Matthew 5:1-12: Sermon On The Mount

[MorphRC]

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[b][font="Times"]Caelum defendet militem, Caelum exercet militem, Caelum docet militem. Amen. Amen.[/font][/b]
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[color=gray][font="Times"][b]Matthew 5:1-12: Sermon on the Mount[/b][/color][/font]
[b]Commentary: Matt 5:1-12.[/b]

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[b]Bible Translation:[/b]

[url="http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible"]USCCB: New American Bible[/url]

[b]Note:[/b] All sources are given, in proper [i]bibliographic setting[/i].

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[b]The Book of Matthew: 5:1-12[/b]

[b]1[/b] When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. [b]2[/b] He began to teach them, saying:

[b]3[/b] "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
[b]4[/b] Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
[b]5[/b] Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.
[b]6[/b] Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
[b]7[/b] Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
[b]8[/b] Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
[b]9[/b] Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
[b]10[/b] Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, 9 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

[b]11[/b] Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you (falsely) because of me. [b]12[/b] Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

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[font="Times"][b]Commentary:[/b][/font]

[b]Verse 1:[/b] When reading the first verse of this teaching , and then reading v2, one will come to the conclusion that Jesus left the people, went up the mountain, followed by His disciples, sat and then taught [i]them[/i], and not the crowd. This is not the case, this part of the chapter runs smoothly in most peoples minds until they hit v2, then its usually reacted with; [i]huh?[/i]

[b]Verse 1 & 2 Explained:[/b] [i]Explaination of v1 above[/i].

The key part before v2, which some people will miss is this simple character [.], the fullstop. In the flow of narrative Matthew is saying;

Jesus saw the crowds, went up the mountain, [i]while the crowd did not[/i], followed by His disciples, who sat near Him, then He began to teach [i]them[/i], the disciples and the crowd below.

[b]Verse 3:[/b] [i]poor in spirit:[/i] those that do not possess material goods, but have total faith in God, over faith in worldy goods for their survival. The Hebrew for this is ([i]˘ânāwîm[/i]).

[b]Verse 5:[/b] [i]inherit the land:[/i] An Old Testament part of the Psalms, refering to the land that was granted to Abraham, however Matthew has applied this to the Kingdom of Heaven.

[b]Verse 6:[/b] [i]righteousness:[/i] to conform with the Divine Law, God's Will.

[b]Verse 7:[/b] Literally, those who show mercy to others, will be shown mercy from the Father.

[b]Verse 9:[/b] [i]children of God:[/i] Everyone is a child of God, this is more of an emphasis on feeling closer to God.

[b]Verse 10:[/b] [i]righteousness:[/i] to conform with the Divine Law, God's Will. (as stated about v6)

[b]Verse 11:[/b] [i]because of me:[/i] Christians will be scorn, and killed because of their belief in Christ.

[b]Verse 12:[/b] [i]your reward:[/i] Eternal Life. [i]Thus they:[/i] Jews who killed the prophets, now will kill these prophets [christians]. [b]Note:[/b] Do not take the word prophet, in the sense of Isaiah, Ezekiel and so on, but as a [i]'effective or leading spokesman for a cause, doctrine, or group'[/i][b]1[/b]

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[font="Times"][b]Bibliography:[/b][/font]

[b]1.[/b] [url="http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=prophet"]Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary -- Prophet[/url]

[phatcatholic]

i noticed you applied your recently acquired knowledge from the debate table to define righteousness. good job!

[MorphRC]

Yep. Ive been reading this commentary like mad. And this book called 'A Catholics guide to the Bible' I got 94% pass rate, its all coming back now. Which I Thank God! for, cause I didnt want to lose 3 years study.

[phatcatholic]

that's good to hear bro

[StColette]

hehe Paul I'm so proud of you