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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comRobertson Word Pictures - Matthew 5:5 - 5:5
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The meek (hoi praeis). Wycliff has it “Blessed be mild men.” The ancients used the word for outward conduct and towards men. They did not rank it as a virtue anyhow. It was a mild equanimity that was sometimes negative and sometimes positively kind. But Jesus lifted the word to a nobility never attained before. In fact, the Beatitudes assume a new heart, for the natural man does not find in happiness the qualities mentioned here by Christ. The English word “meek” has largely lost the fine blend of spiritual poise and strength meant by the Master. He calls himself “meek and lowly in heart” (Mat 11:29) and Moses is also called meek. It is the gentleness of strength, not mere effeminacy. By “the earth” (tēn gēn) Jesus seems to mean the Land of Promise (Psa 37:11) though Bruce thinks that it is the whole earth. Can it be the solid earth as opposed to the sea or the air?