Passage

Matthew 5.3-12

Book: Matthew · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. And seeing the multitudes, he went up into the mountain: and when he had sat down, his disciples came unto him: 2. and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying,"

"3. Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. 5. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. 6. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. 7. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 8. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. 9. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called sons of God. 10. Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11. Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you."

"13. Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men. 14. Ye are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid." (Matthew 5:1-14, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. Seeing the multitudes, he went up onto the mountain. When he had sat down, his disciples came to him. 2. He opened his mouth and taught them, saying,"

"3. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 4. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5. Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. 6. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. 7. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 8. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. 10. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 11. “Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

"13. “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted? It is then good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men. 14. You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can’t be hidden." (Matthew 5:1-14, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 2. And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,"

"3. Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. 5. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. 6. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. 7. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 8. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. 9. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. 10. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. ^{falsely: Gr. lying} 12. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."

"13. Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 14. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid." (Matthew 5:1-14, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. And having seen the multitudes, he went up to the mount, and he having sat down, his disciples came to him, 2. and having opened his mouth, he was teaching them, saying:"

"3. 'Happy the poor in spirit, because theirs is the reign of the heavens. 4. 'Happy the mourning, because they shall be comforted. 5. 'Happy the meek, because they shall inherit the land. 6. 'Happy those hungering and thirsting for righteousness, because they shall be filled. 7. 'Happy the kind, because they shall find kindness. 8. 'Happy the clean in heart, because they shall see God. 9. 'Happy the peacemakers, because they shall be called Sons of God. 10. 'Happy those persecuted for righteousness' sake, because theirs is the reign of the heavens. 11. 'Happy are ye whenever they may reproach you, and may persecute, and may say any evil thing against you falsely for my sake, 12. rejoice ye and be glad, because your reward [is] great in the heavens, for thus did they persecute the prophets who were before you."

"13. 'Ye are the salt of the land, but if the salt may lose savour, in what shall it be salted? for nothing is it good henceforth, except to be cast without, and to be trodden down by men. 14. 'Ye are the light of the world, a city set upon a mount is not able to be hid;" (Matthew 5:1-14, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.