The first twelve verses of chapter 5 are the Beatitudes. They answer the question Who is qualified to be admitted to the Church? —for the “kingdom of heaven” is, as we shall see, the way the Church is regularly designated hereafter. Those who are qualified for membership are “the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” —that is, they rate the kingdom. Likewise qualified are those that mourn and need comfort, and the meek who shall inherit the earth (that is, hereafter when the kingdom comes to its own). Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, who are eager to accept the message and be accepted—who else could be better qualified? Likewise deserving are the merciful who shall be paid in kind, the pure in heart, they alone whose confidence waxes strong in the presence of God (having no hidden vices to rankle the subconscious with guilt), those who are persecuted for being righteous, and finally those who are thoroughly unpopular in our present society; what they can hope for is “your reward in heaven” (Matthew 5:12 [Matt. 3:14]). Notice that these are all low-profile people, the same that Isaiah recommends for blessings, having the exact opposite of all the qualities that make for success in our present world.
In your King James Bible verse 13 is rightly marked as beginning a new section; the Lord is now addressing the disciples as the leaders of the Church. He addresses them as the salt of the earth, of which only a little is needed but is of prime significance; if they cannot function properly everything falls flat. It is the disciples, not the milling crowds that are the salt of the earth—one only needs a little, but it makes all the difference. Then in a new section, which is also marked beginning with verse 17, he reminds them that there is only one law and one gospel. He contrasts them with the leaders of the Jews, the scribes and Pharisees (v. 20). Then he gives them strict rules of behavior and emphasizes their high responsibility.
The Beatitudes
On the mountain Jesus opens the great sermon with the Beatitudes, and the JST restores two of them first: blessed are they who believe on him and are baptized, “visited with fire and with the holy ghost.” The blessings then fall on the poor in spirit, the mourner, the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, the very people the world overlooks.
Tap a Gospel to show or hide its column. Narrow to any two to read them side by side.
Note. The JST adds two whole beatitudes before “poor in spirit” (believing on Christ; baptism and the holy ghost) and binds the rest into a single chain. Only the substantive JST changes are marked; the CCE’s modernized wording is unmarked.
? How to read this edition
The reading is the Joseph Smith Translation, in the text of the Covenant Christian Edition, carried beside each Gospel and set against the King James baseline. Headers give both numbering systems: the CCE chapter and verse, and the traditional KJV reference.
1And Jesus, seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain. And when he was seated, his disciples came unto him, 2and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are they who shall believe on me. And again, more blessed are they who shall believe on your words when you shall testify that you have seen me and that I am.
Yea, blessed are they who shall believe on your words, and come down into the depths of humility, and be baptized in my name, for they shall be visited with fire and with the holy ghost, and shall receive a remission of their sins.
3Yea, blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
4And again, blessed are all they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5And blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6And blessed are all they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the holy ghost.
7And blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
8And blessed are all the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
10And blessed are all they that are persecuted for righteousness’ my name’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
11And blessed are you when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake, 12Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is for you shall have great joy and be exceedingly glad, for great shall be your reward in Heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you.
1And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words unto Nephi and to those who had been called — now the number of them who had been called, and received power and authority to baptize, were twelve — and behold, he stretched forth his hand unto the multitude and cried unto them, saying, Blessed are ye if ye shall give heed unto the words of these twelve whom I have chosen from among you to minister unto you and to be your servants. And unto them I have given power that they may baptize you with water; and after that ye are baptized with water, behold, I will baptize you with fire and with the holy ghost. Therefore, blessed are ye if ye shall believe in me and be baptized after that ye have seen me and know that I am.
2And again, more blessed are they who shall believe in your words because that ye shall testify that ye have seen me and that ye know that I am. Yea, blessed are they who shall believe in your words, and come down into the depths of humility, and be baptized, for they shall be visited with fire and with the holy ghost and shall receive a remission of their sins.
3Yea, blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
4And again, blessed are all they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5And blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the holy ghost.
7And blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
8And blessed are all the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
10And blessed are all they who are persecuted for my name’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. 11And blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake, 12for ye shall have great joy and be exceeding glad, for great shall be your reward in Heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you.
1When Jesus had spoken these words to Nephi and to the twelve who had been called and received power and authority to baptize, He reached out His hand to the crowd and cried out to them: Blessed are you if you pay close attention to the words of these twelve whom I’ve chosen from this people, to minister to you and to be your servants. I’ve given them power so they can baptize you with water. And after you’re baptized with water, I’ll baptize you with fire and the Holy Ghost. Therefore blessed are you if you believe in Me and are baptized, after seeing Me and knowing that I Am.
2In addition, more blessed are those who believe in your words because you testify that you’ve seen Me and you know that I Am. Indeed, blessed are those who believe in your words and come down into the depths of humility and are baptized, since they will be visited with fire and the Holy Ghost and will receive a remission of their sins.
3Yes, God is with the poor in spirit who come to Me, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
4And also, God is with all those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5And God remembers the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6And God accompanies all those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled with the Holy Ghost.
7And God loves the merciful, for they will obtain mercy.
8And God blesses the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9And God is with all the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.
10And God is beside all those who are persecuted for being called by My name, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. 11And God stands with all of you when people revile, persecute, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, because of following Me, 12for you should all have great joy and be very glad, because a great reward awaits you in heaven; the prophets who lived before you were persecuted in the same way.
If Any Men Ever Had Reason to Claim This Promise
Sufficiently Pure to Abide the Presence of the Savior
CCE T&C 117:6 · November 12, 1835 · scriptures.info ↗Not an exposition of verse 8. Joseph Smith was speaking to the Twelve in Kirtland about the coming solemn assembly, and the Covenant Christian Edition canonizes the remarks as T&C 117. It is set here because it makes the same promise as “the pure in heart shall see God”: purity is the condition, and seeing the Savior is what it leads to.
I feel disposed to speak a few words more to you my brethren concerning the endowment. All who are prepared and are sufficiently pure to abide the presence of the Savior will see him in the solemn assembly.
We Are the Men
Writing from Liberty Jail to the scattered Saints in Caldwell County, Joseph Smith quoted verses 11 and 12 and then claimed them: he and his fellow prisoners had been reviled and lied about for the sake of the gospel, and he named who had done it. A letter, so there are no reporters’ accounts.
Letter to the Church in Caldwell County, Missouri, 16 December 1838, Liberty Jail (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 124) · Joseph Smith Papers ↗… and again blessed are ye when all men shall revile you and speak all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake, rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Now dear brethren if any men ever had reason to claim this promise we are the men, for we know that the world not only hates us but speak all manner of evil of us falsely for no other reason than because we have been endeavoring to teach the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ after we were bartered away by Hinkle and were taken into the militia camp we had all the evidence we could have wished for that the world hated us and that most cordially too. If there were priests of all the different sects they hated us, if there were Generals they hated us, if there were Colonels they hated us, and the soldiers and officers of every kind hated us, and the most profane blasphemers and drunkards & whoremongers hated us, they all hated us most cordially. And now what did they hate us for, purely because of the testimony of Jesus Christ. Was it because we were liars? We know that it has been reported by some but it has been reported falsely Was it because we have committed treason against the government in Daviess County or of burglary, or of larceny or arson, or any other unlawful act in Daviess county.
Then Will All the Meek Inherit the Earth
At a meeting of the Nauvoo Lyceum in March 1841, Joseph Smith spoke about the Millennium and what comes after it, and said when verse 5 is fulfilled: not at the Second Coming, but after the last change of the earth, when it is glorified. William McIntire’s minutes are the only record.
Discourse, circa 16 March 1841, Nauvoo Lyceum · William P. McIntire Minute Book (Words of Joseph Smith, 16 March 1841) · Joseph Smith Papers ↗Joseph Said that they wi[c]ked will Not all be Destroyed at the Coming of Christ & also there will be wiked During the Melenum [Millennium]— for instance Isaiah says the Days of an infant shall be as the age of a tree also Zaich. [Zechariah] says all who Does Not Come up year by year with their Gifts to the feasts of the tabernicle that No Rain shall fall upon them— & that Jesus will be a Resident on the Earth a thousand [years] with the Saints is Not the Case but will Raign over the saints & come Down & instruct as he Did the 5 hundred Brethern (1st Cor.— 15) & those of the first Resurerection will also Raign with him over the saints— then after the Little season is expired & the Earth underGoes its Last Change & is Gloryfyed then will all the meek inherit the Earth wherein Dwelleth Righteous—
When All Men Speak Evil of You, Blessed Are Ye
In hiding from the Missouri writs, Joseph Smith came to the Female Relief Society on the last day of August 1842 and read the opposition against him by verse 11: being spoken evil of is no evidence against a man, and may be evidence for him. Eliza R. Snow kept the minutes; hers is the only record.
Discourse to the Female Relief Society, 31 August 1842, the Grove, Nauvoo · recorded by Eliza R. Snow, Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book, pp. [81]–[82] (History of the Church 5:139–141; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 259) · Joseph Smith Papers ↗The enemy will never get weary— I expect he will array every thing against me— I expect a tremendous warfare. He that will war the christian warfare will have the angels of devils and all the infernal powers of darkness continually array’d against him. When wicked and corrupt men oppose, it is a criterion to judge if a man is warring the christian warfare. When all men speak evil of you, blessed are ye &c. Shall a man be considered bad, when men speak evil of him? No: If a man stands and opposes the world of sin, he may expect all things array’d against him. But it will be but a little season and all these afflictions will be turn’d away from us inasmuch as we are faithful and are not overcome by these evils. By seeing the blessings of the endowment rolling on, and the kingdom increasing and spreading from sea to sea; we will rejoice that we were not overcome by these foolish things.
Who Is Qualified to Be Admitted?
Teaching the Sermon on the Mount in his Gospel Doctrine class, Nibley read the Beatitudes not as scattered blessings but as a single entrance examination: the list of who is qualified to be admitted to the kingdom. The qualified turn out to be “all low-profile people,” having “the exact opposite of all the qualities that make for success in our present world.”
The Beatitudes, Nibley adds, lead straight into the Lord’s charge to the disciples as “the salt of the earth”: the leaders of the Church, “of which only a little is needed but is of prime significance.”
Blessed Are the Pure in Heart: Seeing the Face
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” recovers, for Barker, the temple tradition of seeing the LORD’s face: the vision once reserved to the Holy of Holies.
The throne of God and the Lamb shall be [in the temple city], and his servants shall worship him, and they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. And night shall be no more; they shall need no light of lamp or sun, for the LORD God will be their light, and they shall reign for ever and ever’’ (Rev.22.3-5 [Rev. 8:14]).
This was the heart of St John’s vision of the temple city, and the original meaning of Jesus’ saying: ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God’ (Matt.5.8 [Matt. 3:11]). They stood in the eternal light, the pre-created light, of the holy of holies.
The Name on the forehead was the sign of the ancient high priest, marked with the oil when he was anointed. In the first temple, this took the form of a diagonal cross. Nobody knows why the Name of the LORD was represented by a diagonal cross, but the prophet Ezekiel says this was so (Ezek.9.4 [Ezek. 3:7]). He was himself a priest, and received a vision of angels coming to destroy the city. He also heard the LORD offering protection to those who had remained faithful. There was a scribe with the angels, and the LORD told him to put a mark, a diagonal cross X, on the foreheads of all the faithful.
Tracing this thread through temple texts reveals one of the most important teachings in the New Testament: the Christians were the restored, high priests. The false teaching in the time of Isaiah eventually led to a revolution within the priesthood. Many left the polluted temple and some even joined with the Babylonian army many years later when they attacked Jerusalem. Presumably they hoped to restore the older ways when the Babylonians had conquered the city. That is speculation, but people remembered for centuries that these priests eventually went south and settled in Arabia, taking the older faith with them.11 Perhaps this is why St Paul, after his conversion, went to Arabia (Gal. 1.17 [Gal. 1:4]), to learn about the roots of his new faith which was in fact the older faith.
May the LORD make the graciousness of his countenance shine upon you in the study of Torah and reveal to you obscure things and protect you. May the LORD show the graciousness of his countenance to you in your prayer and give you peace... The Qumran Community Rule is similar: May he illuminate your heart with the wisdom of life, and grant you knowledge of eternal things, May he show the presence of his mercy to you for eternal peace. 4 The same list of prohibited readings includes Ezekiel’s vision of the chariot throne and the shining human form enthroned.
Sensitivity about literal understanding may have been to avoid anthropomorphism, but I suspect there were other reasons why the ‘presence of the LORD’ texts were neither explained nor given their obvious meaning. One may be that the Christians still understood the texts literally and used them as proof texts for the Incarnation. They restored or perhaps retained the pre-Deuteronomic beliefs. Thus Jesus taught that the pure in heart would see God (Matt.5.8 [Matt. 3:11]); and John claimed of the incarnate LORD: ‘We have seen his glory’ (John 1.14 [John 1:2]), But why was the LORD described as a shining presence? One suggestion is that this referred to the great equinox festivals in Solomon’s temple, when the rising sun shone directly through the eastern doors of the temple and into the holy of holies, illuminating the golden throne of the LORD. This theory was proposed by Julian Morgenstern in 1964, when he argued that in Solomon’s temple, Yahweh had been a solar deity. At the equinox festivals, his glory was seen to shine over the whole creation. This is what Isaiah meant when he saw the LORD enthroned and exclaimed that the whole earth was full of his glory. With the new post-exilic ways, however, the old solar calendar and the cult of the monarchy were abandoned. Although Morgenstern did not mention this, rejecting the solar calendar and cult was emphasised each year at Tabernacles, when the procession of priests declared: ‘Our fathers when they were in this place turned with their backs towards the temple of the LORD and worshipped the sun towards the east.’