Matthew 5:3
Encyclopedia
Matthew 5:3 is the third verse of the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew
in the New Testament
. It is the opening verse of the Sermon on the Mount
, and the section of the sermon known as the Beatitudes
.
In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:
The World English Bible
translates the passage as:
For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 5:3
This verse opens the first of nine statements of who is blessed. Each, except for the last, follows the same pattern of naming a group of people and the reward they will receive. Albright and Mann prefer to word fortunate to blessed they argue that the term has none of the religious implications that the word blessed today has in the English language.
Betz notes that in Jesus' time blessed was a common way of describing someone who is wealthy. In Solon
's discussion of Croesus
in Herodotus
, for instance, the link between being blessed and being wealthy is assumed. Kodjak believes that this opening of the sermon was meant to shock the audience, it was a deliberate inversion of standard values. Today he feels that the text is so common that its shock value has been lost. While not a mainstream view, Betz feels this Beatitude has important pre-Christian precedents. He traces it back to Socrates
' notion of enkrateia, which explained that the philosopher was one who had no interest in wealth. This idea was adopted by the Cynics, who rejected wealth and saw poverty as the only route to freedom. This group, while small, had a wide influence and some of their ideas were embraced by some Jewish communities at the time of Christ.
The poor translates more closely to beggar than to one merely of few possessions. In the New Testament the term applies to those who require the charity of others in order to survive. Nolland notes that there have historically been three main interpretations of what is meant by "the poor" in this verse. One view is that it refers to the disadvantaged, those forced to the fringe of society. An alternative is that it refers to those who willingly surrender their belongings as a sign of piety. The third view is that poverty refers to hardship in general, and not simply economic disadvantage. Matthew makes a second reference to the poor at Matthew 11:5. In that verse it is a reference to Isaiah.
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
in the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
. It is the opening verse of the Sermon on the Mount
Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount is a collection of sayings and teachings of Jesus, which emphasizes his moral teaching found in the Gospel of Matthew...
, and the section of the sermon known as the Beatitudes
Beatitudes
In Christianity, the Beatitudes are a set of teachings by Jesus that appear in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The term Beatitude comes from the Latin adjective beatus which means happy, fortunate, or blissful....
.
In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:
- Blessed are the poor in spirit:
- for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The World English Bible
World English Bible
The World English Bible is a public domain translation of the Bible that is currently in draft form. Work on the World English Bible began in 1997 and was known as the American Standard Version 1997...
translates the passage as:
- "Blessed are the poor in spirit,
- for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven
For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 5:3
This verse opens the first of nine statements of who is blessed. Each, except for the last, follows the same pattern of naming a group of people and the reward they will receive. Albright and Mann prefer to word fortunate to blessed they argue that the term has none of the religious implications that the word blessed today has in the English language.
Betz notes that in Jesus' time blessed was a common way of describing someone who is wealthy. In Solon
Solon
Solon was an Athenian statesman, lawmaker, and poet. He is remembered particularly for his efforts to legislate against political, economic and moral decline in archaic Athens...
's discussion of Croesus
Croesus
Croesus was the king of Lydia from 560 to 547 BC until his defeat by the Persians. The fall of Croesus made a profound impact on the Hellenes, providing a fixed point in their calendar. "By the fifth century at least," J.A.S...
in Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
, for instance, the link between being blessed and being wealthy is assumed. Kodjak believes that this opening of the sermon was meant to shock the audience, it was a deliberate inversion of standard values. Today he feels that the text is so common that its shock value has been lost. While not a mainstream view, Betz feels this Beatitude has important pre-Christian precedents. He traces it back to Socrates
Socrates
Socrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...
' notion of enkrateia, which explained that the philosopher was one who had no interest in wealth. This idea was adopted by the Cynics, who rejected wealth and saw poverty as the only route to freedom. This group, while small, had a wide influence and some of their ideas were embraced by some Jewish communities at the time of Christ.
The poor translates more closely to beggar than to one merely of few possessions. In the New Testament the term applies to those who require the charity of others in order to survive. Nolland notes that there have historically been three main interpretations of what is meant by "the poor" in this verse. One view is that it refers to the disadvantaged, those forced to the fringe of society. An alternative is that it refers to those who willingly surrender their belongings as a sign of piety. The third view is that poverty refers to hardship in general, and not simply economic disadvantage. Matthew makes a second reference to the poor at Matthew 11:5. In that verse it is a reference to Isaiah.