ἐπάρας τ. ὀφ.: in Lk. the Preacher lifts up His eyes upon His audience (τ. μαθητὰς, who are themselves a crowd), in Mt. He opens His mouth; both expressions introducing a solemn set discourse. Lk.'s phrase suggests a benignant look, answering to the nature of the utterance. μακάριοι : Lk. has only four Beatitudes, of which the poor, the hungry, the weeping, the Persecuted are the objects; the sorrows not the activities of the children of the kingdom the theme. πτωχοί, πεινῶντες, κλαἰοντες are to be taken literally as describing the social condition of those addressed. They are characteristics of those who are supposed to be children of the kingdom, not (as in Mt.) conditions of entrance. The description corresponds to the state of the early Church. It is as if Jesus were addressing a church meeting and saying: Blessed are ye, my brethren, though poor, etc., for in the Kingdom of God, and its blessings, present and prospective, ye have ample compensation. Note the use of the second person. In Mt. Jesus speaks didactically in the third person. Christ's words are adapted to present circumstances, but it is not necessary to suppose that the adaptation proceeds from an ebionitic circle, ascetic in spirit and believing poverty to be in itself a passport to the kingdom, and riches the way to perdition.

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Old Testament