Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Matthew 5:3

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Matthew 5:3 - 5:3

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Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Matthew 5:3 - 5:3

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3–9. The transposition of Mat 5:4-5 to their order in the text is on the authority of the leading textual critics without however conclusive MS. support. The logical gradation of thought is in favour of the change. Of the ‘Beatitudes’—so called from the opening word ‘beati’ in the Vulgate—the first seven may be regarded as groups of characters, or as a scheme of Christian ethics on an ascending scale, tracing the Christian growth step by step; the two last have special reference to the disciples—they supply the tests and the hopes of discipleship.

First, two passive qualities ‘lowliness and meekness,’ which mark the character receptive of Christianity, then two activities or movements of the soul; ‘mourning,’ which alienates it from earth, tending ‘to loose the chain | that binds us to a world of pain.’ Then divine ‘hungering and thirsting’ which draw it to heaven. This fourth Beatitude is the central point: δικαιοσύνη is the coping-stone of the soul seeking God, the foundation of the soul which has found Him. Three graces of the Christian life follow, ‘mercy,’ the first-fruits of righteousness, (see the close connection between the two ch. Mat 6:1 and comp. the fruits of righteousness in the judgment-scene ch. 25,) ‘purity of heart,’ the soul cleansed from all defilement sees God, and ‘peace-making’, wherein the soul that has seen God imitates the work of God—reconciliation.Practical action.ἐλεήμονεςMovement of the Soul from Sin to Righteousness

πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι. St Luke omits τῷ πνεύματι, showing that the literal poor are primarily meant, St Matthew shows that they are not exclusively meant. The πτωχοὶ (nearly i.q. ταπεινοί) are opposed to the spiritually proud and the self-sufficient; they have need of the riches of Christ and feel their need. To reckon ταπεινότης οι ταπεινοφροσύνη as a virtue is a Christian thought and opposed to heathen ethics, τίς θέλει ζῆν ταπεινός; Epict. Dissert. IV. 1. 2.

αὐτῶν ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία. By a kind of divine irony the unsought reward is the most diverse from the character that wins it: the least ambitious shall have the prize of the most ambitious.