(Mat 5:3
ERV) "Great blessings belong to those who
know they are spiritually in need. God's kingdom belongs to them.
ERV
Translates Verse Marvelously
"Great blessings belong to those".
In
literal translation this phrase is perhaps "Eternally happy are they".
But "belongs" in this and following verses is a superlative rendition
of the omitted verb and nominative case of the adjective and article. "Blessed",
"blessings", etc., present difficulties in understanding our
translations since two rather different Greek word are commonly translated this
way. Here, and in the following verses, makarios is the Greek word and it means
lasting and / or great happiness. In pagan Greek thought it represents the
happiness of their gods. In Christian thought it represents the happiness of
the elect, a happiness both great and eternal because of the unbreakable bond
which unites them to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ through
justifying faith in His name.
"Those who know they are spiritually in
need". Literally, perhaps, "are beggars in the
spiritual realm". The Greek word has a basic meaning of those who are
forced to beg because of their shortcomings. (This is the Greek word behind
almost all New Testament occurrences of "poor".) There is another
word for those forced to work for a living. (The Septuagint, the King James Version
of first century Judaism and source of most Old Testament quotations in the New
Testament, generally maintains the distinction between the two words that is
found in classical Greek.) The ERV gives
us the strongly implied state of mind of the spiritual beggar. This is very
helpful in understanding the verse.
"God's kingdom belongs to them." Again, "belongs"
is a superlative rendition, in this case of the present tense of the verb and
genitive case of the pronoun. "God’s kingdom" seems to imply a direct
relationship to the Almighty. The "kingdom of heaven" (more literally
perhaps, "the kingdom from the heavens"), a phrase frequent in this
gospel, seems to be more related to the millennial kingdom and to other
dispensational arrangements where Moses, kings, judges, priests, prophets,
apostles, the hundred and / or the forty-four thousand, etc., serve as
mediators between God and man. ERV seems to apply the general context of all
scripture to apply the verse to the present dispensation in which God in Christ
is the Mediator. Or, more correctly, "God’s kingdom" is used in a
general sense. The status of the begotten again believer in this dispensation
is akin to that of a viceroy over self (Heb 12.28; Rom 5.17), operating in
Christian freedom (Rom 14.17) and in the spirit of that life which is in Christ
Jesus (Rom 8.2).
Matthew
5.3 Translation Comparison
(Mat 5:3
KJV) Blessed are the poor in spirit: for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
(Mat 5:3 ERV) "Great blessings belong to those who know they are spiritually in need. God's kingdom belongs to them.
(Mat 5:3 jvb) Eternally happy are the spiritual beggars: for theirs is the kingdom from the heavens.
(Mat 5:3 ERV) "Great blessings belong to those who know they are spiritually in need. God's kingdom belongs to them.
(Mat 5:3 jvb) Eternally happy are the spiritual beggars: for theirs is the kingdom from the heavens.
Easy-to-Read
Version of Matthew 5:1-10
(Mat
5:1-10 ERV) When Jesus saw the crowds of
people there, he went up on a hill and sat down. His followers came and sat
next to him. (2) Then Jesus began teaching the people. He
said, (3) "Great blessings belong to those who
know they are spiritually in need. God's kingdom belongs to them. (4)
Great blessings belong to those who are sad now. God will comfort
them. (5) Great blessings belong to those who are
humble. They will be given the land God promised. (6)
Great blessings belong to those who want to do right more than anything
else. God will fully satisfy them.
(7) Great blessings belong to
those who show mercy to others. Mercy will be given to them. (8)
Great blessings belong to those whose thoughts are pure. They will be
with God. (9) Great blessings belong to those who work to
bring peace. God will call them his sons and daughters. (10)
Great blessings belong to those who suffer persecution for doing what is
right. God's kingdom belongs to them.
Easy-to-Read
Version (ERV) is new to me.
I was
greatly surprised this morning by the quality of the translation of Mat 5.3 in
a version I had never heard of before. I found it in my latest installation of
the great and free bible software package, E-Sword - http://www.e-sword.net/ -. I downloaded ERV
because it was also free, and I kept it in my compare versions list because it
was unfamiliar and in English. So in my quiet time study currently on Mathew 5,
up pops the excellently translated Mat 5.3 ERV. Lord willing, I will be posting
more about this version later.
I2C 140129a Mat 5v3 EZ2 Read / I2C / 140129 1011 / Matt 5:3 EZ2 Read / ERV
Translates Verse Marvelously
