnant of the Crusaders was destroyed on the height of Tell Hattin, after the army had been beaten by Sultan Saladin in the valley. Again, on the plain of Jezreel, Bonaparte defeated, in 1799, with 3000 men, an army of 25,000 Turks.—From the frequent repetition of the expression, Jesus went up into a mountain, εἰς τὸ ὄρος, Gfrörer and Bruno Bauer have inferred that the mountain was merely mythical, and that it always referred to one and the same locality. But in all these narratives, the term “mountain” is used in contradistinction to the places where the people were encamped (Leben Jesu, ii. 2, p. 676). Ebrard (Kritik, etc., p. 349) suggests that the expression is sufficiently explained by the circumstance, that throughout Palestine there was no plain from which mountains rose, but that the country was an extended plain intersected by valleys. But this is only partially true, as there are considerable mountain-tops in the country; although the configuration of Palestine may partly have given rise to such a general mode of expression as “to go up into a mountain.”

Occasion of this address.—According to Wiescler (Chronologische Synopse, p. 205), the year from the autumn 779 to that of 780 had been a sabbatical year. Thus the remembrance of the jubilee was still fresh in the minds of the people. For, although the peculiar ordinances connected with the jubilee were no longer observed even at the time of the prophets, the symbolical import of the institution must still have been cherished by the people. The passage from Isaiah 61:0, which Jesus had shortly before read in the synagogue at Nazareth (Luke 4:14, etc.), referred to the year of grace of the Lord. The symbolical idea of this institution which had pervaded the song of Mary, was fully unfolded and developed in the Sermon on the Mount. (Leben Jesu, ii. 2, p. 571.)

Relation between the Sermon on the Mount as reported by Matthew, and the parallel passages in Luke and Mark.—This relation is explained, 1. by the difference between the two discourses; 2. by the circumstance that Luke records in other passages the admonitions which were specially addressed to the disciples. This remark applies more especially to the Lord’s Prayer, Luke 11:1-4; to the admonition to prayer, Matthew 5:9-13; to the simile in Matthew 5:34-36; and to the warning against excessive care for the things of this life, Luke 12:22-31. Still, it is possible that some of the statements in the first Sermon on the Mount, which recur in the other Gospels, may have been repeated on other occasions: for example, Mark 9:50; Luke 12:34; Luke 13:24; Luke 16:13; Luke 16:17-18. Others, again, may have been introduced by the Evangelist in another context: for example, Luke 12:58.

Matthew 5:1. And seeing the multitudes, ἰδὼνδὲ κ. τ. λ.—This is evidently meant to account for the delivery of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus frequently saw multitudes around Him, but here a peculiar emphasis is laid on that circumstance. The question then arises, whether the crowding of the multitude around had induced Him to deliver the Sermon on the Mount in their presence, and that with all which it contains concerning the scribes and Pharisees; or whether, on the contrary, it had induced Him to explain these truths in a confidential manner to His disciples alone. We adopt the latter view, which is supported by the analogy of Mark 3:12-13; Luke 6:12-13; John 6:23, comp. with Matthew 5:15.

His disciples.—It is evident that at that period Jesus had already made a separation between His disciples and the people. But Matthew distinguishes between this and the later choice of the twelve Apostles, Matthew 10:1. The expression implies that a larger circle of friends and assistants had gathered around Jesus, among whom the twelve occupied a prominent place.

Matthew 5:2. And He opened His mouth.—The phrase ἀνοίγειν τὸ στόμα, פָּהִח פֶּה, is, in the first place, oriental and pictorial; secondarily, it indicates an important element, that of confidential and solemn communication: Job 3:1; Daniel 10:16. This applies especially to the moment when the Incarnate Word opened His mouth to enunciate the eternal principles of the New Covenant. We note here the contrast, as between Sinai and the Mount of Beatitudes, the law and the Gospel, so also between the speaking of God during the Old Testament, accompanied as it then was by thunder and lightning, and Jesus “opening His mouth” under the New Testament.

Matthew 5:3-16. The Sermon on the Mount, in the narrower sense ( Matthew 5:3-16) comprises the seven beatitudes, and their application to the disciples of Jesus under the twofold simile of the salt of the earth, and the light of the world; the latter being again arranged under two similes—that of the city on the hill, and that of the candlestick. The seven admonitions are rightly characterized as so many beatitudes. From this we infer, above all, the evangelical character of this discourse of Jesus, since, 1. He designates each stage in the development of the spiritual life a beatitude, because it imparts beatitude. The blessedness which Himself at the first imparts, is succeeded by being blessed, even unto perfect beatitude in glory. 2. Since, on that account, He does not prescribe any course of action conformable to the law or to His teaching, but a life conformable to the law, as a manifestation of His teaching. 3. He presents the great outlines of New Testament righteousness as consisting in self-knowledge, felt want, suffering, emptiness, or susceptibility, which the Lord will meet out of the heavenly fulness of His own kingdom. 4. He presents the blessings of the kingdom of heaven in their perfectness as spiritual in their character, and as the property of the beatified. 5. In the succession of these beatitudes He marks the development of the new life from its commencement to its completion. Luther: “This is indeed a fair, sweet, and pleasant commencement of His preaching and teaching. For He does not come in like Moses, or like a teacher of the law, with commands, threats, and terrors, but in the most kindly manner, with attractions, and allurements, and most sweet promises.” The old arrangement into seven beatitudes is perfectly correct. The seventh beatitude, “Blessed are the peacemakers,” marks the climax: “They shall be called the children of God.” In the eighth beatitude, the other seven are only summed up under the idea of the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven in its relation to those who persecute it; while the ninth is a description of the eighth, with reference to the relation in which these righteous persons stand to Christ. The seven beatitudes, therefore, describe the blessedness of the righteousness of God, as it appears in the last instance, on the one hand, in being persecuted for righteousness’ sake, and on the other, for Christ’s sake. This also casts a new light upon each of the seven beatitudes: they are a conflict with false righteousness for true righteousness’ sake: they are for Christ’s sake, and they are a conflict for His sake.

The seven beatitudes form an ascending line, in which the new life is traced from stage to stage, from its commencement to its completion. At the basis we have poverty in spirit, the grand final result of the Old Testament discipline. But, in studying this ascending line of Christian righteousness or virtue, which rests on the basis of spiritual poverty, we must not lose sight of the parallels which they contain. Manifestly, each of the beatitudes expresses a new (religious) relationship toward God, and, side by side with it, a new (moral) relationship toward the world. This will appear more clearly from the following table:—

Blessed are ye, the disciples, if ye are such. Thus shall ye be:—(a) The salt of the earth. (b)The light of the world.1. A city set on a hill.

2. A candle put on a candlestick.

Matthew 5:3. Blessed, Μακάριοι, אִשְׁרֵי, Psalms 1:1.—“From the explanatory sentences, which commence with ὅτι ( Matthew 5:3-10), we gather what blessedness Jesus has in view—that of the kingdom of Messiah.” Again, Jesus declares those blessed whom the men of the world would hold to be most unhappy. He designates by that term circumstances which, to those looking merely at the outside, would appear far from enviable, and traits of character running directly contrary to the carnal views and the legal righteousness of the Jews. Hence these sentences are so many paradoxes. “Although these statements of Christ run directly counter to the carnal prejudices of His contemporaries, His utterances contain nothing that was either entirely new or unknown, since all these beatitudes are based upon passages of the Old Testament (Isaiah 57:15; Isaiah 61:1-3; Psalms 34:11-19; Psalms 37:11; Psalms 73:1; 1 Samuel 2:5; Psalms 51:17; Ecclesiastes 7:4, etc.).” O. von Gerlach. It is worthy of notice, that, like the beatitudes of Jesus, that in Psalms 1:0 both presupposes a corresponding state of mind, and admonishes believers to cherish and seek such a spiritual disposition.

The poor in spirit, οἱπτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύ ματι.—The dative is here used to designate them more particularly: in their spirit, or in reference to their spirit, or spiritual life; those who feel themselves spiritually poor, and hence realize their deep and inexpressible want of the Spirit, and long for the religion of the Spirit (The opposite of this in Revelation 3:17.) Hence the expression does not imply poverty of spirit in reference to man, far less intellectual poverty (as Fritzsche thinks). The idea, that it refers to external poverty, voluntarily chosen, or to a vow of voluntary poverty, as some of the older Roman Catholic commentators imagine (Maldonatus, Cornelius à Lap.), deserves no further notice. The addition, τῷπνεύματι, forms a primary and essential characteristic of Christianity. Although wanting in the corresponding passage in Luke, the expression refers there also to spiritual poverty. Köstlin fancies that the omission in Luke is due to Ebionite leanings; while Matthew purposely added the words, “in spirit,” to mark the difference. But this hypothesis is only an attempt to carry out the theory of Baur, that the first Christians had been Ebionites. It is indeed true that the expression bears special reference to the poor and needy of the Old Testament theocracy (Isaiah 61:1; Isaiah 66:2). But those Ebionites were not poor in the sense of their entertaining carnal expectations of the Messiah, but in that of spiritual longing for true righteousness. This feeling of spiritual poverty, which appeared at the time of the prophets, had now attained full maturity. It had been “fulfilled;” and hence coincided with the μετάνοια in its origin, as this grace unfolds in the two succeeding beatitudes, and forms the germ of the ταπεινοφροσύνη. The full meaning of the expression is brought out in the following remark of Tholuck:–“To translate accurately, we must render the term by egeni and mendici, for this is the meaning of πτωχός, while πένης corresponds to the Latin pauper.” On the humility cherished by Gentile sages, especially on that of Socrates, comp. Heubner, p. 50.

Matthew 5:4. They that mourn, οἱ πενθοῦντες, Isaiah 61:2.—We must not apply the term (with Chrysostom and most of the older interpreters) to deep mourning on account of sin, nor yet to sadness and sorrow in general. This state of mind is explained by the poverty in spirit from which it springs, and tends toward hungering and thirsting after righteousness. From the first, the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven was the great object aimed after,—even in poverty of spirit, much more in mourning. But as yet this object has not been clearly realized by the consciousness. Hence it implies spiritual mourning, divine sorrow, in opposition to the sorrow of the world (2 Corinthians 7:10). This mourning in God (by His Spirit), after God (His blessings), and for God (His glory), includes not only mourning on account of sin, but also on account of its consequences; more particularly, is it the expression of a state of mind when the world, with its possessions and pleasures, is no longer capable of satisfying, gladdening, or comforting. Those who thus mourn are to be comforted—of course, in the same sense in which they mourn; but their consolation is to be absolute (see Romans 8:18; 2 Corinthians 4:17; John 14:3). This comfort necessarily implies the forgiveness of sins; it also includes the promise that their godly sorrow shall, in every respect, be removed by the kingdom of heaven, which is promised to the poor in spirit.

Matthew 5:5. The meek.—Psalms 37:11, according to the Septuagint: οἱ δὲ πραεῖς κληρονομήσουσι γῆν. They who suffer in love, or love in patience; they who, in the strength of love, boldly yet meekly, meekly yet boldly, bear injustice, and thereby conquer. In this beatitude, the promise of the Holy Land (the enemies being driven out) is a symbol of the kingdom of heaven; still, outward possession, and that in all its fulness, is also referred to in the expression: the land, the earth.

Matthew 5:6. Hunger and thirst after righteousness.—A figurative mode of indicating a desire so intense as to be painful. Wetstein. (The substantive is here in the accusative, τὴν δικαιοσύνην, though commonly in the genitive.) Δικαιοσύνη, with the article, the only genuine righteousness, the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven; but, above all, righteousness not as a work of our own, but as a gift,—a fact not of the outer, but of the inner life. Hence the expression refers neither to the Christian religion (Kuinoel) nor to uprightness, the restoration of which was, according to Meyer, the grand object of Christ. Righteousness is correspondence to the law; the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven, that to the law of the Spirit.

They shall be filled, i. e., with righteousness.—This promise applies neither exclusively to justification by faith, nor to final acquittal in judgment; but includes both justification, sanctification, and final acquittal,—all of which, indeed, are inseparably connected with justification.

Matthew 5:7. The merciful, according to the standard of the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven. De Wette applies this in the first place to the members of the theocracy, who, victorious over the Gentiles, should not execute vengeance upon them. The idea is correct, if taken in a higher and a spiritual sense. They are the meek, who, having formerly been on the defensive, have now taken the offensive. The meek bear the injustice of the world; the merciful bravely address themselves to the wants of the world. They shall obtain mercy, as being the objects of mercy. As mourning, they are delivered from the sorrows of life; as longing after righteousness, from the guilt of life; and now as the merciful, from all the misery of life. But this is only the negative element; the positive appears in the gradation: they shall be comforted, they shall be satisfied, they shall obtain mercy, be inwardly renewed and restored. And all this, in accordance with the grand fundamental principle of the kingdom of God. See Matthew 7:2.

Matthew 5:8. The pure in heart, οἱκα θαραὶ τῇ κασ δίᾳ. —This must refer to righteousness as the ruling principle of the heart and inner life. Purity of heart consists in that steady direction of the soul toward the divine life which excludes every other object from the homage of the heart. Hence “inward moral integrity” is not sufficient; irrespective of the fact, that such integrity bears reference to an external moral standard. Our Lord, however, does not require absolute purity; else He would have said: They behold God. The term refers to a life pure in the inmost tendency and direction of the heart, because it is entirely set upon what is eternally and absolutely pure. Hence it applies to walking in the Spirit, or to a life of sanctification, or to being born of God (1 John 3:9). When thus the inmost heart is pure. its outgoings in life will also be pure. The inner life will ever manifest itself more and more clearly as “seeing God.”

They shall see God.—The expression does not refer merely to an internal knowledge of God (according to Gregory of Nyssa, Theophylact, Tholuck, etc.), nor (according to de Wette) to direct spiritual communion with God here and hereafter,—far less to Messianic beatitude generally (Kuinoel and others), under the Oriental figure of a man beholding his king, or appearing before him. These ideas are, however, included in the final and perfect seeing of God. But, on the other hand, we cannot agree with Meyer, that it refers to the beatific vision of saints, when in the resurrection body they shall behold the glory of God in the kingdom of His Son (Revelation 22:4). For it is evident that in all these seven promises no interval of space or time intervenes between the longing and the satisfaction. This vision of God commences when the eye of the soul opens, or when spiritual vision begins in the regenerate heart (Ephesians 1:18): it is perfected when in eternity we shall see Him face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12; 1 John 3:2).

Matthew 5:9. The peacemakers, οἱ εἰρηνο ποιοί.—The peacemakers of the true theocracy, not merely the peaceful, εἰρηνικοί, James 3:17. It denotes the exertions made by the pure heart on behalf of the kingdom of heaven, alluding more particularly to the messengers of peace under the New Testament,—not with reference to their official capacity, but to the power and truth of the word which they bear (Colossians 1:20; Proverbs 12:20). The promise which immediately follows, corresponds with their exalted position as here indicated.

They shall be called the sons of God (in the full theocratic sense, as children of age, υἱοί, and not merely τέκνα).—The term is not simply equivalent to such expressions as υἱοθεσία and κληρονομία, in Romans 8:17, and Galatians 4:5-7 (Meyer), nor to being beloved of God (Kuinoel), nor to being like unto God (Paulus); but indicates that, by their fellowship with the Son, and their dependence upon Him, they enjoy the exalted rank of full-grown children of God. They are the children of God as the messengers of Christ, the instruments of His kingdom, and the organs of the Holy Ghost. The term sons may have been used, because the only begotten Son had not yet fully revealed Himself in that character; after which they appear as His friends, His representatives, His messengers, and His organs. Their dignity and glory in the kingdom of heaven—viewed spiritually—constitutes the promise given to them. Hence “κληθήσονται, not erunt (Kuinoel), but what they really are, is here expressly recognized by the name given to them.”—Meyer.

Matthew 5:10. They which are persecuted, δεδιωγμένοι.—Here the conflict between the new spiritua theocracy and its old degenerate form is introduced forming a transition from the ideal representation of the disciples to the circumstances in which they were actually placed, and which are specially referred to in the following verse.—By righteousness is not merely meant here the grace alluded to in Matthew 5:6; it rather comprises the substance of all the seven beatitudes,—i. e., righteousness not merely in its grand manifestation, but also in its first origin and final completion, more especially in the form in which it appears in the peacemakers, exciting the resistance of the world (see Matthew 10:0; 1 Peter 3:14.)

Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.—The same expression as in Matthew 5:3. Nor, indeed, could the kingdom of heaven be here different from what it was at the outset; only the manner of its possession and enjoyment is now other than it had been. To the poor in spirit the kingdom of heaven consists, in the first place, in their being comforted; while those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake will, according to Matthew 5:12, partake of that great reward in heaven itself which is promised to all who suffer for the sake of Christ. In Matthew 5:3, we have the kingdom of heaven with all that it implies,—here, with all that it imparts; there, as objectively set before us,—here, as our own personal and actual possession.

Matthew 5:11. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, etc., for my sake.—This is the special application of what the Lord had above declared, or the interpretation of the language used in Matthew 5:10. The disciples are those who are blessed; righteousness is personified in the Lord. Yet there is this difference: the Lord is so unconditionally; the disciples conditionally, viz., in as far as they prove themselves disciples. We are not inclined, with Beza, to limit the expressions, “revile and persecute,” to outward sufferings by the civil magistrate. The expression ἕνεκενἐμυῦ refers to all the three verbs, and the word ψευδόμενοι is accordingly superfluous.

By pointing to the great reward in heaven, the Lord sets the fact more clearly than ever before His hearers, that the kingdom of Messiah is not of this world, and that perfectness will only be attained there, while here we are to prepare for it by suffering and witness-bearing on behalf of Christ.

Matthew 5:12. For so persecuted they the prophets.—The example of the prophets was intended to show the disciples that this struggle between them and carnal Judaism was not of recent date, but had been carried on even at the time of the prophets (Acts 7:51-52). But it would also convince them that they stood on the same level with the seers of old, and that they were to continue and complete Divine revelation under the New Testament.

Matthew 5:16. The high calling of the disciples had been announced in the beatitudes. The Lord now proceeds to show more fully both its necessity and its glory. Viewing their calling, 1. in its spiritual and inward aspect, the disciples are the salt of the earth; 2. viewed externally, and in their corporate capacity, they are the light of the world, viz., (a) a city set on a hill, as being the Church of God, and (b) candle on a candlestick, in their capacity as Apostles. These two ideas, however, must not be viewed as exclusive of each other.

Matthew 5:13. The salt of the earth.—A figure of the element of nourishment and preservation in the kingdom of heaven, preventing corruption, preserving nutriment, giving savor to it, and rendering it healthy. A similar use of the term “salt” occurs in many of the proverbs and symbols of the ancients.—The idea, that the term salt is here used to indicate an indispensable commodity (Fritzsche), is far too vague; nor does it exclusively refer to the use of salt in sacrifices,—the expression implying that they were the salt of the whole earth.—The term “earth” is figurative, denoting, not mankind generally, but society as then existing, both in the theocracy and the Gentile world,—being the definite form which the world had assumed (Psalms 93:0; John 2:12; Revelation 13:11). The disciples were destined, as the salt of the ancient theocratic world, to arrest the corruption which had commenced, and to impart a fresh and lasting savor.

But if the salt have lost its savor, μωρανθῆ.—In Mark 9:50, ἄναλον γέιηται. Comp. with this the following extract from Maundrell’s Journey to Palestine: “In the salt-valley, about four hours from Aleppo, there is a declivity of about twelve feet, caused by the continual removal of salt. I broke off a piece where the ground was exposed to the rain, the sun, and the air; and found that, while it glittered and contained particles of salt, it had wholly lost its peculiar savor. But the portions within, which were in juxtaposition to the rock, still retained the savor of salt.” Comp. also Winer sub Salz [and other Biblical Encyclops]. Salt which is quite pure cannot lose its savor, but only if it have any, foreign admixture. The same remark applies to our spiritual life. Viewed in itself, it remains pure salt; but in its human form, and with the admixture of human elements, it may lose its savor. At the same time the Lord here speaks hypothetically: if the salt have lost its savor. The point of comparison in the figure lies in the idea: salt which has lost its savor cannot be salted again, nor a corrupted evangelist be evangelized anew. Jansen: non datur sal sails. (Comp., however, 2 Peter 2:21; Hebrews 6:4.) For the salt is the thing to be salted [as the Com. E. Vers, correctly translates: “wherewith shall it be salted?”], comp. the following εἰς οὐδὲν, etc., and not the food, as Luther’s version would make it: “Womit soll man salzen?” (“Wherewith shall men salt?”) An apostate from the faith has, so far as he is concerned, made void the saving power of salvation; nor is there another and higher substitute for the spiritual office of the ministry, if once it have become degenerate.

There remains, then, only the judgment. Salt which has lost its savor is only fit to be cast out, and trodden under foot of men. Those who are henceforth to carry on and continue the history of the world, will tread it under foot as they pass on their way. According to Theophylact, it refers to exclusion from the office of teacher; according to Chrysostom, to greatest contempt; according to Luther, to rejection by Christ.

Matthew 5:14. Ye are the light of the world.—Comp. John 9:5. In all these descriptions of the disciples, the Lord presupposes that His Spirit and His righteousness have become the principle of their life. They are the light of the world, as deriving their light from Him who is the true light of the world (Ephesians 3:9; Philippians 2:15), just as they are the sons of God in Him who is the eternal Son of God.—Thus He awakens in them the knowledge of His own dignity by a sense of their destiny.

A city set on a hill.—It is generally supposed that Jesus had at the time the town of Sated in view, which lies on the top of a hill. But Robinson has shown [iii. p. 425] that this supposition is, to say the least, improbable, since it is doubtful whether Safed then already existed.

Matthew 5:15. Under a bushel.—The common measure used in houses, holding about a peck. “In the East, the practice is to place a candle on the floor, and to cover it with a measure used for corn, when it is desired to keep it burning and yet to prevent its effects for a time” (?).—Tholuck. Just as the candlestick is the means of diffusing the light, so the bushel that of confining it; or, realizing the full idea of an upturned bushel, confining it within very narrow limits. The same relation exists between the limited measure of officialism, of intellect, of asceticism, of traditionalism in life or teaching, and the infinite fulness of light issuing from living Christianity.

The candle on the candlestick.4—The ministry should not conceal the light of knowledge, but hold it up, so that its brightness may be diffused as widely as possible throughout the apartment.

Matthew 5:16. Your light.—This proves that the light by which they become candlesticks is not their own, but given from above. It is this light which is to shine before all men; in other words, they are openly and boldly to come forward with the message of the New Testament, in accordance with their vocation as disciples.

That they may see your good works.—From the wording of the passage, we infer, that by the good works something different is meant from the light mentioned above. We regard them as the special graces and manifestations of the disciples (such as miracles, the creation of a new life, the fruits of regeneration), which must be viewed in the light of Christianity, and may serve as a practical commentary on the word.

Glorify your Father.—A most glorious prospect is here opened up to those who are reviled and persecuted. A lively representation this, also, of the conviction wrought in men, and of the blessed certitude resulting from the conduct of the disciples. Men shall glorify the Father of the Christians; and hence, also, adopt their faith and their acknowledgment of God in Christ, and thus become blessed. But all the glory is to be the Lord’s.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. In the Sermon on the Mount, the whole doctrine of Christ is exhibited in the first stage of its development, as afterward it is expounded in a somewhat analogous manner in the Epistle of James. We have here the new Christian life as the eternal law of the Spirit, or else the old law in its Christian transformation as a new life. If it is said that the Lord here exhibited the law, or Old Testament righteousness, in all its fulness, we add, that this fulness of the law removed the legal character of the law. The spirit of the law transforms the outward letter into something internal, into a power of life and vital principle; it substitutes one reality in place of many ordinances; and instead of the series of ten commandments (and ten is the number of the world, while seven is that of the sanctuary), a succession of seven stages of sacred and spiritual development of the new life. The former contrast between the demands of God and the performances of man—between the Judge and the guilty sinner—becomes now that of blessing and receiving, between a gracious Father and merciful Saviour, and the humble believer. In short, righteousness in all its fulness consists in this, that Christ Himself is all righteousness, and that His righteousness is imparted to man through the grand medium of reception, viz., poverty in spirit.

As the passage under consideration describes the kingdom of heaven in its principles, power, and graces, so Matthew 10:0 details its organization, which marks the second stage in the development of the teaching of Christ.

2. The contrast between the Old and the New Covenant is here strikingly brought out,—(a) In its representations and outward manifestation: Moses and Christ.—Mount Sinai in the rocky wilderness, and the Mount of Beatitudes in the midst, of a populous district in the Holy Land.—Moses alone, concealed from view by the clouds of an awful thunder-storm; Christ surrounded by His disciples, and sitting among them.—Mount Sinai, with bounds set about it, and the people at a distance; the Mount of Beatitudes encompassed by multitudes.—In the one case, the people fleeing from the mountain; in the other, crowding toward its summit, and waiting on its ridge. (b) In its essential characteristics: Moses received the law from Jehovah by the ministry of angels, while in a state of ecstasy; but Christ brought it forth from the depths of His theanthropic heart, in full and calm consciousness.—The law of Moses written upon tablets of stone, the word of Christ on the hearts of His disciples.—In the one case, thunder and lightnings; in the other, only beatitudes.—In the one case, successive demands, each isolated, and each taking away all hope of life; in the other, successive blessings, connected together and creative, almost like the six days of creation.—In the one case, the first tables of the law broken in pieces by Moses, in his wrath at the apostasy of the people, and other tables substituted with sacrificial injunctions, stricter than the former; in the other case, the first sermon delivered on the Mount, and at its second delivery, adapted to the wants and the weaknesses of the people.—In the one case, everything from without, in the objective form of outward commandments; in the other, everything committed to the heart—everything from within, wafted, so to speak, in the life-giving breezes of the holy mountain,—In the one case, the ancient Gospel-promise transformed into law; in the other, even the law with its demands—such as poverty of spirit, etc.—transformed into Gospel.—In the one case, the theocracy founded in the shadows of the letter; in the other, the kingdom of heaven in the reality and life of the Spirit. (c) In its results: Sinai was adapted to a particular era, to a particular nation, and for a definite educational purpose.5 But the word of Christ equally applies to all times and to all peoples, being the guide to salvation.—The law terrifies the people, and makes them flee; the Sermon on the Mount addresses itself to their hearts, and draws them to the Lord.

3. There is an obvious connection between the Mount of Beatitudes and the other holy mountains. The first beatitude (that of the poor in spirit) brings us to Sinai; the second and third (the mourning, and the meek) point to Moriah and Zion; the fourth and fifth (those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, and the merciful) direct to Golgotha, in its twofold import (as the Mount of the Curse and that of Reconciliation); while the sixth and seventh remind us of Gethsemane and the Mount of Olives, and of Bethany and the Mount of Olives, or also of Mount Tabor.4. It were a great mistake to place the seven beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount in the same category with the ten commandments of the law. This were not to enrich, but to make them all the poorer. Their fulness consists in this, that each of these beatitudes comprises all the ten commandments, only from a higher and more comprehensive point of view, as summed up in the law of the Spirit. Even the first quality of poverty in spirit comprises Mount Sinai, with all its commandments, inasmuch as this state of feeling is the aim, the object, the spiritual effect, and the substance of the entire legislation; and hence, also, the germ of the whole new life. It is impossible to feel poor in spirit, without at the same time longing for the riches of the Spirit of God, or of the kingdom of heaven. Hence we draw the following inferences as to the succession of the beatitudes: (1) Each new stage contains again the first stage in a new form. (2) Each new stage preserves all the former stages. (3) In the last, they are summed up and presented under the form of life which has attained its perfection. For, first, it is evident that the seven beatitudes are in reality only one beatitude. Secondly, the seven graces or spiritual states constitute one grand direction in reference to God and to our neighbor, even the direction of the heart unto truth. Lastly, the seven promises are not seven distinct elements, but seven successive forms under which the kingdom of heaven is presented. Under the first form, the kingdom of heaven itself is presented, but mainly objectively; while in the last form it reappears, but this time mainly subjectively, as finally possessed by the saints.5. The following contrasts exhibit the relation between the apparent descent, and the actual ascent of souls, as presented in the seven beatitudes.

(1) To be poor in spirit, and

—To possess the kingdom of heaven, as the object set before us, or as possession of the heart.

(2) To mourn without measure,

—To be comforted without measure.

(3) Meekly to bear injustice upon earth,

—To obtain the dominion of the earth by spiritual triumphs.

(4) To hunger and thirst in spirit after righteousness (to bear the judgment of God),

—To be satisfied in the highest sense, and absolutely (to obtain food and drink).

(5) In the service of mercy, to devote our life to the wants of the world,

—To rest in the bosom of infinite mercy.

(6) Purity of heart: absolute renunciation of the world, death of our own will,

—To behold God. Absolute possession of all in this vision God. Blessed enjoyment of this vision.

(7) To be peacemakers. To be sent and cast into every burning controversy of the world. To descend as mediators to the very gates of hell,

—The glory and beauty of the sons of God, or of those who are princes in His eternal kingdom. The vehicles of the blessing which cometh’s from God. Transformed into the image of the Son of God.

Generally:

To suffer for righteousness’ sake,

—Actual inward possession of the kingdom of heaven.

To suffer for Christ’s sake,

—A new world: the eternal inheritance, the great reward in heaven.

6. The paradox exhibited in these contrasting statements, which probably comes out most distinctly in the first beatitude, indicates the relationship between Christianity and the world, and the judgment of the world generally. Christianity itself is that “foolishness of God” which is wiser than the wisdom of this world, and that truth of God which sweeps away the delusive appearances of the world (comp. 1 Corinthians 1:17, etc.).

7. It is evident that the seven stages here described may be arranged under twice three stages, based upon poverty in spirit, and indicating a threefold relationship toward God and toward the world: 1, religious and moral relationship to God: mourning, hungering, and thirsting; purity of heart; 2. moral and religions relationship toward the world: meekness, mercy, peacemaking. But besides, it is important to notice how each of these stages is always the result of that which precedes it. Thus poverty in spirit leads to mourning; mourning renders meek; meekness obtains a view of eternal righteousness; hungering and thirsting after this righteousness renders infinitely merciful and compassionate; mercy surrenders everything, renounces all, and thus becomes purity of heart, which surrenders all, and devotes all. Purity of heart is the disposition requisite for the Divine commission of bringing peace into the world. The peacemakers necessarily suffer for righteousness’ sake (Isaiah 52:7); and in measure as they apprehend the kingdom of love in its essential features, will they see and understand that all is but suffering for Christ’s sake.

This progress from poverty in spirit to the highest stage of peacemaking and suffering for Christ’s sake, is the effect of Divine grace acting upon and influencing the soul which is humbled under a sense of spiritual poverty. Accordingly, the first effect of beholding the kingdom of heaven, is to mourn.—Similarly, to be really comforted, leads to meekness.—The consciousness of special victory achieved by bearing wrong, issues in hungering and thirsting after righteousness.—Those who are satisfied are merciful, etc.8. The Sermon on the Mount, which embodies the spiritual principles of the kingdom of heaven in all its bearings and aspects, may be compared with other forms of religious and moral legislation. In the passage succeeding it, a comparison is instituted between this new form of the eternal law and the law of Moses and the traditions of the Pharisees. Not that the Sermon on the Mount is a rectification, but a harmonious development, the continuation and application, of the law of God under the Old Covenant; while the contrast with traditionalism is strongly and markedly brought out (On the relation between the Sermon on the Mount and the sayings of heathen sages, comp. Tholuck’s Commentary. On the false application of the Sermon on the Mount to civic and political relationship, by Quakers and other sectaries, Comp. Stier’s Discourses of Jesus.)

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Glorious accomplishment of the prediction of Moses: “A Prophet like unto me,” etc.; Deuteronomy 18:15.—Mount Sinai, and the obscure, unknown Mount of Beatitudes.—The sacred mountains.—Import of the expression: “He went up into a mountain.”6—The law of the letter spiritually explained, and the law of the Spirit expressed in the letter.—Outward and inward tradition: Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob, Caiaphas and Christ.—The first and the second Sermon on the Mount, or the disciples and the people.—The place whence Christ taught, a symbol of Christian teaching: 1. A stone on the summit (let our doctrine be simple); 2. the summit of a mountain (let our doctrine be exalted); 3. a place of prayer (let it be holy, derived from heaven); 4. a place of pilgrimage (let it be from life, and for life).—“He opened His mouth:” this the completion of Revelation 7:0—The Old Covenant with its ten commandments; the New with its seven beatitudes.—The law given by Moses: grace and truth appeared by Jesus Christ.—The one beatitude of Christians unfolding into seven beatitudes.—“Blessed are:” we must be blessed in order to become blessed.—Necessity of a state of grace in the kingdom of God. 1. Such a state is the condition of further attainments. 2. It precedes all gracious action.—The seven beatitudes marking deepening humiliation.—The seven beatitudes marking growing exaltation.—Correspondence of this humiliation and exaltation.—“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for,” etc. (Similarly each of the other beatitudes by itself furnishing a theme for precious meditation.)—The kingdom of heaven in its grand outlines: comfort, gain, satisfaction, enjoyment of mercy, vision of God, adoption into the family of God.—Or again, the kingdom of peace and of joy; of love and of meekness; of righteousness; of mercy; of blessed knowledge; of heavenly peacemaking and of glory.—Poverty in spirit the fruit of the law (of the Old Covenant), and the germ of the Gospel (of the New Covenant).—The crowning glory of the law is poverty in spirit.—The triumph of the law consists in that it makes poor; that of the Gospel, in that it makes rich.—A well-marked and definite state consists in a definite and well-marked tendency of mind and heart: poverty in spirit is longing for the entire kingdom of heaven.—A view of the kingdom of heaven in its nearness leads to mourning.—He who has been comforted by a manifestation of the kingdom of heaven, becomes meek.—Victory over men and the earth leads to hungering and thirsting after the righteousness of God.—If we have been satisfied in the house of God, we shall learn to be merciful.—He who reposes on eternal mercy may well surrender all, and be pure in heart.—One glimpse of this vision of God converts man into a messenger of peace. 1. He has seen the peace of the Spirit, and carries it to other spirits; 2. he has seen the peace of the blessed, and brings it to men; 3. he has seen the peace of nature, and introduces it into society.—The children of God, the image of the Son of God.—The righteousness of the kingdom of heaven springing from a sevenfold sense of unrighteousness: poverty, mourning, etc.—To suffer for righteousness’ sake, is to suffer for Christ’s sake, and vice versâ.—Holy suffering the most glorious doing: 1. As the crown and seal of every deed of faith; 2. as the victory over temptation to evil-doing; 3. as the victory over the evil deeds of men; 4. as a testimony to the deed of God.—“Falsely,” or “for My sake.”—It is only if we really suffer for His sake that the Lord charges Himself with it.—Blessed are they which are persecuted for Christ’s sake.—Even revilers contribute to our blessedness.—Christians as companions of the prophets, 1. in their sufferings; 2. in their blessedness.—The persecutions of the world designed to prepare believers for being the salt of the earth and the light of the world.—The disciples of the Lord, the salt of the earth, the light of the world.—The disciples are to be the salt of the earth, 1. by consuming death, 2. by preventing corruption, 3. by promoting life.—If the salt have lost its savor, nothing can remedy the evil; so also with a dead profession, and a dead ministry.—Salt that has lost its savor is cast on the great road of life, as exemplified, 1. by heathen antiquity, 2. by theocratic Judaism, 3. by mediæval traditionalism.—The disciples of the Lord the light of the world through the great light of heaven.—Only in the light of the Lord can we diffuse light.—The Church of God a city set on a hill.—The candle of the ministry in the house of God.—The candle is not to be put under the bushel, but on a candlestick: (a) Not under the bushel of the letter merely, or of officialism, or of our limited understanding, or of our narrow sympathies; but (b) on the candlestick of a sound confession, of ecclesiastical order, of spiritual liberty, and of a Christian life.—The stake of martyrs the lofty candlestick of the Church.—Let your light shine, 1. to enlighten men, 2. to throw light on Christian works, 3. to glorify the Father of lights (James 1:0).—Our Father in heaven is glorified by poverty in spirit, 1. because He bestows it; 2. because it leads to Him; 3. because in Him it obtains the kingdom of heaven.

Starke:—Christ will give us also a mouth and wisdom, Luke 21:15.—A preacher must open his mouth without fear or hesitation; confess the truth without being afraid; nor spare any one, whoever he be, Isaiah 58:1.—The larger the audience, and the more anxious it is, the more gladly should the preacher open his mouth.—It ought to be the great concern of man to obtain eternal life, Philippians 2:12.—By pride have we fallen from the kingdom of God, and by humility must we again enter it, James 4:10.—God bestows all in return for all, or rather, in return for nothing.—The greater our faith, the deeper our humility.—The more wretched a man is in his own eyes, the more exalted and acceptable is he in the sight of God.—Sufferings borne for the sake of God, and tears shed for our own sins and for those of our neighbors (Psalms 119:136) are the well-spring of true comfort, Isaiah 61:3.—The comfort of man only increases our sorrow, Job 16:2; but Divine consolation makes the heart joyous and assured, Psalms 94:19.—Meekness builds up, while hot and rash zeal pulls down.—The ungodly have no title to their possessions in this world, and death shall at last deprive them of all, Psalms 49:16.—Luther: Where real hunger and earnestness are awanting, fair appearances will lead to no result.—True hunger seeks for that which affords nourishment and satisfaction.—Whoever showeth mercy shall obtain fresh mercy from God.—You forgive a small error, but God will forgive all your sins. But woe to the unmerciful, James 2:13; Matthew 25:42; Luke 16:25.—By nature no man is pure in heart, Jeremiah 17:9; Genesis 8:21; Proverbs 20:9 : God creates it in us, Psalms 51:10.—Without holiness no man can see the Lord, Hebrews 12:14.—Happy he who, having been born blind, obtains his sight; but more blessed by far the man who, being born spiritually blind, is enabled to see God, Revelation 3:17-18.—Those who love to quarrel, to dispute, and to make strife, are the children of the devil.—It is a sign that we are the children of God, if we love peace and advance it.—Not only what we do, but what we suffer, is a fruit of faith, Hebrews 11:33; Hebrews 11:36.—Believers are hated, reviled, and persecuted on account of the things for which they should be loved and blessed, John 10:32.—Persecution for righteousness’ sake has a great reward.—The more painful to flesh and blood the preaching of the cross, the more readily should it be received, Luke 9:44.—Luther: What comfort that the Son of God Himself calls us blessed, let whoever may speak ill of us! 1 Corinthians 4:3-5.—Christians, and especially ministers, must submit to reviling and persecution: this has always been the lot of the Church; nor is it a good sign when a servant of God is without it, Galatians 6:12.—The Church is preserved despite the fury of Satan.—Let persecutors rage, since Christ offers us such blessed comfort.—He who in his inmost heart rejoices not in the cross of Christ, is not worthy of Him, James 1:2.—To be reviled and persecuted by the world for conscience’ sake, is to be commended and crowned, Revelation 2:10.—By suffering we enter into communion with the prophets and the Lord Jesus Himself.—The inheritance of the saints is in heaven.—Teachers are not only to have salt in themselves, but also to make right use of their salt, so as to apply neither too much nor too little of the pungent, 1 Timothy 4:16.—When the children and servants of God remain stedfast under persecutions, they prove themselves good salt; but if they give way, the salt has lost its savor.—While attempting to avoid persecution, we shall all the more expose ourselves to it.—Believers should be united, that the world may recognize a visible Church, Hebrews 10:25.—The eyes of all are set upon religious men, especially upon those who are teachers, and placed over a church: if they act in accordance with their profession, many are edified; if otherwise, the scandal is all the greater, 2 Corinthians 6:3.—Every Christian must be anxious to bring others to the light and knowledge of the truth, Luke 22:32.—A candle does not put itself upon a candlestick, neither does a minister take upon himself the sacred office, Ephesians 4:11.—He who hides the grace of sanctification, shall lose it.—Blessed the household over which even one believing soul sheds its light.—Faith alone leads to truly good works.—Faith does not stop to inquire whether it is necessary to do good works: it is its nature to manifest itself in good works.—The grand object of good works is the glory of God, 1 Corinthians 10:31.

Lisco:—In the kingdom of Christ, possession of the world is attained, not by might, but by meekness.—What the sun is to this world as the light of the earth, that the disciples of Christ should be to mankind generally.

Gerlach:—The first four beatitudes apply to those who are seeking; the last, to those who know how to preserve what they have found.—The meek shall inherit the earth. Possession of his inheritance commences, spiritually, immediately, since all things belong to believers, and all contributes to their salvation (1 Corinthians 3:21-23; Romans 8:28). But it also literally commences on earth, since the Church of God outlasts all the kingdoms of this world (Daniel 7:17-18), and is destined to become the most extensive kingdom of this world. Lastly, it shall be fully accomplished, when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, and we shall appear with Him in glory.—The highest reward of love to God, is the love of God.—If salt is pungent, it is also savory; if light penetrate and reveal, it also quickens and revives: similarly the servants whom the Lord has furnished for His own work.

Heubner:—If we would listen to the Saviour, we also must ascend with Him from what is earthly to what is heavenly.—On the manifestations of God witnessed in sacred mountains.—When Jesus opens His mouth let us open our hearts.—Luther on the passage: These are the three points which go to make a good preacher: He must come boldly forward; 2. he must open his mouth before all men, and say something worth hearing; 3. he must know when and where to stop.8—Spiritual poverty, Psalms 34:19; Psalms 51:19; Isaiah 41:17; Isaiah 54:6; Isaiah 57:15; Isaiah 61:1; Isaiah 66:2.—Humility stands at the top of all the Beatitudes.—Luther: It is the prerogative of God to make something out of nothing.—To be destitute of spiritual poverty, is to be destitute of all practical religion.—Augustine, Enarr. in Psalms 134:0 : “multi flent fletu Babylonio, quia et gaudent gaudio Babylonio. Qui gaudent lucris et flent damnis, utrumque de Babylonia est. Flere debes sed recordando Sion.”—Let us always bear in mind Revelation 7:17; Revelation 21:4 : “God will wipe away all tears from their eyes.” But how can we hope to enjoy this blessed privilege, if we have not actually shed tears on earth?—Spiritual hungering and thirsting an evidence of spiritual health.—It is our highest honor to bear the cross of Christ.—We shall be rendered perfect by enduring affliction.—The gradation here indicated is absolutely necessary; not one of the steps may safely be left out.

Matthew 5:12. (Pericope.) The order of grace, or of beatitude: 1. It commences with repentance ( Matthew 5:3-5); 2. it rests on faith ( Matthew 5:6); 3. it requires continual sanctification ( Matthew 5:7-9); 4. it is evidenced by suffering (Matthew 5:10-12).

ADDENDA

BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR

The Sinaitic Manuscript of the Bible, which Professor Tischendorf rescued from the obscurity of the Convent of St Catharine on Mount Sinai, and carefully edited in two editions in 1862 and 1863,* two years after the issue of the third edition of Dr. Lange’s Commentary on Matthew, has been carefully compared in preparing the American edition of this work from Chapter 8 to the close of the Gospel of Matthew. I thought I was the first to do so, but just before I finished the last pages of this volume, I found that Bäumlein, in his Commentary on the Gospel of St. John,** and Meyer, in the fifth edition of his Commentary on Matthew, both of which appeared in 1864, had preceded me, at least in print. No critical scholar can ignore this manuscript hereafter. For it is the only complete, and perhaps the oldest of all the uncial codices of the Bible, or at least of the same age and authority as the celebrated Vatican Codex (which is traced by some to the middle of the fourth century), and far better edited by the German Protestant Professor, Tischendorf, than the latter was by the Italian Cardinal, Angelo Mai. In the absence of a simpler mark agreed upon by critics (the proposed designation by the Hebrew א has not yet been adopted, and is justly objected to by Tregelles and others on the ground of typographical inconvenience), I introduce it always as Cod. Sin., and I find that Dr. Meyer in the fifth edition does the same. As I could not procure a copy of the printed edition of this Codex till I had finished the first seven chapters, I now complete the critical part of the work by adding its more important readings in the first seven chapters where they differ from the textus receptus, on which the authorized English, as well as all the older Protestant Versions of the Greek Testament are substantially based.

*Novum Testamentum Sinaiticum, sive Novum Testamentum cum Epistola Barnabœ et Fragmentis Pastoris (Hermæ). Ex Codice Sinaitico auspiciis Alexandri II., omnium Russiarum imperatoris, ex tenebris protracto orbique litterarum tradito accurate descripsit Ænotheus Friderious Constantinus Tischendorf, theol. et phil. Dr., etc. etc. Lipsiæ, 1863. The text is arranged in four columns and covers 148 folios; the learned Prolegomena of the editor 81 folios. There is besides a magnificent photo-lithographed fac-simile edition of the whole Sinaitic Bible, published at the expense of the Emperor of Russia, in 4 volumes (3 for the Old and 1 for the New Testament, the latter in 148 folios), under the title: Bibliorum Codex Sinaiticus Petropolitanus. Auspiciis augustissimis imperatoris Alexandri II. ed. Const. Tischendorf. Petropoli, 1862. A copy of this rare edition I have also consulted occasionally, in the Astor Library of New York. For fuller information on this important Codex (in the words of Tischendorf: “omnium codicum uncialium solus integer omniumque antiquissimus”), we must refer the reader to the ample Prolegomena of Tischendorf, also to an article of Hilgenfeld in his Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Theologie, vol. vii. (1864), p. 74 ff. (who is disposed to assign it to a somewhat later age), and to Scrivener’s treatise, which I have not seen.

**Hengstenberg, in his Commentary on John, concluded in 1863, pays no attention whatever to this Codex, and is very defective in a critical point of view

Matthew 5:11.—Cod. Sin. sustains the lect. rec. ψευδόμενοι (E. V. falsely), which was suspected by Griesbach, and thrown out of the text by Fritzsche, Lachmann, Tischendorf, and Meyer, who says (fifth ed. p. 135) rather too dogmatically: “Das entbehrliche und den Nerv der Rede nur schwächende Wort ist ein frommer, ungefügiger, und daher auch verschieden gestellter Zuzatz. Comp Crit. Note 2 on p. 98.

Footnotes:

[1] Matthew 5:5.—The transposition of the second and third beatitudes in Lachmann’s and Tischendorf’s editions is not sufficiently sustained by the testimony of Cod. D., the Vulgate, etc., and is at war with the logical order of the beatitudes.

[2] Matthew 5:11.—Falsely, ψευδόμενοι, is poorly supported, and superfluous on account of the words: for My sake. [The evidence against ψευδόμενοι is hardly sufficient to justify its removal from the text. The Vatican codex (as given by Buttmann) and other weighty MSS. and ancient versions have it, and Alford, Wordsworth, and Tregelles retain it, but Tregelles marks it as doubtful. As to the connection, ψευδόμενοι belongs to εἴπωσι, or all the three preceding verbs, but not to ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ.—P. S.]

[3] Matthew 5:15.—[The definite article here indicates the familiar household measure.—P. S.]

[4][Dr. Conant substitutes lamp on the lamp stand, since the C. V. may make a false impression; the candlestick being necessary to this use of the candle, whether hid under a vessel or not. “The lamp (λύχνος), being low, was placed on a support (λυχνία) sufficiently high to give light through the room; and this latter would be equally necessary to the candle with its candlestick, as we use the terms.”—P. S.]

[5]We Note here, how Sir Humphry Davy and Coccejus independently arrive at the same conclusion: “The usages and ceremonies which Moses instituted appear to have been superadded to its spiritual worship, for the purpose, of adapting that religion to a certain climate, and to the peculiar state of the Jewish people. They served rather as the garb of that religion, than as forming an essential part of it” We should rather say, that they were the legal and symbolical form of that religion,—a form in which even the moral law was clothed.

[6][Chr. Wordsworth, in Matthew 5:1 : “Christ had four places of spiritual retirement from the bustle of the world—all, in a certain sense, exemplary: 1. τὴν ἔρημον, for fasting and temptation, conflict with Satan. 2. τὸ ὄρος, for prayer, teaching, miraculous feeding, transfiguration, finally ascension. 3. τὸ πλοῖον (type of the Church), for teaching and miracles. 4. The garden of Gethsemane. agony.”—P. S.]

[7][Dr. Wordsworth, quoting from the fathers on ἀνοίξας τὸ στόμα αν̓τοῦ: “He who before had opened the mouth of Moses and all the Prophets, now opens His own mouth,—He who had taught the world by them concerning Himself, now teaches in His own Person—God with us and He delivers in the Sermon on the Mount a perfect code of Christian Duty.”—P. S.]

[8][If I remember rightly, Luther once gave this homiletical advice (derived from the words: He opened His mouth) in a more pointed form than Heubner, viz.: Tritt frisch auf; thu’s Maul auf; hör bald auf! i.e., “Get up boldly; open the mouth widely; be done quickly.”—P. S.]