And seeing the multitudes The great concourse of people that followed him from the places before mentioned, he went up into a mountain; either to pray alone, which was sometimes his custom to do, or to shun the multitude; or rather, because it was a commodious place for teaching the people: and…

And he opened his mouth He spoke with a clear and strong voice, that all the people might hear him; and with great freedom, utterance, and cheerfulness, and things of the greatest moment and importance; and taught them; not his disciples only, but the whole multitude, who heard him with…

Blessed are the poor in spirit Not the poor in purse, or who are so with respect to things temporal: for though God has chosen and called many, who are in such a condition of life, yet not all; the kingdom of heaven cannot be said to belong to them all, or only; but such as are poor in a spiritual…

Blessed are they that mourn For sin, for their own sins; the sin of their nature, indwelling sin, which is always working in them, and is a continual grief of mind to them; the unbelief of their hearts, notwithstanding the many instances, declarations, promises, and discoveries of grace made unto…

Blessed are the meek Who are not easily provoked to anger; who patiently bear, and put up with injuries and affronts; carry themselves courteously, and affably to all; have the meanest thoughts of themselves, and the best of others; do not envy the gifts and graces of other men; are willing to be…

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst Not after the riches, honours, and pleasures of this world, but after righteousness; by which is meant, not justice and equity, as persons oppressed and injured; nor a moral, legal righteousness, which the generality of the Jewish nation were eagerly…

Blessed are the merciful Who show mercy to the bodies of men, to those that are poor, indigent, and miserable, in their outward circumstances; by both sympathizing with them, and distributing unto them; not only making use of expressions of pity and concern; but communicating with readiness and…

Blessed are the pure in heart Not in the head; for men may have pure notions and impure hearts; not in the hand, or action, or in outward conversation only; so the Pharisees were outwardly righteous before men, but inwardly full of impurity; but “in heart”.

Blessed are the peace makers Not between God and man, for no man can make his own peace with God; nor can any mere creature, angels, or men, make it for him; Christ, in this sense, is the only peace maker: but between men and men; and such are they, who are of peaceable dispositions themselves;…

Blessed are they which are persecuted Not for any crimes they have done, for unrighteousness and iniquity, as murderers, thieves, and evildoers, but for righteousness sake: on account of their righteous and godly conversation, which brings upon them the hatred and enmity of the men of the world:…

Blessed are ye when men shall revile you These words are particularly directed to the disciples of Christ, and are designed to inform them, that they should not be exempted from reproach and persecution, and to animate and fortify them against it; and are prophetical of what they, and the first…

Rejoice and be exceeding glad Because of the honour put upon them, the glory they bring to Christ and his cause, by cheerfully suffering for it; and because of the glory and happiness that shall follow upon their sufferings: for great is your reward in heaven; not of debt, but of grace; for there…

Ye are the salt of the earth This is to be understood of the disciples and apostles of Christ; who might be compared to “salt”, because of the savoury doctrines they preached; as all such are, which are agreeable to the Scriptures, and are of the evangelic kind, which are full of Christ, serve to…

Ye are the light of the world What the luminaries, the sun and moon, are in the heavens, with respect to corporal light, that the apostles were in the world with regard to spiritual light; carrying and spreading the light of the Gospel not only in Judea, but all over the world, which was in great…

Neither do men light a candle Which may be read impersonally, “a candle is not lighted”: and by it may be meant the Gospel, and gifts qualifying men to preach it; which, like a candle, was lighted in the evening of the Jewish dispensation, though not confined to the land of Judea; but has shone…

Let your light so shine before men Here Christ applies the foregoing simile to his disciples, and more fully opens the meaning and design of it. His sense is this; that the light of the Gospel, which he had communicated to them, the spiritual knowledge of the mysteries of grace, which he had…

Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets From verse 3 to the 10th inclusive, our Lord seems chiefly to respect the whole body of his true disciples and followers; from thence, to the 16th inclusive, he addresses the disciples, whom he had called to be ministers of the word; and…

For verily I say unto you Or “I Amen say unto you”, which is one of the names of Christ; see or the word “Amen” is only used by Christ as an asseveration of what he was about to say; and which, for greater confirmation, is usually doubled in the Evangelist John, “Amen, Amen”, or “verily, verily”.

Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments Which are to be understood not of the beatitudes in the preceding verses, for these were not delivered by Christ under the form of commandments; nor of any of the peculiar commands of Christ under the Gospel dispensation; but of the…

For I say unto you These words are directed, not to the true disciples of Christ in general, or to his apostles in particular, but to the whole multitude of the people; who had in great esteem and admiration the Scribes and Pharisees, for their seeming righteousness and holiness; concerning which…

Ye have heard That is, from the Scriptures being read to them, and the explanations of the ancients, which were called (שמעתא) , “hearing”, being read in the schools, and heard by the scholars [[13]]; so that to “hear”, was along with the recital of the text, to receive by tradition, the sense the…

But I say unto you This is a Rabbinical way of speaking, used when a question is determined, and a false notion is refuted; it is a magisterial form of expression, and well suits with Christ, the great teacher and master in Israel; who spake as one having authority, opposing himself, not to the law…

Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar The Jews obliged such who had done any damage to their neighbours, by stealing from them, to make satisfaction before they brought their offering; concerning which they say [[2]], “he that brings what he has stolen, before he brings his trespass…

Leave there thy gift before the altar This might easily be done, and the business soon dispatched, at some seasons; particularly, at their public feasts, as the passover, pentecost, and feast of tabernacles, when all the Israelites were together: and go thy way; make what haste thou canst, first be…

Agree with thine adversary quickly These words are not to be understood in an allegorical sense, as if “the adversary” was the justice of God, demanding payment of debts; “the way”, this present life; “the judge”, God himself; “the officer”, the devil; “the prison”, the pit of hell; and “the…

Verily, I say unto thee This may be depended upon, you may assure yourself of it, that thou shalt by no means come out thence, from prison, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing, or “last farthing”; or as the Ethiopic version reads it, “till thou hast exactly paid all”; which seems to express…

Ye have heard that it was said These forms of speech, as well as what follows, by them of old time, have been explained, in ver. 21. The law here mentioned, thou shalt not commit adultery, is recorded in and the meaning of our Lord is, not that the then present Jews had heard that such a law had…

But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman Many and severe are the prohibitions of the Jews, concerning looking upon a woman, which they aggravate as a very great sin: they say [[9]], it is not lawful to look upon a beautiful woman, though unmarried; nor upon another man’s wife, though…

And if thy right eye offend thee Or “cause thee to offend”, to stumble, and fall into sin. Our Lord has no regard here to near and dear relations seeking to alienate us from God and Christ, and hinder us in the pursuit of divine things; whose solicitations are to be rejected with the utmost…

And if thy right hand offend thee Or “cause thee to offend”; that is, is the means of ensnaring thine heart; and of drawing thee into either mental, or actual adultery; for, as before, all unchaste looks, so here, all unchaste touches, embraces are condemned.

It hath been said It is not added here, as in the former instances, “by them of old time”; nor prefaced with these words, “ye have heard”; because the case of divorce was not any law of Moses, or of God by him; but only a permission, because of the hardness of the hearts of the Jews: and as to the…

But I say unto you; that whosoever shall put away his wife, &c.] Christ does not infringe, or revoke the original grant, or permission of divorce; only frees it from the false interpretations, and ill use, the Pharisees made of it; and restores the ancient sense of it, in which only it was to be…

Again, ye have heard that it hath been said Besides what has been observed, in ver. 21 and 27 you know it has also been said, by, or to them of old time, what is written in .

But I say unto you, swear not at all Which must not be understood in the strictest sense, as though it was not lawful to take an oath upon any occasion, in an affair of moment, in a solemn serious manner, and in the name of God; which may be safely done: but of rash swearing, about trivial matters,…

Nor by the earth, for it is his footstool That the Jews were wont to swear by the earth, is clear from the above mentioned instances; and is condemned by Christ for this reason, because the earth is God’s “footstool”, referring, as before, to on which he treads; and where he also manifests forth…

Neither shalt thou swear by thy head This also was a common form of swearing among the Jews: take a few instances. “If anyone is bound to his friend by an oath, and says to him, vow unto me (בחיי ראשך) , “by the life of thy head”; R.

But let your communication be yea, yea That is, let your speech, in your common conversation, and daily business of life, when ye answer to anything in the affirmative, be “yea”; and when ye answer to anything in the negative, “nay”: and for the stronger asseveration of the matter, when it is…

Ye have heard that it hath been said That is, to, or by them of old time, as is expressed in some of the foregoing instances, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, .

But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil This is not to be understood of any sort of evil, not of the evil of sin, of bad actions, and false doctrines, which are to be opposed; nor of the evil one, Satan, who is to be resisted; but of an evil man, an injurious one, who has done us an injury.

And if any man will sue thee at the law Or “will contend with thee”, or as the Syriac renders it, (דנדון עמך) , “will strive”, or “litigate with thee”; not contest the matter, or try the cause in an open court of judicature, a sense our version inclines to; but will wrangle and quarrel in a private…

And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile The word (αγγαρευσει) , rendered “compel”, is generally said to be of Persic original; the “Angari”, among the Persians, were the king’s messengers, or those who rode post, and were maintained at the king’s expenses; and had power to take horses, and…

Give to him that asketh thee To every man, whether Jew or Gentile; friend or foe; believer or unbeliever; a good, or a bad man; worthy or unworthy; deserving or not, that asketh alms, whether food or money; give it freely, readily, cheerfully, according to your abilities, and as the necessity of…

Ye have heard that it hath been said By, or to them of old time. This law has been delivered to them, thou shalt love thy neighbour, with this appendage to it, or false gloss upon it, and hate thine enemy; for the first of these only is the law of Moses, , the other is the addition, or wrong…

But I say unto you, love your enemies That is, as the Apostle Paul may be thought to interpret the words of Christ, . “If thine enemy hunger, feed him: if he thirst, give him drink”: unless our Lord should be supposed rather to regard the internal affection of the mind; since outward expressions of…

That ye may be the children of your father Not that any became the children of God, by doing things in imitation of him: for as in nature no man becomes the son of another by imitating him, or by doing the things he does but either by birth, or by adoption; so in grace no man becomes a child of God…

For if ye love them which love you That is, if ye only love such that love you; for that such who love should be loved again, is both natural and just: our Lord’s meaning is not, that ye ought not to love them that love you, but that these should not be the only objects of your love; for should…

And if you salute your brethren only This does not mean salutation by embraces or kisses, but by words, asking of each other’s welfare, and wishing prosperity and happiness to one another.

Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father This perfection is to be restrained to the subject Christ is upon, love to men, and not to be referred to any, or every other thing; wherefore, in it is, “be ye merciful, as your Father also is merciful”; and regards not a perfection of degree in that, but…