The Beatitudes
Matthew 5:3-4
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 meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for 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 sons of God
10. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3-10 NKJV
One New Man Bible Translation with Hebrew from the Brit Chadasha
3. Blessed are the repentant, because theirs is the Kingdom of the Heavens. (Isaiah 61:1)
Hebrew: ashrei aniyei haruach ki lachem malchut hashamayim
4. Blessed are those who mourn, because they shall be comforted. (Isaiah 61:2-3)
Hebrew: ashrei ha’avelim ki hem yenuchamu
5. Blessed are the humble, because they shall inherit the earth. (Psalm 37:11)
Hebrew: ashrei ha’anavim ki hem yireshu et ha’aretz
7. Blessed are those who forgive, because they will be forgiven. (2 Samuel 22:26)
Hebrew: ashrei harachamanim ki hem yeruchamu
10. Blessed are those who press on for the sake of righteousness, because theirs is the Kingdom of the Heavens
Hebrew: ashrei hannirdafim biglal hatzedek ki lahem malchut hashamayim
Matthew 5:3,4,5,7,10
Translations
There are times translations do not fully capture the nuances of the Hebrew language or its idioms, and therefore, the depth of a language can become lost in translation; and so, it is helpful to do word study along with cultural and historical research in order to grasp the full substance of what the Word offers us.
The above two translations are examples of the differences found, and it is a challenge to be absolutely accurate with the meaning, or intention, of the manuscripts. Though I typed out several of the Beatitudes, I am just going to focus on a couple of them, verses 3 and 4.
In Matthew 5, often we see translators use ‘happy are’ or ‘blessed are’ to describe or to come close to what the Hebrew word ashrei means. Ashrei is in bold letters from the Brit Chadasha (Renewed Covenant/New Testament) under One New Man translation above. The better translation for ashrei would perhaps be “Oh, the happiness of.” However, Delitzsch Hebrew Gospels captures fully the intensity of it: “O, the gladness of!” Yeshua is expressing these are the people accepted into His kingdom. They come in a broken mess, spiritual neediness, with a desire to walk in righteousness. They come repenting.
This is related to the message He conveyed in the synagogue in Luke 4:18:
“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor” (Hebrew anavim). NKJV.
One New Man translation has: “Because He has anointed Me to preach Good News to the repentant.”
The anavim are the poor who depend on the Lord for deliverance.
Luke 7:22, Yeshua sends a message to John the Baptist that “the poor (Hebrew aniyim) have the gospel preached to them.”
One New Man, “Report to John what you saw and heard: “blind are regaining sight, lame are walking, lepers are being cleansed and deaf are hearing, dead are being raised, repentant are receiving the Good News.”
Back to Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”
Poor in spirit has nothing to do with the lack of finances. A better meaning would be the person experiencing a famine of the soul; an emptiness that nothing of the world can satisfy. We can translate: “O the gladness of the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven(s).”
The Hebrew word for heaven is always plural, shamayim, the -im at the end makes it plural. Jews understand there are seven heavens, and Paul visited the third heaven when he was stoned to death.
My Hebrew B’rit haChadasha has aniyei for poor or afflicted, some translations have meek.
The Greek uses the word ptochos for poor, and it means ‘helpless as a beggar.’
Though some would think poor would mean in the sense of one being destitute, in Hebrew thought it is an idiom for repentant as in humble, lowly, or meek. Just like in Yeshua’s reading of the Isaiah scroll in the synagogue: “Because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor,” is an idiom for repentant. Luke 4:18
(The Hebrew scriptures frequently use humble to indicate the faithful minority remaining Godly through all their trials)
Hence, One New Man translates: Blessed are the repentant, because theirs is the Kingdom of the Heavens.
Or better:
Oh, the gladness of the repentant, because theirs is the Kingdom of the Heavens.
Let’s continue to look at Matthew 5:4
Blessed are those who mourn,
Hebrew for mourn is ‘abel from ‘abal, and it means to bewail, lamenting, mourn.
The Greek word is pentheo, and it means to grieve, mourn, bewail.
This verse is saying one who mourns over one’s sins.
Because they shall be comforted.
Comforted is the Greek word paraklei and is the Holy Spirit. A helper in times of need.
Verse 4. O the gladness of those who mourn, because they shall be comforted.
The better reading of this verse would be:
O the gladness of those that mourn over their sin for they shall be comforted by God’s Holy Spirit.
I particularly favor this translation:
O the gladness of those whose spirit is in need of God, desperate for God that they are reduced to beggary. For theirs is the kingdom of God.
