The overview of Matthew 5:2-12 can be found here, while an important word study on the term blessed can be found here. The verse overviews of Matthew 5:2, 5:3 and 5:4 can be found here, here, and here.
For any person who does not have easy access to Bible software you can look up all cross references listed in this blog at the Bible Gateway website.
It is easy and quick to use and you can choose from many different
translations. The cross references are a big part of any Bible Study
that we may undertake!
Matthew 5:5
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."
(Matthew 5:5)
(Matthew 5:5)
Grammatical Considerations
Cause and effect: Effect is the meek are Blessed, The cause is that "they shall inherit the earth."
ARE and FOR:
As in all the Beatitudes Jesus makes it clear that what He is saying
are not probabilities. They are true and will occur given the
circumstances He sets forth.
Important Terms
All definitions were culled from the Complete Word Study Dictionary from AMG Publisher, Vine's Expository Dictionary and/or
Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary.
Blessed:
- see word study at this link.
meek:
inherit the earth:
Did Jesus use the phrase inherit the earth as an obvious example of how different the kingdom of God is from our earthly thoughts? Because this would be a remarkable and beautifully educational example of how different the kingdom of God is to our worldly way of doing things. The meek are not often thought of as the ones who will win the prize in our everyday earthly lives. But again meek DOES NOT mean weak in this context.
Mat 5:38-48 (I think this describes a lot of it)
- ESword Concordance Search--- Mat 11:29 Mat 21:5 1Pe 3:4
- Definition--- Mildness, gentleness. The acceptance of God's dealings with us, considering them as good in that they enhance the closeness of our relationship with Him. This word does not mean weak! In fact Aristotle used the Greek word to describe the place between becoming unjustifiably angry and never getting angry no matter what takes place. (Even Jesus got angry once in awhile). So the meek as described here are NOT TIMID! Meek has more to do with our acceptance of God's dealings with us. Also humility.
- More Definition--- The Greek noun (prautes) from which this adjective comes from is hard to translate into English, as meek is rather a negative term in English. Vine's Expository Dictionary mentions that this has little to do with a person's outward behavior or in his or her relations to their fellow man. Vine's states: "It is an inwrought grace of the soul and the exercises of it are first and chiefly towards God." This disposition causes us to NOT resist and dispute God in His dealings with us. Again, this use of meek does NOT insinuate weakness, it instead alludes to an inner peaceful relationship with God that gives us real strength. (Aristotle's description is pretty neat!)
- Other relevant cross-references--- Num 12:3 Psa 25:9 2Ti 2:25 Col 3:12 Eph 4:2 Gal 5:23
inherit the earth:
- Definition--- inherit means: to obtain or possess. It is often spoken only of the friends of God as receiving admission to the kingdom of heaven and it's privileges. Since God's kingdom will eventually be on earth( or the new earth Isa 65:17 Isa 66:22 Rev 21:1) inheriting it is one of the privileges mentioned above.
- I am not completely sure why Jesus chose to say inherit the earth here instead of referring to the kingdom of heaven as he did in Mat 5:3
- But it is not the first time that the earth itself is mentioned as an inheritance: Psa 37:9 Psa 37:11 Psa 37:29 Psa 37:34
- In Psa 37:11 the meek are also said to inherit the land. The Hebrew word for meek also means humble...not putting oneself above others.
Did Jesus use the phrase inherit the earth as an obvious example of how different the kingdom of God is from our earthly thoughts? Because this would be a remarkable and beautifully educational example of how different the kingdom of God is to our worldly way of doing things. The meek are not often thought of as the ones who will win the prize in our everyday earthly lives. But again meek DOES NOT mean weak in this context.
Mat 5:38-48 (I think this describes a lot of it)
This beatitude is very interesting...a LOT is being said here!!) This particular saying (well, all of them really) deserves a lot more reflection and prayer!
“Scripture quotations are from The
Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by
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