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MATTHEW 5:2 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Matt 5:1Matt 5:3
“And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,”
And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying. The formal introduction — he opened his mouth and taught — is the introduction to solemn, weighty speech in the biblical tradition (Job 3:1; Psalm 78:2). What follows is not casual conversation but an authoritative proclamation that Jesus in verse 17 will describe as the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. The Beatitudes that open the Sermon are not rules to be kept but descriptions of the people whom the kingdom is producing. They begin in the indicative mood — blessed are — rather than the imperative: these are not commands to be achieved but declarations of what is already true of those who have been drawn into the reign of God.

Church Fathers on Matthew 5:2

Every man in his own trade or profession rejoices when he sees an opportunity of exercising it; the carpenter if he sees a goodly tree desires to have it to cut down to employ his skill on, and the Priest when he sees a full Church, his heart rejoices, he is glad of the occasion to teach. So the Lord seeing a great con greg ation of people was stirred to teach them.

Pseudo-Chrysostom · 5th century

Or He may be thought to have sought to shun the thickest crowd, and to have ascended the mountain that He might speak to His disciples alone.

Augustine · 4th century · de Cons. Evan., ii, 19

By not choosing His seat in the city, and the market place, but on a mountain in a desert, He has taught us to do nothing with ostentation, and to depart from crowds, above all when we are to be employed in philosophy, or in speaking of serious things.

Chrysostom · 4th century · Hom. 4
Read all 27 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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