Matthew 5:4

Mat_5:4

They that mourn.

The mourners who are not entitled to the blessings here named

I. Those who indulge the sorrow of discontent.

II. The inordinate sorrow for worldly losses.

III. Sorrow for wounded pride.

IV. A despairing spirit as to their acceptance with God. Those who are blessed:-

1. There is a mourning arising from a sense of having offended God.

2. Those who mourn under the afflicting dispensations of Gods providence.

3. A few words to those who enjoy worldly contentment: you are no mourners.

4. May God give us grace to mourn so as to be comforted. (H. Alford, M. A.)

Spiritual mourning

I. What we are to understand by the mourning mentioned.

1. It is not the mourning of a melancholy disposition.

2. It is not sorrow over temporal distress.

3. It is not sorrow in adversity.

4. It is not sorrow because of disappointed hopes. It arises purely from religion.

II. What are the causes of this mourning?

1. Sin is one-

(1) Because it dishonours God;

(2) Because it cleaves to himself.

(3) The prevalence of sin causes him to mourn

(4) because of the punishment it shall receive.

2. Another cause of his mourning is the absence of spiritual joys.

3. Another cause is the imperfect and afflicted state of the Church.

III. The import of the gracious promise made by the Saviour.

1. Spiritual mourners shall be comforted by an assurance of their personal interest in Christ.

2. By the assurance that the causes of their present mourning shall be removed.

3. By the expression of Divine approbation.

4. If the Christian be thus comforted here, what must be his comfort in heaven?

To conclude.

1. How mistaken is the world in its decisions! It supposes the mourner miserable; he only has joy.

2. Are you a spiritual mourner? (J. Jordan.)

The blessed mourners

I. Their character. We do not say that piety is never clothed in the garb of sorrow. The things which excite grief in the ungodly cause it in the godly. But while the sorrow is common, they do not mourn in the same spirit. Sorrow for sin chiefly meant in the text: no source of sorrow equal to this. Mourn for the sins of others; their own small attainment in grace.

1. Their sorrow is sincere.

2. It is bitter, not superficial.

3. It is godly.

4. They mourn in faith.

II. Their blessedness.

1. They may think that they are far from being in a blessed state.

2. By whom shall they be comforted? By God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

3. How shall comfort be imparted to them? By clear views of Christ and of His grace, etc.

4. By what means does God usually comfort the mourners? Prayer, worship, work, converse, sacrament. (D. Rees.)

The blessedness of sanctified sorrow

I. What that mourning is which Christ thus pronounces blessed. Not every kind of mourning. There is the sorrow of the world that worketh death:-

1. Such is the mourning that springs from a bad source. From pride or discontent.

2. Such is the mourning that is the expression of a bad spirit. But

(1) Blessed are they who mourn for themselves;

(2) Who mourn for their Christian brethren;

(3) Who mourn for the Church;

(4) Who mourn for the world.

II. What is the blessedness of that comfort which the redeemer here assures us is attached to this mourning.

1. It is present and positive.

2. There are comparative and contrasted blessings connected with this sorrow; the situation of such is less dangerous than that of others.

3. It is less equivocal than that of others. Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.

4. This blessedness is peculiar to themselves. (Dr. T. Raffles.)

Zions mourners comforted

Administration of Divine comfort to the subjects of godly contrition, the benevolent purpose of Messiah (Isa_61:3; Luk_4:18). Immediately on entering His ministry the prediction was accomplished.

I. The mourners addressed. The nature, cause, and evidences of their sorrow.

II. The consolation promised. Spiritual, seasonable, abundant, gracious (2Ch_30:9; Isa_55:7-9; Hos_6:1; Zec_1:3-4; Luk_15:7-10; Luk_17:21; Luk_17:24; Luk_17:32). (Anon.)

I. The mourning intended. Not murmuring, natural sorrow, or grief, but the sorrow connected with sin-godly sorrow-the mourning in the house of affliction, and mourning in Zion-sighing over the abominations of the people, etc.

II. The blessing promised. The sorrow, whatever its nature, shall not overwhelm. The comfort is certain. (W. Barker.)

I. What is the sorrow that is blessed? Not the vulgar sorrow that every man feels, etc. But-

1. Sorrow at the recollection and the sense of sin-for sin rather than for the consequences-secret sins-sin seen in the light of Christs countenance-godly sorrow.

2. Sorrow because of the sins that we see around us (Jer_9:18; Psa_119:36). Sins of the world, and sins of the Church-inconsistency, etc.

3. Sorrow because of the little progress of Christianity.

4. That we are able to do so little.

5. Sorrow that makes one sometimes long to be absent from the body, etc.

II. They who sorrow thus shall be comforted. There is a comfort in such sorrow, as well as beyond it. Such sorrow is blessed in its endurance, and at the close of it. It is Divine, complete, unalloyed comfort. (Dr. J. Gumming.)

The mourning here intended is that which arises from the due consideration of our own sins, and the sins of others.

I. Such was the godly sorrow of David (Psa_51:4).

1. The same kind was that of the woman who was a sinner, and whose conversion is briefly related by St. Luke (chap. 7.).

2. Peter mourned when his Lord looked on him after his cruel denial. He went out and wept bitterly.

3. Such was the sorrow of the Corinthians (2Co_7:11).

II. The generous spirit of the Christian deeply mourns the sins of others.

1. Thus saith the pious king of Israel: I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved, etc.

2. Such was the lamentation of Jeremiah (Jer_9:1-2).

3. The most perfect illustration of holy sorrow is seen in our Lord (Luk_19:41-42). (J. E. Good.)

The mourning which will entitle a man to blessedness hath these qualifications

I. It is spontaneous and free.

1. It must come as water out of a spring, not as fire from flint.

2. Tears for sin must be like the myrrh which drops from the tree freely, without cutting or forcing.

II. It is spiritual, that is when we mourn for sin more than suffering. We must mourn for sin as it is

(1) An act of hostility and enmity that

(2) affronts and resists the Holy Ghost;

(3) An ingratitude, in its unkindness against God;

(4) A privation that keeps good things from us, and hinders our communion with God.

III. It sends the soul to God. When the prodigal son repented, he went to his father.

IV. It is for sin in particular. There must, be a particular repentance before we have a general pardon.

V. It is with hope. Believing that though our tears drop to the earth, our faith must reach heaven.

VI. It is joined with self-loathing.

VII. It must be purifying. Our tears must, make us more holy. The waters of holy mourning are like the river Jordan, wherein Naaman washed, and was cleansed of his leprosy.

VIII. It must be joined with hatred of sin. We must not only abstain from sin, but abhor it. The dove hates the least feather of the hawk; a true mourner hates the least motion to sin.

IX. It is joined with restitution. If we have eclipsed the good name of others, we are bound to ask them forgiveness; if we have wronged them by unjust, fraudulent dealing, we must make them compensation.

X. It must be speedy.

XI. It must be constant. The waters of repentance must not overflow in the morning, at the first hearing of the gospel; and at mid-day, in the midst of health and prosperity, grow cold and be ready to freeze. It must be a dally weeping, a daily mourning. (Thomas Watson.)

Spiritual comforts are pure

They are not muddied with guilt, nor mixed with fear-they are the pure wine of the Spirit; what the mourner feels is joy, and nothing but joy. The comforts God gives His mourners are-

I. Sweet. The love of God shed into the heart is said to be better than wine (Son_1:2).

II. They are holy. Divine comforts give the soul more acquaintance with God.

III. They are satisfying. They fill the heart and make it run over.

IV. They are powerful. Strong cordials.

1. They strengthen for duty.

2. Support, under affliction.

V. They are abiding; abound in us, and so abide ever with us. Worldly comforts are still upon the wing, ready to fly. The comforts of the Spirit are immortal and eternal. Oh, how rare and superlative are these comforts! (Thomas Watson.)

Mourners comforted

I. The grief which is here specified. It will be proper:-

1. To ascertain its cause.

(1) He is led to view the immense debt of obedience due to the blessed God as the Sovereign Ruler of the universe.

(2) The awful consequences attending the non-payment of this debt.

(3) His utter inability to make restitution.

2. To ascertain its character.

(1) It is voluntary and sincere; not forced or artificial.

(2) It is deep, not superficial.

(3) It is evangelical and spiritual.

(4) It is characterized by a hatred and an abandonment of sin.

II. The consolation with which it is associated. They shall be comforted. This intimates certainty as well as the futurity of the comfort. But some may ask-

1. What is this consolation? It arises from the satisfaction Christ has made; none so rich, free, and satisfying as this.

2. Whence does this comfort proceed? From the free favour of God.

3. How is this comfort applied? It is the work of the Holy Spirit. (R. May.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 5:4. Blessed [or happy] are they that mourn — Namely, for their own sins and those of other men, and are steadily and habitually serious, watchful, and circumspect; for they shall be comforted — Even in this world, with the consolation that arises from a sense of the forgiveness of sins, peace with God, clear discoveries of his favour, and well-grounded, lively hopes of the heavenly inheritance, and with the full enjoyment of that inheritance itself in the world to come.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5:4 Those who mourn were those who lamented the spiritual and national condition of Israel (see 23:37-39; Isa 61:2-3; Joel 1:8-13; 2:12-13, 18-19; Rom 9:1-5; 1 Cor 5:2; Jas 4:9). Personal grief, whether caused by sin or tragedy, may also be in view (Mark 16:10; Rev 18:11, 19). • will be comforted: The passive voice is used out of reverence for the holy name of God; the phrase could also be rendered God will comfort them (see also Matt 5:6-7, 9). Comfort will accompany the fulfillment of all that God has promised (Isa 40:1-2; 61:2-3).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mat 5:4. Παρακληθήσονται, shall be comforted) The future tense indicates promises made in the Old Testament, and now to be performed; see Luk 16:25, and 2Th 2:16. The poor and the meek are joined together in Mat 5:3; Mat 5:5, as in the frequently-occurring עני ואביון, poor and needy, cf. also ch. Mat 11:29.

Mat 5:4-5. Οἱ πενθοῦντες, κ.τ.λ.) they that mourn, etc.—οἱ πρᾳεῖς, κ.τ.λ., the meek, etc.) Most of the Latins transpose these verses, and certainly the third and fifth verses correspond with each other. Blessed are the POOR in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of HEAVEN; blessed are the MEEK, for they shall inherit the EARTH. עני = πτωχὸς, poor, ענו = πραὖς, meek, especially in Psa 37:11, where the inheritance of the earth is spoken of, and ibid. Mat 5:14. But this does not interfere with our order of the verses; for Mat 5:4 is subordinate to Mat 5:3, and Mat 5:6 to Mat 5:5.[176] Mourning has a more widely extended signification than sorrowing for one’s own sins. See Gnomon on 1Co 5:2.

[176] For the arrangement, whereby the beatitude of οἱ πραεὶς comes before that of οἱ πενθοῦντες, there are Dac Vulg. Orig. 3, 740d, Euseb. Canon, Hilary 621d, 622a. For the arrangement of the Rec. Text, οἱ πενθ.—οἱ πραεῖς, there are of very old authorities Bb.—ED. By the word αὐτοὶ it is implied that the contraries to these beatitudes shall be portion of those oppositely disposed.—Vers. Germ.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat_5:4. Οἱ πενθοῦντες] Comp. Isa_61:2; Isa_57:17 f. After Chrysostom, these have frequently been understood as those who mourned over their own sins and those of others. These are not excluded, but they are not exclusively or specially meant by the general expression (Keim). They are generally those who are in suffering and distress. Think, for example, of Lazarus, of the persecuted Christians (Joh_16:20; Heb_12:11), of the suffering repentant ones (2Co_7:9), and so on; for that no unchristian πενθεῖν, no λύπη τοῦ κόσμου, is meant, is (2Co_7:10) understood of itself from the whole surroundings. The πενθοῦντες shall, Rom_8:18, 2Co_4:17, Joh_14:13, be comforted as a matter of fact in the Messiahs kingdom by the enjoyment of its blessedness (Luk_2:25; Luk_16:25), therefore the Messiah Himself is also called מְנַחֵם (Schoettgen, Hor. II. p. 18; Wetstein, I. p. 665). According to the beatitudes, which all refer to the Messiahs kingdom, there is no mention of temporal comfort by the promise of the forgiveness of sins, and so on. This in answer to Kienlen in the Stud. u. Kritik. 1848, p. 681.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 5:4 . οἱ πενθοῦντες . Who are they? All who on any account grieve? Then this Beatitude would give utterance to a thoroughgoing optimism. Pessimists say that there are many griefs for which there is no remedy, so many that life is not worth living. Did Jesus mean to meet this position with a direct negative, and to affirm that there is no sorrow without remedy? If not, then He propounds a puzzle provoking thoughtful scholars to ask: What grief is that which will without fail find comfort? There can be no comfort where there is no grief, for the two ideas are correlative. But in most cases there is no apparent necessary connection. Necessary connection is asserted in this aphorism, which gives us a clue to the class described as οἱ πενθοῦντες . Their peculiar sorrow roust be one which comforts itself, a grief that has the thing it grieves for in the very grief. The comfort is then no outward good. It lies in a right state of soul, and that is given in the sorrow which laments the lack of it. The sorrow reveals love of the good, and that love is possession. In so far as all kinds of sorrow tend to awaken reflection on the real good and ill of human life, and so to issue in the higher sorrow of the soul, the second Beatitude may be taken absolutely as expressing the tendency of all grief to end in consolation. παρακληθήσονται , future. The comfort is latent in the very grief, but for the present there is no conscious joy, but only poignant sorrow. The joy, however, will inevitably come to birth. No noble nature abides permanently in the house of mourning. The greater the sorrow, the greater the ultimate gladness, the “joy in the Holy Ghost” mentioned by St. Paul among the essentials of the Kingdom of God (Rom 14:17 ).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted--This "mourning" must not be taken loosely for that feeling which is wrung from men under pressure of the ills of life, nor yet strictly for sorrow on account of committed sins. Evidently it is that entire feeling which the sense of our spiritual poverty begets; and so the second beatitude is but the complement of the first. The one is the intellectual, the other the emotional aspect of the same thing. It is poverty of spirit that says, "I am undone"; and it is the mourning which this causes that makes it break forth in the form of a lamentation--"Woe is me! for I am undone." Hence this class are termed "mourners in Zion," or, as we might express it, religious mourners, in sharp contrast with all other sorts (Isa 61:1-3; Isa 66:2). Religion, according to the Bible, is neither a set of intellectual convictions nor a bundle of emotional feelings, but a compound of both, the former giving birth to the latter. Thus closely do the first two beatitudes cohere. The mourners shall be "comforted." Even now they get beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Sowing in tears, they reap even here in joy. Still, all present comfort, even the best, is partial, interrupted, short-lived. But the days of our mourning shall soon be ended, and then God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes. Then, in the fullest sense, shall the mourners be "comforted."

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 4. Blessed are they that mourn] That is, those who, feeling their spiritual poverty, mourn after God, lamenting the iniquity that separated them from the fountain of blessedness. Every one flies from sorrow, and seeks after joy, and yet true joy must necessarily be the fruit of sorrow. The whole need not (do not feel the need of) the physician, but they that are sick do; i.e. they who are sensible of their disease. Only such persons as are deeply convinced of the sinfulness of sin, feel tho plague of their own heart, and turn with disgust from all worldly consolations, because of their insufficiency to render them happy, have God's promise of solid comfort. They SHALL BE comforted, says Christ, παρακληθησονται, from παρα, near, and καλεω, I call. He will call them to himself, and speak the words of pardon, peace, and life eternal, to their hearts. See this notion of the word expressed fully by our Lord, Mt 11:28, COME UNTO ME all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(4) They that mourn.—The verb is commonly coupled with weeping (Mar_16:10; Luk_6:25; Jas_4:9; Rev_18:15-19). Here, as before, there is an implied, though not an expressed, limitation. The “mourning” is not the sorrow of the world that worketh “death” (2Co_7:10) for failure, suffering, and the consequences of sin, but the sorrow which flows out in the tears that cleanse, the mourning over sin itself and the stain which it has left upon the soul.

They shall be comforted.—The pronoun is emphatic. The promise implies the special comfort (including counsel) which the mourner needs; “comforted” he shall be with the sense of pardon and peace, of restored purity and freedom. We cannot separate the promise from the word which Christendom has chosen (we need not now discuss its accuracy) to express the work of the Holy Ghost the Comforter, still less from the yearning expectation that then prevailed among such of our Lord’s hearers as were looking for the “consolation”—i.e., the “comfort”—of Israel (Luk_2:25).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. mourn] Those who mourn for sin are primarily intended; but the secondary meaning, “those who are in suffering and distress,” is not excluded. The first meaning is illustrated by 2Co_7:10, “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of, but the sorrow of the world worketh death.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Blessed are they that mourn,.... For sin, for their own sins; the sin of their nature, indwelling sin, which is always working in them, and is a continual grief of mind to them; the unbelief of their hearts, notwithstanding the many instances, declarations, promises, and discoveries of grace made unto them; their daily infirmities, and many sins of life, because they are committed against a God of love, grace, and mercy, grieve the Spirit, and dishonour the Gospel of Christ: who mourn also for the sins of others, for the sins of the world, the profaneness and wickedness that abound in it; and more especially for the sins of professors, by reason of which, the name of God, and ways of Christ, are evil spoken of: who likewise mourn under afflictions, spiritual ones, temptations, desertions, and declensions; temporal ones, their own, which they receive, either more immediately from the hand of God, or from men; such as they endure for the sake of Christ, and the profession of his Gospel; and who sympathize with others in their afflictions. These, how sorrowful and distressed soever they may appear, are blessed

for they shall be comforted: here in this life, by the God of all comfort, by Christ the comforter; by the Spirit of God, whose work and office it is to comfort; by the Scriptures of truth, which are written for their consolation; by the promises of the Gospel, through which the heirs of promise have strong consolation; by the ordinances of it, which are breasts of consolation; and by the ministers of the word, who have a commission from the Lord to speak comfortably to them; and then are they comforted, when they have the discoveries of the love of God, manifestations of pardoning grace, through the blood of Christ, and enjoy the divine presence: and they shall be comforted hereafter; when freed from all the troubles of this life, they shall be blessed with uninterrupted communion with Father, Son, and Spirit, and with the happy society of angels and glorified saints. Isa 61:1 seems to be referred to, both in this, and in the preceding verse.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Ver. 4. Blessed are they that mourn] For sin, with a funeral sorrow (as the word signifieth), such as is expressed by crying and weeping, Luk 6:25, such as was that at Megiddo, for the loss of good Josiah; or as when a man mourns for his only son, Zec 12:10. (πενθος, luctus ex morte amicorum. Steph. As the widow of Nain; as Jacob for Joseph; as David for his Absalom.) This is the work of the Spirit of grace and of supplication: for till the winds do blow these waters cannot flow, Psa 147:18. He convinceth the heart of sin, and makes it to become a very Hadadrimmon for deep soaking sorrow, upon the sight of him whom they have pierced, Zec 12:10. When a man shall look upon his sins, as the weapons, and himself as the traitor, that put to death the Lord of life, this causeth that sorrow according to God, that worketh repentance never to be repented of, 2Co 7:10.

For they shall be comforted] Besides the comfort they find in their very sorrow (for it is a sweet sign of a sanctified soul, and seals a man up to the day of redemption, Eze 9:4), they lay up for themselves thereby in store a good foundation of comfort "against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life," as the apostle speaketh in another case, 1Ti 6:19. These April showers bring on May flowers. They that here "sow in tears shall reap in joy;" they that find Christ’s feet a fountain to wash in, may expect his side a fountain to bathe in. Oh, how sweet a thing is it to stand weeping at the wounded feet of Jesus, as that good woman did! to water them with tears, to dry them with sighs, and to kiss them with our mouths! None, but those who have felt it can tell the comfort of it. The stranger meddleth not with this joy. When our merry Greeks, that laugh themselves fat, and light a candle at the devil for lightsomeness of heart, hunting after it to hell, and haunting for it ale houses, conventicles of goodfellowship, sinful and unseasonable sports, vain and waterish fooleries, &c., when these mirthmongers, I say, that take pleasure in pleasure, and jeer when they should fear, with Lot’s sons-in-law, shall be at a foul stand, and not have where to turn them, Isa 22:13; Isa 23:14; God’s mourners shall be able to "dwell with devouring fire, with everlasting burnings," to stand before the Son of man at his second coming. Yea, as the lower the ebb, the higher the tide; so the lower any hath descended in humiliation, the higher shall he ascend then in his exaltation. Those that have helped to fill Christ’s bottle with tears, Christ shall then fill their bottle (as once he did Hagar’s) with the water of life. He looked back upon the weeping women, and comforted them, that would not vouchsafe a loving look or a word to Pilate or the priests. Not long before that, he told his disciples, "Ye shall indeed be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy," Joh 16:20-21. And further addeth, "A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow," &c., comparing sorrow for sin to that of a travailing woman: 1. For bitterness and sharpness for the time, throes of the new birth. 2. For utility and benefit, it tendeth to the bringing a man child forth into the world. 3. For the hope and expectation that is in it not only of an end, but also of fruit; this makes joy in the midst of sorrows. 4. There is a certain time set for both, and a sure succession, as of day after night, and of fair weather after foul. Mourning lasteth but till morning, Psa 30:5. Though "I fall, I shall arise;" though "I sit in darkness, the Lord shall give me light," saith the Church, Mic 7:8. Jabez was more honourable than his brethren, saith the text, for his mother bare him with sorrow, and called his name Jabez, that is, sorrowful. But when he called upon the God of Israel, and said, "Oh that thou wouldst bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast," &c., "God granted him that which he requested," 1Ch 4:9-10. And so he will all such Israelites indeed, as "ask the way to Zion, with their faces thitherward," going and weeping as they go, to seek the Lord their God, Jer 50:4-5; he shall wipe all tears from their eyes (as nurses do from their babes that cry after them), and enlarge, not their coasts (as Jabez), but their hearts (which is better); yea, he shall grant them their requests, as him. So that as Hannah, when she had prayed, and Eli for her, she looked no more sad, 1Sa 1:18; David, when he came before God in a "woeful case" many times, yet when he had poured forth his sorrowful complaint there, he rose up triumphing, as Psa 6:8-10 &c.; so shall it be with such. They go forth and weep, bearing precious seed, but shall surely return with rejoicing, and bring their sheaves with them, Psa 126:6; grapes of gladness (said that martyr, Philpot) when Abraham the good householder shall fill his bosom with them, in the kingdom of heaven. Then as one hour changed Joseph’s fetters into a chain of gold, his rags into robes, his stocks into a chariot, his prison into a palace, his brown bread and water into manchet and wine, -so shall God turn all his people’s sadness into gladness, all their sighing into singing, all their musing into music, all their tears into triumphs. Luctus in laetitiam convertetur, lachrymae in risum, saccus in sericum, cineres in corollas et unguentum, ieiunium in epulum, manuum retortio in applausum. He that will rejoice with this joy unspeakable, must stir up sighs that are unutterable.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Blessed are they that mourn - This is capable of two meanings: either, that those are blessed who are afflicted with the loss of friends or possessions, or that they who mourn over sin are blessed. As Christ came to preach repentance, to induce people to mourn over their sins and to forsake them, it is probable that he had the latter particularly in view. Compare 2Co 7:10. At the same time, it is true that the gospel only can give true comfort to those in affliction, Isa 61:1-3; Luk 4:18. Other sources of consolation do not reach the deep sorrows of the soul. They may blunt the sensibilities of the mind; they may produce a sullen and reluctant submission to what we cannot help: but they do not point to the true source of comfort. In the God of mercy only; in the Saviour; in the peace that flows from the hope of a better world, and there only, is there consolation, 2Co 3:17-18; 2Co 5:1. Those that mourn thus shall be comforted. So those that grieve over sin; that sorrow that they have committed it, and are afflicted and wounded that they have offended God, shall find comfort in the gospel. Through the merciful Saviour those sins may be forgiven. In him the weary and heavy-ladened soul shall find peace Mat 11:28-30; and the presence of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, shall sustain them here Joh 14:26-27, and in heaven all their tears shall be wiped away, Rev 21:4.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The land of the living, or the kingdom of heaven. The evangelist prefers calling it the land of the living in this place, to shew that the meek, the humble, and the oppressed, who are spoiled of the possession of this earth by the powerful and the proud, shall obtain the inheritance of a better land. (Menochius) "They shall possess the land," is the reward annexed by our Saviour to meekness, that he might not differ in any point from the old law, so well known to the persons he was addressing. David, in psalm xxxvi, had made the same promise to the meek. If temporal blessings are promised to some of the virtues in the beatitudes, it is that temporal blessings might always accompany the more solid rewards of grace. But spiritual rewards are always the principal, always ranked in the first place, all who practice these virtues are pronounced blessed. (Hom. xv.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The world is mistaken in accounting the jocund and merry companions the only happy men; their mirth is madness, and their joy will be like crackling of thorns under a pot: but those are rather the happy men, who mourn; yea, such are most certainly happy, who mourn out of duty in the sense of their own sins, or of the sins of others, or who mourn out of choice rather to suffer afflictions and persecutions with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season. Though such sufferings do excite in them natural passions, yet it is a blessed mourning, for those are the blessed tears which God will wipe at last from his people’s eyes, and such are these.

They shall be comforted, either in this life, with the consolations of the Spirit, or with their Master’s joy in the life that is to come, Isa 61:3; Joh 16:20; Jam 1:12. So as this promise, and declaration of blessedness, is not to be extended to all mourners, but only to such as God hath made so, or who in duty have made themselves so, obeying some command of God, for sympathizing with God’s glory, or with his afflicted people, Rom 12:15, or testifying their repentance for their sins; for there is a mourning which is a mere natural effect of passion, and a worldly sorrow which worketh unto death, as well as a godly sorrow working repentance to salvation, 2Co 7:10.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. They that mourn — Of course all the terms are to be understood as within the sphere of religion. The mourning is not secular, but religious grief — penitence. As sin is the only essential evil, so this mourning is for sin. And for sin the only comfort is forgiveness and divine favour. Penitence is a blessed receptivity of the true blessedness.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In some, especially "Western" authorities, vers. 4, 5 are transposed (vide Westcott and Hort, "Appendix"), possibly because the terms of ver. 5 seemed to be more closely parallel to ver. 3 (cf. Meyer, Weiss), and also those of ver. 4 fitted excellently with ver. 6. But far the greater balance of evidence is in favour of the usual order, which also, though not on the surface, is in the deepest connexion with the preceding and the following verses. They that mourn. (cf. Isa_61:2) Our Lorddoes not define that which causes the mourning, but as the preceding and the following verses all refer to the religious or at least the ethical sphere, merely carnal and worldly mourning is excluded. The mourning referred to must, therefore, be produced by religious or moral causes. Mourners for the state of Israel, so far as they mourned not for its political but for its spiritual condition, (cf. similar mourning in the Christian Church, 2Co_7:9, 2Co_7:10) would be included (cf. Weiss, "Life," 2:142); but our Lord"s primary thought must have been of mourning over one"s personal state, not exactly, perhaps, over one"s sins, but over the realized poverty in spirit just spoken of (cf. Weiss-Meyer). As the deepest poverty lies in the sphere of the spirit, so the deepest mourning lies there also. All other mourning is but partial and slight compared with this. (Pro_18:14) For they shall be comforted. When? On having the kingdom of heaven (ver. 3); i.e. during this life in measure, (cf. Luk_2:25) but fully only hereafter. The mourning over one"s personal poverty in spirit is removed in proportion as Christ is received and appropriated; but during this life such appropriation can be only partial.

The blessedness of the mourner.

"Blessed are they that mourn," etc. Perhaps this Beatitude may be counted as the one that most amazed ears and minds, which were not a little amazed by each one in turn. How little real cheerfulness possessed the heart of the people among whom Jesus lived! There was a maddened, frivolous excitement on the one hand; on the other, a tamed-down and habitual dispiritedness. The heritage of the nation at this time was the misery and sense of degradation that came of many of the grossest forms of bodily disease, of the heart of religion eaten out, and of an oppressed and down-trodden political condition. And both the ever-memorable, ever-dear invitation, "Come to me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden," and this Beatitude, "Blessed are they that mourn betray and bespeak in utter harmony with one another the prevailing tone and genius of the saddened nation. Nay, unless what Jesus now pronounces can be thoroughly maintained and made good, so suited is the word to the most patent aspects of the people"s heart, that it; might run the risk of seeming the refinement of a mocking flattery. But, whatever the people of the time thought and believed, or believed not, about this saying, nineteen centuries have fortified and still fortify its position. Even "the natural history" of the mourner, much more his spiritual history, passed in simplest review, will show that the saying of Jesus is not to take rank with the strained, unreal, arbitrary sayings of philosopher or quack, either optimist or pessimist, but is the saying of deep, abiding truth.

I MOURNING EXPRESSES AT THE LOWEST ESTIMATE A HOPEFUL SUSCEPTIBILITY. Where tears are, there is some susceptibility, at all events. Fatal fever does not rage, and is not doing its irremediable worst. Pitiless heat, shut-up heavens, unyielding drought, have not scorched up irrecoverably the verdure of the heart. One tear in the eye tells of at least one spring in the heart, though it lie ever so concealed. Esau"s deluge of tears testified that, though his birthright was irrecoverably lost, yet he himself was not so. The woman who washed the feet of Jesus with her tears had lost more, and more irrecoverably, than Esau lost, yet she herself was saved, and Jesus guaranteed it: "Thy faith hath saved thee: go in peace." Peter, at the fire of the judgment-hall. renounced his faith, his Lord, his hope; and was not his conscience seared and his soul branded for a lost soul? No, for he "went out and wept bitterly." But there was another who also denied Jesus. He was close by, and he too "went out," but not to weep; we read not of one tear. So, even so, on the lowest showing, the mourner is blessed.

II THE TRUE THING MOURNING SPEAKS OF THE PROBATION OF EARTH. Violent grief, wailing, gnashing of teeth, are indeed revealed as characteristic of the place or state of future woe. But the true spirit of mourning, unknown in heaven, ungiven to hell, marks "the day of grace" that belongs to earth. It is one of the chiefest signs of earth"s trial and education, and one of the chiefest symptoms of earth"s hope. It subserves highest and most intrinsic uses uses not the sequel of God"s displeasure only, but the arguments of his most gracious love, till such time as "the former things have passed away, and God wipe away all tears from the eye." What mercy lies ambushed in mourning!

III MOURNING IN ITS VARIOUS KINDS HAS ABSOLUTE AND VALUABLE USES.

1. There is the mourning of sympathy. The reaction of sympathy is of Divinest use. Whatever it gives, it takes inevitably more. It opens the whole fulness of the spiritual eye, enlarges the heart, gives liberty and free action to each faculty for love, and each limb for service.

2. There is the mourning of pain. Pain presses it forth, and it expresses pain. That very expression is relief. Even physical pain is a power in and throughout the whole world. It has a widely pervading usefulness, a deeply penetrating service, in this world"s stages- of spiritual growth and spiritual immaturity. The mourning of pain, for infancy, childhood, youth, strong age. and old age, we cannot tell what it has not been the means, directly or indirectly, of sparing to flesh, blood, mind; what fever of body and soul it has not averted, adding endurance to patience, vigour to energy, length of days to life itself.

3. There is the mourning of a full heart, whether the heart that is full of sorrow or of joy. How often is it the safety of the heart surcharged with grief, or likely to be overbalanced with joy! So Hagar wept. So Joseph wept when he heard of his father, "the old man, yet alive." So wept the exile patriots "by the rivers of Babylon." So the overjoyed father, whose prayer had successfully wrestled, and who with tears cried out, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." And so was Mary"s mourning, as she stood "without at the sepulchre," transmuted into an ever-springing well of joy.

4. There is the mourning of bereavement. Of all the heart"s mourning, irrespective of that toward God in penitence, there is none more deep, more keen, more pitifully bowed down. Even when we Sorrow as those with a good hope, the poet"s verse is most true"Oh! "tis the pang severest That human hearts can know, To lay what we hold dearest, Thus, thus the dust below.

Of this mourning, too, how truly it may be said, it is alike signally fruitless and fruitful fruitless to reverse, or in the least to stay the unanswering and unanswerable will of God, but fruitful to bring heaven nearer! Of brother and child, of wife and sister, of friend and second self, once slipped from our touch, it only remains to be said, with dreadest conviction of the truth of it, "he" or "she shall not return to me." The most undoubting trust is demanded in the darkest conflict; the most unsuspecting love in the blankest heart. Clinging, unaltering attachment is wrapt in bleeding, writhing affection. But to no mourning has Jesus come more deliberately to assuage it, with none has he more touchingly sympathized, none in the days of his flesh which seemed more to stir him to his mightiest works. Yes, blessed is this mourner, for he is already "comforted," in that those he loves so well are, though vanished from his sight, where for the first time no mourning can affect them. No recall can disturb their secure bliss.

5. Beyond the natural history of mourning there is that spiritual history of it, that sacred service belonging to it, infinitely removed from all mere sentiment, unfeignedly acknowledged by the strongest man, the tenderest woman, the frailest child the mourning of penitence. This has no meritorious worth. Nor does it derive any consecration from our being able to say it was shared by Jesus. But it was sanctioned by him, looked on with most gracious approval by him, commended by him, as surely as those very different shouts of triumph and loud hosannas that echoed to the skies when once he was journeying into the city of Jerusalem. Yet what a touching history belongs to the mourning of penitence! With what extraordinary experiences has it been allied! Upon what fears, darkness, struggles, anguish, has it at last followed with its infinite peace! What workings in the deepest unseen of the heart has it betrayed! And what irresistible energy has it argued in that majestic friend of silent persuasiveness God"s Holy Spirit!

6. Once more, there is the mourning which may be called specially that of Christ the mourning over sinners, and because of sin. He who had no sin for which to reproach himself is he who wept most freely over the sins of others. "He beheld the city, and wept over it." "He groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, and wept." In proportion as any disciple of Christ attains resemblance to him, he will be marked by the same hatred of sin and its work, by the same grief over the sinner and his folly. Holy men of old, moved by God"s Spirit, knew such grief. "I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved, because they kept not thy Word Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy Law." Our genuine mourning over sin will bring us into some faint resemblance, at least, to him of whom we thus sing"The Son of God in tears, Angels with wonder see. Be thou astonished, O my soul! He shed those tears for thee.

IV MOURNING HAS ITS PERIOD DIVINELY FIXED. There is this particular "comfort" attached to it that, though painful at present, it is useful; and that when its main uses are gained, itself is lost in "comfort." To the believer in Christ mourning cannot be unalloyed, for he knows its present sacred advantages, and he believes its early termination. "Blessed are the mourners: for they shall be comforted." Comforted, indeed, now by many a sanctified use and fruit of affliction, and by many a sanctified suggestion, but most of all by the sanctified assurance that ere long, nay, right early, God shall abolish it, and shall "wipe away all tears from the eye." So it is no mere end to which mourning comes; it is not the mere extinction of nature; it is the doing of God"s own kind hand, moved by his own kind heart. This Beatitude is good as a rainbow covenant between heaven and earth, for souls and their inner" skies. Whether any Christian sorrow more or less, he may now, with this Beatitude of sorrow, "rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory. B.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They that mourn - Either for their own sins, or for other men's, and are steadily and habitually serious. They shall be comforted - More solidly and deeply even in this world, and eternally in heaven.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Closely connected with this thought is the next:

v. 4. Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.

The disciples are subject to conditions and circumstances which cause, which bring about, mourning, Luk 6:21-25; Joh 16:20; Act 14:22. But the chief reason for their lamenting lies in the fact that they feel their spiritual poverty, grieving over the barrenness of their carnal nature, that separates them from the fountain of blessedness. This grief on account of the absence, because of the loss of spiritual possessions, is a deep and burdensome sorrow. It realizes, in keen repentance, sin and its results, both in him who grieves and in others. Its evil effects, however, shall be prevented lest they lead into despair. "As also Christ places just these words, and promises the consolation that they do not despair in their grief, nor let their heart’s joy be taken entirely and extinguished, but mingle such mourning with the comfort and refreshment; otherwise, if they never had any comfort or joy, they would have to become faint and withered. " And therefore they will be comforted. Their bitter sorrow will be converted into ultimate, abounding consolation and gladness, Rom 14:17. The very Messianic kingdom with its message of hope is called the comfort of Israel, Luk 2:25.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Observe here, 1. That mourning for sin is a gospel-duty: the law allows no place for repentance, though we seek it carefully with tears.

Observe, 2. The time and reason for this duty. Blessed are they that now mourn. Sorrow for sin is physic on earth, but it is food in hell. Repentance is here a grace, but there a punishment.

Observe, 3. As mourning goes before comfort, so comfort shall follow after mourning. Our godly sorrow for our own and others’ sins shall end in everlasting joy and comfort.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. Blessed are they that mourn. Not all mourners, for there is “a sorrow of this world that worketh death.” Godly sorrow is meant, a mourning over sinfulness. See 2 Cor. 7:10.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

4, 5. These verses are transposed by the leading critics following Origen, Eusebius and other fathers, but not on the very highest MS. authority, viz. D. 33 and some versions. On the effect of this change see notes.

4. πρᾳότης, as an ethical term, is concerned with anger, it means absence from resentment, meekness in suffering; it is mentioned with very faint praise by Aristotle who says, ἐπὶ τὸν μέσον τὴν πρᾳότητα φέρομεν πρὸς τὴν ἔλλειψιν ἀποκλίνουσαν, and again, εἴπερ δὴ ἡ πρᾳότης ἐπαινεῖται, Eth. Nic. IV. 5. 1–3. In the Christian scheme πρᾳότης is the root of ἀγάπη, absence of resentment grows into perfect love through ἐπιείκεια. Jesus who was πρᾳῢς loved (ἠγάπησεν) his enemies.

κληρονομήσουσιν τὴν γῆν. Psa 37:11. In a literal sense the meek have inherited the earth. History has no example of higher exaltation than that of the Apostles, and the code which they promulgated rules the world. To this thought may possibly be referred, 1Co 6:2, οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι οἱ ἅγιοι τὸν κόσμον κρινοῦσιν;

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. μακ. οἱ πενθ.] The spiritual qualification in the former verse must be carried on to this, and the mourning understood to mean not only that on account of sin, but all such as happens to a man in the spiritual life. All such mourners are blessed: for the Father of mercies and God of all consolation being their covenant God, His comfort shall overbear all their mourning, and taste the sweeter for it. In Luk 2:25, the Messiah’s coming is called ἡ παράκλησις τοῦ Ἰσραήλ.

This beatitude is by many editors (Lachmann, e.g.) placed after ver. 5. But the authority is by no means decisive, and I cannot see how the logical coherence of the sentences is improved by it.

In placing these two beatitudes first, the Lord follows the order in Isa 61:1, which He proclaimed in the synagogue at Nazareth, Luk 4:18.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4, 5. The order of these two verses is uncertain. The arrangement πενθοῦντες—πρᾳεῖς is found in א B. C and most unc., in most curss. in S1 S3 S4 S5 b f q, Tert. Orig.1 On the other hand, the order πρᾳεῖς—πενθοῦντες occurs in D 33 a c ff1 g1 h k S2 Tat.2 That is to say, both arrangements were known in the second century. Zahn is probably right in saying that if vv. 3, 5 had originally stood together with their rhetorical antithesis of heaven and earth, it is unlikely that any copyist would have thrust v. 4 in between them. On the other hand, the Western scribes, who represent the order 5, 4, may have preferred this arrangement because it heightened the antithesis, or to draw together the closely allied πτωχοί and πρᾳεῖς. Wellhausen, observing that the clause about the πρᾳεῖς is directly quoted from Psa 36:11, and that its position in this chapter varies in the manuscripts, condemns it as an interpolation. If πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι in v. 3, and not rather πτωχοί simply (= עניים), were original, there would be something to be said for this on the ground that πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι and πρᾳεῖς are practically synonymous terms. πτωχοί, as we have seen, corresponds in the LXX. to עניים, and implies not poverty alone or in the literal sense, but misery suffered at the hands of others because of godliness. πρᾳεῖς, on the other hand, corresponds to ענוים (8 times). This word emphasises not the social condition implied in עניים but humbleness of mind. (See Driver, art. “Poor,” DB.) But by adding τῷ πνεύματι the editor has obliterated the distinctive meaning of πτωχοί as = עניים, and made it practically equivalent to πρᾳεῖς = ענוים. But this identity belongs to the Greek forms of the sayings, not to their Semitic original. There the distinction would have been clear. The Lord singled out for His approval both the godly oppressed and the godly humble-minded. Of the former, He declared that when the kingdom came, they and, by implication, not their ungodly oppressors, should enter into it. Of the latter, He affirms that because they humbly submit themselves to God’s will, and look for His help, they shall, as the Psalmist said, “inherit the earth,” which, purged of the ungodly, will be coextensive with the kingdom. It seems best, therefore, to retain the usual order of verses, on the grounds (a) that it is best supported; (b) that it was more likely to be reversed than the rival order, which would at once suggest itself to scribes who would like to bring πτωχοί and πρᾳεῖς into close connection, and to emphasise by close contact the antithesis between “heaven” and “earth.”

(L) 4. Blessed are those who mourn: because they shall be comforted.] Cf. Isa 61:2 παρακαλέσαι πάντας τοῦς πενθοῦντας. The thought is of those who mourn for the sin in Israel, which checks and thwarts God’s purposes for His people, and delays the coming of the kingdom.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They that mourn [πενθουντες] . Signifying grief manifested; too deep for concealment. Hence it is often joined with klaiein, to weep audibly (Mr 16:10; Jas 4:9).

Shall be comforted. See on Joh 14:16.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.