Beatitudes

The Beatitudes (/biˈætɪtjudz/) are blessings recounted by Jesus in Matthew 5:3–10 within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, and four in the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke, followed by four woes which mirror the blessings.

In the Latin Vulgate, each of these blessings begins with the word beātī, which translates to 'blessed' (plural adjective). The corresponding word in the original Greek is μακάριοι (makarioi), with the same meaning. Thus "Blessed are the poor in spirit" appears in Latin as beātī pauperēs spīritū. The Latin noun beātitūdō was coined by Cicero to describe a state of blessedness and was later incorporated within the chapter headings written for Matthew 5 in various printed versions of the Vulgate. Subsequently, the word was anglicized to beatytudes in the Great Bible of 1540, and has, over time, taken on a preferred spelling of beatitudes.

While some opinions can differ as to exactly how many distinct statements into which the Beatitudes should be divided (ranging from eight to ten), most scholars consider them to be only eight. These eight of Matthew follow a simple pattern: Jesus names a group of people normally thought to be unfortunate and pronounces them blessed.

The nine Beatitudes in Matthew:

³Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
⁴Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
⁵Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the Earth.
⁶Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
⁷Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
⁸Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
⁹Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called the Sons of God.
¹⁰Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
¹¹Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
¹²Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you...

The ninth beatitude (Matthew 5:11–12) refers to the bearing of reviling and is addressed to the disciples.^{[page needed]} R.T. France considers verses 11 and 12 to be based on Isaiah 51:7.

The Beatitudes unique to Matthew are the meek, the merciful, the pure of heart, and the peacemakers, while the other four have similar entries in Luke, but are followed almost immediately by "four woes". The term "poor in spirit" is unique to Matthew. While thematically similar, the introduction of the phrase "Poor in spirit" spiritualizes or ethicizes the poor in their predicament (in alignment with Isaiah 61), while the Lucan version focuses on their actual hardship, poverty, marginalization and rejection of the poor who will see eventual vindication.

The four Beatitudes in Luke 6:20–22 are set within the Sermon on the Plain.