Matthew 5:10
Encyclopedia
Matthew 5:10 is the tenth verse of the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew
in the New Testament
. It is the eighth verse of the Sermon on the Mount
, and also eighth, and to some the last, of what are 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 5:10
St. Augustine
was convinced that there should actually be seven Beatitudes, as seven was considered the holy number. He thus felt that this one was not actually a separate one, but rather a rephrasing of the first Beatitude at Matthew 5:3
. To Augustine this eighth Beatitude symbolized Christ rising on the eighth day, which was also the first day. As with 5:3 this verse cites the Kingdom of Heaven
as the reward, also like that first verse the reward is in the present tense, the other six have it in the future. Kodjak believes that this parallelism with the first verse is to emphasize that this one is the conclusion of the Beatitudes and 5:11
-12
should not be considered part of the group. Davies and Allison also agree that the verse "looks like it has been pieced together from other Beatitudes."
Gundry feels the word translated as persecuted should perhaps best be read as hounded. Hill notes that persecuted is a participle
in the perfect tense which indicates that Jesus' followers had already been persecuted for their righteousness.
This verse has often been cited as an argument for Christian toleration and acceptance. John Locke
prominently cited it in his A Letter Concerning Toleration
. This argument was rebutted by inquisitor
s and others who pointed out that only those persecuted for "righteousness' sake" were to be blessed, something they did not think applied to the enemies of the church.
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 eighth 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 also eighth, and to some the last, of what are 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 they which are persecuted
- for righteousness' sake: 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 those who have been
- persecuted for righteousness' sake,
- for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 5:10
St. Augustine
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
was convinced that there should actually be seven Beatitudes, as seven was considered the holy number. He thus felt that this one was not actually a separate one, but rather a rephrasing of the first Beatitude at Matthew 5:3
Matthew 5:3
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....
. To Augustine this eighth Beatitude symbolized Christ rising on the eighth day, which was also the first day. As with 5:3 this verse cites the Kingdom of Heaven
Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven is a foundational concept in the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.The term "Kingdom of God" is found in all four canonical gospels and in the Pauline epistles...
as the reward, also like that first verse the reward is in the present tense, the other six have it in the future. Kodjak believes that this parallelism with the first verse is to emphasize that this one is the conclusion of the Beatitudes and 5:11
Matthew 5:11
Matthew 5:11 is the eleventh verse of the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. It is the ninth verse of the Sermon on the Mount...
-12
Matthew 5:12
Matthew 5:12 is the twelfth verse of the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. It is the tenth verse of the Sermon on the Mount...
should not be considered part of the group. Davies and Allison also agree that the verse "looks like it has been pieced together from other Beatitudes."
Gundry feels the word translated as persecuted should perhaps best be read as hounded. Hill notes that persecuted is a participle
Participle
In linguistics, a participle is a word that shares some characteristics of both verbs and adjectives. It can be used in compound verb tenses or voices , or as a modifier...
in the perfect tense which indicates that Jesus' followers had already been persecuted for their righteousness.
This verse has often been cited as an argument for Christian toleration and acceptance. John Locke
John Locke
John Locke FRS , widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social...
prominently cited it in his A Letter Concerning Toleration
A Letter Concerning Toleration
A Letter Concerning Toleration by John Locke was originally published in 1689. Its initial publication was in Latin, though it was immediately translated into other languages. Locke's work appeared amidst a fear that Catholicism might be taking over England, and responds to the problem of religion...
. This argument was rebutted by inquisitor
Inquisition
The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
s and others who pointed out that only those persecuted for "righteousness' sake" were to be blessed, something they did not think applied to the enemies of the church.