CHAPTER V. _Christ begins his sermon on the mount_, 1, 2. _The beatitudes_, 3-12. _The disciples the salt of the earth, and light of the world_, 13-16. _Christ is not come to destroy, but confirm and fulfil, the Law_ _and the Prophets_, 17-19. _Of the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisee... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:3. _BLESSED_ ARE _THE POOR IN SPIRIT_, C.] Or, _happy_, μακαριοι from μα or μη, _not_, and κηρ, _fate_, or _death_: intimating, that such persons were endued with _immortality_, and consequently were not liable to the caprices of _fate_. Homer, Iliad i, 330, calls the supreme gods, Θ... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:4. _BLESSED ARE THEY THAT MOURN_] That is, those who, feeling their _spiritual poverty_, mourn after God, lamenting the iniquity that separated them from the fountain of blessedness. Every one flies from _sorrow_, and seeks after _joy_, and yet true joy must necessarily be the _frui... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:5. _BLESSED ARE THE MEEK_] Happy, οι πραεις, from ραος, _easy_, those who are of a _quiet, gentle_ spirit, in opposition to the proud and supercilious Scribes and Pharisees and their disciples. We have a compound word in English, which once fully expressed the meaning of the original... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:6. _THEY WHICH DO HUNGER AND THIRST_] As the body has its natural appetites of hunger and thirst for the food and drink suited to its nourishment, so has the soul. No being is _indestructible_ or _unfailing_ in its nature but GOD; no being is _independent_ but him: as the body _depe... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:7. _THE MERCIFUL_] The word _mercy_, among the Jews, signified two things: the _pardon of injuries_, and _almsgiving_. Our Lord undoubtedly takes it in its fullest latitude here. To know the nature of mercy, we have only to consult the grammatical meaning of the Latin word _misericor... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:8. _PURE IN HEART_] In opposition to the Pharisees, who affected outward purity, while their hearts were full of corruption and defilement. A principal part of the Jewish religion consisted in outward _washings_ and _cleansings_: on this ground they expected to _see God_, to enjoy e... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:9. _THE PEACE-MAKERS_] ειρηνη, _peace_, is compounded of ειρειν (εις) εν, _connecting into one_: for as WAR _distracts_ and _divides_ nations, families, and individuals, from each other, inducing them to pursue different objects and different interests, so PEACE restores them to a s... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:10. _THEY WHICH ARE PERSECUTED_] δεδιωγμενοι, they who are hard pressed upon and pursued with repeated acts of enmity. _Parkhurst_. _They are happy who suffer_, seems a strange saying: and that the _righteous_ should suffer, merely because they are _such_, seems as strange. But such... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:11. _WHEN_ MEN _SHALL REVILE YOU, AND PERSECUTE_] The persecution mentioned in the preceding verse comprehends all _outward_ acts of _violence _- all that the _hand_ can do. This comprehends all _calumny, slander_, c., all that the _tongue_ can effect. But as διωκειν, which we render... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:12. _REJOICE_] In the testimony of a good conscience; for, without this, suffering has nothing but _misery_ in it. _BE EXCEEDING GLAD_] αγαλλιασθε, _leap for joy_. There are several cases on record, where this was _literally_ done by the martyrs, in Queen Mary's days. _GREAT_ IS _Y... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:13. _YE ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH_] Our Lord shows here what the preachers of the Gospel, and what all who profess to follow him, should be; the _salt_ of the earth, to preserve the world from putrefaction and destruction. Leviticus 2:13, Leviticus 2:13. _BUT IF THE SALT HAVE LOST... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:14. _YE ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD_] That is, the instruments which God chooses to make use of to illuminate the minds of men; as he uses the sun (to which probably he pointed) to enlighten the world. _Light of the world_, נר עולם ner olam, was a title applied to the most eminent rab... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:15. _NEITHER DO MEN LIGHT A CANDLE AND PUT IT UNDER A_ _BUSHEL_] A bushel μοδιος: - a measure both among the Greeks and Romans, containing a little more than a _peck_ English. From some ancient writers we learn, that only those who had bad designs hid a candle under a bushel; that, i... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:16. _LET YOUR LIGHT SO SHINE_] Or more literally, _Thus let_ _your light shine_, ουτω λαμψατω το φως. As the sun is lighted up in the firmament of heaven to diffuse its light and heat freely to every inhabitant of the earth; and as the lamp is not set under the bushel, but placed upo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:17. _THINK NOT THAT I AM COME TO DESTROY THE LAW_] _Do not_ _imagine that I am come to violate the law_ καταλυσαι, from κατα, and λυω, _I loose, violate_, or _dissolve _- I am not come to make the law of none effect-to _dissolve_ the connection which subsists between its several part... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:18. _FOR VERILY I SAY UNTO YOU, TILL HEAVEN_] In the very _commencement_ of his ministry, Jesus Christ teaches the _instability_ of all visible things. "The heaven which you see, and which is so glorious, and the earth which you inhabit and love, _shall pass_ _away_; for the things w... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:19. _WHOSOEVER - SHALL BREAK ONE OF THESE LEAST_ _COMMANDMENTS_] The Pharisees were remarkable for making a distinction between weightier and lighter matters in the law, and between what has been called, in a corrupt part of the Christian Church, _mortal_ and _venial sins_. Matthew 2... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:20. _EXCEPT YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS SHALL EXCEED_] περισσευση, _Unless your righteousness abound more _- unless it take in, not only the _letter_, but the _spirit_ and _design_ of the _moral_ and _ritual_ precept; the one directing you how to _walk_ so as to please God; the other pointin... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:21. _YE HAVE HEARD THAT IT WAS SAID BY THEM OF OLD TIME_] τοις αρχαιοις, _to_ or _by the ancients_. By the _ancients_, we may understand those who lived _before_ the law, and those who lived _under_ it; for murder was, in the most solemn manner, forbidden _before_, as well as _under_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:22. _WHOSOEVER IS ANGRY WITH HIS BROTHER WITHOUT A CAUSE_] ο οργιζομενος - εικη, _who is vainly incensed_. "This translation is literal; and the very objectionable phrase, _without a cause_, is left out, εικη being more properly translated by that above." What our Lord seems here to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:23. _THEREFORE IF THOU BRING THY GIFT_] Evil must be nipped in the bud. An unkind thought of another may be the _foundation_ of that which leads to actual _murder_. A Christian, properly speaking, cannot be an enemy to any man; nor is he to consider any man his enemy, without the fu... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:24. _LEAVE THERE THY GIFT BEFORE THE ALTAR_] This is as much as to say, "Do not attempt to bring any offering to God while thou art in a spirit of enmity against any person; or hast any difference with thy neighbour, which thou hast not used thy diligence to get adjusted." It is our... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:25. _AGREE WITH THINE ADVERSARY QUICKLY_] _Adversary_, αντιδικος, properly a _plaintiff_ in law - a perfect law term. Our Lord enforces the exhortation given in the preceding verses, from the consideration of what was deemed prudent in ordinary law-suits. In such cases, men should m... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:26. _THE UTTERMOST FARTHING._] Κοδραντην. The rabbins have this Greek word corrupted into קרדיונטסס _kordiontes_, and קונטריק, _kontrik_, and say, that two פרוטות _prutoth_ make a _kontarik_, which is exactly the same with those words in Mark 12:42, λεπτα δυο, ο εστι κοδραντης, _two... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:27. _YE HAVE HEARD THAT IT WAS SAID BY THEM OF OLD_] By _the ancients_, τοις αρχαιοις, is omitted by nearly a _hundred_ MSS., and some of them of the very greatest antiquity and authority; also by the _Coptic, Ethiopic, Armenian, Gothic_, and _Sclavonian_ versions; by _four_ copies o... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:28. _WHOSOEVER LOOKETH ON A WOMAN TO LUST AFTER HER_] επιθυμσαι αυτην, _earnestly to covet her_. The verb, επιθυμεω, is undoubtedly used here by our Lord, in the sense of _coveting_ through the influence of _impure desire_. The word is used in precisely the same sense, on the same s... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 29. - 30. _PLUCK IT OUT - CUT IT OFF_] We must shut our senses against dangerous objects, to avoid the occasions of sin, and deprive ourselves of all that is most dear and profitable to us, in order to save our souls, when we find that these dear and profitable things, however innocent in them... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 31. _WHOSOEVER SHALL PUT AWAY HIS WIFE_] The Jewish doctors gave great license in the matter of divorce. Among them, a man might divorce his wife if she displeased him even in the dressing of his victuals! _Rabbi Akiba_ said, "If any man saw a woman handsomer than his own wife, he might put h... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 32. _SAVING FOR THE CAUSE OF FORNICATION_] λογου πορνειας, _on account of whoredom_. As _fornication_ signifies no more than the unlawful connection of _unmarried_ persons, it cannot be used here with propriety, when speaking of those who are _married_. I have therefore translated λογου πορνε... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 33. _THOU SHALT NOT FORSWEAR THYSELF_] They dishonour the great God, and break this commandment, who use frequent oaths and imprecations, even in reference to things that are true; and those who make vows and promises, which they either cannot perform, or do not design to fulfil, are not less... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 34. - 35. _NEITHER BY HEAVEN_, c.] It was a custom among the Scythians, when they wished to bind themselves in the most solemn manner, to swear by the king's throne and if the king was at any time sick, they believed it was occasioned by some one's having taken the oath falsely. _Herod_. l. iv... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 36. _NEITHER SHALT THOU SWEAR BY THY HEAD_] For these plain reasons: 1st. God commands thee not to do it. 2dly. Thou hast nothing which is _thy own_, and thou shouldst not pledge another's property. 3dly. It never did, and never can, answer any good purpose. And 4thly. Being a breach of th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 37. _LET YOUR COMMUNICATION BE, YEA, YEA; NAY, NAY_] That is, a positive _affirmation_, or _negation_, according to your knowledge of the matter concerning which you are called to testify. Do not equivocate; mean what you assert, and adhere to your assertion. Hear what a heathen says on this s... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 38. _AN EYE FOR AN EYE_] Our Lord refers here to the law of retaliation mentioned Exodus 21:24, Exodus 21:24, (see the note there, and Leviticus 24:20, Leviticus 24:20,) which obliged the offender to suffer the _same injury_ he had _committed_. The _Greeks_ and _Romans_ had the same law. So s... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 39. _RESIST NOT EVIL_] Or, _the evil person_. So, I am fully persuaded, τω πονηρω ought to be translated. Our Lord's meaning is, "Do not repel one outrage by another." He that does so makes himself precisely what the other is, a _wicked person_. _TURN TO HIM THE OTHER ALSO_] That is, rather t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 40. _AND IF ANY MAN WILL SUE THEE AT THE LAW_] Every where our blessed Lord shows the utmost disapprobation of such litigations as tended to destroy brotherly kindness and charity. It is evident he would have his followers to suffer rather the loss of all their property than to have recourse t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 41. _SHALL COMPEL THEE TO GO A MILE, GO WITH HIM TWAIN._] αγγαρευσει. This word is said to be derived from the _Persians_, among whom the king's _messengers_, or _posts_, were called αγγαποι, or _angari_. This definition is given both by _Hesychius_ and _Suidas._ The Persian messengers had t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 42. _GIVE TO HIM THAT ASKETH THEE, AND FROM HIM THAT WOULD_ _BORROW_] To _give_ and _lend_ freely to all who are in need, is a general precept from which we are only excused by our inability to perform it. Men are more or less obliged to it as they are more or less able, as the want is more or... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 43. _THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR, AND HATE THINE ENEMY._] Instead of πλησιαν _neighbour_, the Codex Graevii, a MS. of the eleventh century, reads φιλον _friend_. Thou shalt love thy friend, and hate thine enemy. This was certainly the meaning which the Jews put on it: for neighbour, with th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 44. _LOVE YOUR ENEMIES_] This is the most sublime piece of morality ever given to man. Has it appeared _unreasonable_ and _absurd_ to some? It has. And why? Because it is _natural_ to man to avenge himself, and plague those who plague him; and he will ever find abundant excuse for his conduct... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:45. _THAT YE MAY BE THE CHILDREN OF YOUR FATHER_] Instead of υιοι children, some MSS., the latter _Persic_ version, and several of the primitive fathers, read ομοιοι, that ye may be _like_ _to_, or _resemble_, your Father who is in heaven. This is certainly our Lord's meaning. As a m... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:46. _FOR IF YE LOVE THEM WHICH LOVE YOU_] He who loves only his _friends_, does nothing for God's sake. He who loves for the sake of _pleasure_ or _interest_, pays himself. God has no enemy which he hates but _sin_; we should have no other. _THE PUBLICANS_] That is, _tax-gatherers_,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:47. _AND IF YE SALUTE YOUR BRETHREN ONLY_] Instead of αδελφους _brethren_, upwards of one hundred MSS., and several of them of great authority and antiquity, have φιλους _friends_. The _Armenian Slavonic_, and _Gothic_ versions, with the later _Syriac_, and some of the _primitive fat... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 5:48. _BE YE THEREFORE PERFECT - AS YOUR FATHER_] God himself is the grand law, sole giver, and only pattern of the _perfection_ which he recommends to his children. The words are very emphatic, εσεσθε ουν υμεις τελειοι, _Ye shall be therefore perfect _- ye shall be filled with the spi... [ Continue Reading ]