Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 5:7
Blessed [are] the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
7. they shall obtain mercy ] This principle in the divine Government that men shall be dealt with as they deal with their fellow-men is taught in the parable of the Unmerciful Servant, ch. 18, and underlies the fifth petition in the Lord’s Prayer, ch. Mat 6:12.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Blessed are the merciful – That is, those who are so affected by the sufferings of others as to be disposed to alleviate them. This is given as an evidence of piety, and it is said that they who show mercy to others shall obtain it. The same sentiment is found in Mat 10:42; Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you he shall in no wise lose his reward. See also Mat 25:34-40. This should be done with a wish to glorify God; that is, in obedience to his commandments, and with a desire that he should be honored, and with a feeling that we are benefiting one of his creatures. Then he will regard it as done to him, and will reward us. See the sentiment of this verse, that the merciful shall obtain mercy, more fully expressed in 2Sa 22:26-27; and in Psa 18:25-26.
Nowhere do we imitate God more than in showing mercy. In nothing does God delight more than in the exercise of mercy, Exo 34:6; Eze 33:11; 1Ti 2:4; 2Pe 3:9. To us, guilty sinners; to us, wretched, dying, and exposed to eternal woe, he has shown his mercy by giving his Son to die for us; by expressing his willingness to pardon and save us; and by sending his Spirit to renew and sanctify our hearts. Each day of our life, each hour, and each moment, we partake of his undeserved mercy. All the blessings we enjoy are proofs of his mercy. If we, then, show mercy to the poor, the wretched, the guilty, it shows that we are like God. We have his spirit, and shall not lose our reward. And we have abundant opportunity to do it. Our world is full of guilt and woe, which we may help to relieve; and every day of our lives we have opportunity, by helping the poor and wretched, and by forgiving those who injure us, to show that we are like God. See the notes at Mat 6:14-15.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mat 5:7
The merciful.
Christian mercy
I. What is Christian mercy?
1. Its nature.
2. Its objects.
3. Its author.
4. Its design.
II. How is it exemplified?
1. In the forgiveness of enemies.
2. In various acts of kindness.
3. In deep concern and effort for the spread of the gospel.
III. What is the blessing which Christian mercy insures?
1. He will have mercy shown him from the subjects of his bounty.
2. A merciful Providence will attend the merciful Christian.
3. Mercy shall be shown him at the last day.
IV. A few observations to excite you to cherish a merciful disposition.
1. The more you abound in mercy, the more you are conformed to the precepts of the Scriptures.
2. The more you abound in mercy, the more will you resemble God.
3. The more we abound in mercy, the more eminently we appear to possess the spirit of Christ. (J. Jordan.)
The blessing of mercifulness
I. What is the character of this mercifulness? It is a quality exercised between man and man independent of written law, and which is not so much certain acts of forgiveness as a temper of the soul. It is a temper which makes him who has it not so much sorry that he has been injured, but sorry that the injurer should have the heart to do the wrong. All memory of wrong fades from him.
II. The reward. Christ did not mean a man to be merciful for the sake of obtaining mercy, but as a necessary result he would obtain it. Mercy is the reward of mercy. (S. A. Brooke.)
The sin of cruelty to animals
1. It is inconsistent with any just idea of the place assigned to man upon earth, and of the power granted to him over the other creatures, who occupy the same scene with himself.
2. It is out of harmony with the feelings and graces of character which ought to belong to all who profess the Christian faith.
3. It has a manifest tendency to pervert the entire moral nature of him who indulges it.
4. It is seen to be odious when we consider that the creatures against whom it is directed are those to whom man is most indebted for valuable service. (A. Goldie.)
I. What is implied in being merciful, and to whom does this character properly belong?
II. What is the blessedness promised?
III. The obligation we are under to be merciful. (Joseph Benson.)
The very first grace that grows, like a beautiful spring flower, on the ground of righteousness, is the grace of mercy, or compassion.
I. What is mercy, or compassion? It is sorrow at the suffering of a fellow-creature, rational or irrational, and, along with that sorrow, an earnest desire, if possible, to relieve it. It does not ask the question, Is the sufferer of my nation, sect, party, or Church; does the man deserve relief? It simply asks the question, Does he suffer? We are to go farther and to pity the sufferer as a sinner, and to show mercy to him simply because he is a sinner. This mercy is frequently enjoined in Holy Scripture, and always represented as the characteristic of the loftiest nature. This grace is obligatory upon all. In eider to exercise it, let us think of the mercy we have received.
II. The benediction pronounced upon it. Conscious joy. Special benedictions (Isa 58:6). Blessed because they are Godlike. They shall obtain mercy-from others in this world, and from God, even in this world, and at that day. (Dr. J. Cumming.)
Let me exhort you to deeds of mercy, let your fingers drop with the myrrh of liberality, sow your golden seed, and ye shall reap an abundant harvest.
I. In Christ: labour that your persons may be in Christ.
1. The best works not springing from faith are lost.
2. That fruit is most sweet and genuine which is brought forth in the Vine (Joh 15:14).
3. Out of Christ all our alms-deeds are but the fruit of the wild olive; they are not good works, but dead works.
II. For Christ: for His sake, that you may testify your love to Him. Love mellows and ripens our alms-deeds, it makes them a precious perfume to God.
III. All works of mercy are to be done in humility. As the silkworm, while she weaves her curious works hides herself within the silk, and is not seen, so we should hide ourselves from pride and vainglory. (Thomas Watson.)
I. Are we wanting in this grace of mercy? Let us compare ourselves with God. Gods mercy is changeless, ours is fitful. Gods mercy is provident and thoughtful, ours capricious and thoughtless.
II. How may we hope to have this mercy supplied to us? In the redemption of the fallen world by the Son of God. This thoughtful, universal, and provident mercy is unblurred by single line.
III. Are we merciful in judgment of others? In our speech? Do we not take pleasure in sharp criticism? Are we merciful in consideration for others? Are we merciful employers? (Dr. Chalmers Smith.)
The exercise of mercy chiefly consists of two things.
I. To prevent any evil or mischief which we apprehend our neighbour to be in.
(1) By abstaining from all acts of cruelty or unmercifulness towards anybody or creature;
(2) By using our dominion or authority over others with tenderness and moderation;
(3) By considering our neighbours case as our own.
II. To endeavour to deliver others from difficulties, or at least to ease others of their burdens.
(1) By warning our neighbour;
(2) By friendly admonition. Thus preventing our neighbour falling into evil or mischief;
(3) To comfort others in sickness, sorrow, reproach, or disgrace;
(4) To disperse slanders and aspersions;
(5) To help the needy, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and take care of the poor. (Bishop Ofspring Blackall, D. D.)
Mercifulness a quality of the entire
man.
Mercifulness, then, is a quality of the whole nature; a certain soft, sweet, tender, gentle, gracious atmosphere in which the whole man lives and breathes; in which he continually acts toward injury and wrong; and under its warm and sunny rays injury and wrong melt away day by day, like icebergs that come floating down into the tropical stream. And those are blest who have it. They live in soft sunshine of their own making, and in it all the simple charities of life, which are like the common flowers that adorn and make sweet the woods and fields, flourish until the whole world rejoices in the life of those who live by mercy. And their speech is delightful as the songs of birds, and their daily acts like the soft murmur of such streams as gently flow through meadows. In all this inward beauty of soul they are blest indeed, for mercy blesses him who gives it. (S. A. Brooke.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 7. The merciful] The word mercy, among the Jews, signified two things: the pardon of injuries, and almsgiving. Our Lord undoubtedly takes it in its fullest latitude here. To know the nature of mercy, we have only to consult the grammatical meaning of the Latin word misericordia, from which ours is derived. It is composed of two words: miserans, pitying, and cor, the heart; or miseria cordis, pain of heart. Mercy supposes two things:
1. A distressed object: and,
2. A disposition of the heart, through which it is affected at the sight of such an object.
This virtue, therefore, is no other than a lively emotion of the heart, which is excited by the discovery of any creature’s misery; and such an emotion as manifests itself outwardly, by effects suited to its nature. The merciful man is here termed by our Lord , from , which is generally derived from the Hebrew chil, to be in pain, as a woman in travail: or from galal, to cry, or lament grievously; because a merciful man enters into the miseries of his neighbour, feels for and mourns with him.
They shall obtain mercy.] Mercy is not purchased but at the price of mercy itself; and even this price is a gift of the mercy of God. What mercy can those vindictive persons expect, who forgive nothing, and are always ready to improve every advantage they have of avenging themselves? Whatever mercy a man shows to another, God will take care to show the same to him. The following elegant and nervous saying of one of our best poets is worthy of the reader’s most serious attention: –
“The quality of mercy is not strained;
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed;
It blesseth him who gives, and him who takes:
‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown.
It is an attribute of God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s,
When mercy seasons justice.——–
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation. We do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.——–
Why, all the souls that are, were forfeit once:
And he who might the ‘vantage best have took
Found out the remedy. How would you be,
If He who is the top of judgment should
But judge you as you are? O! think on that;
And mercy then will breathe within your lips,
Like man, new made.
How shalt thou hope for mercy, rend’ring none?”
In the tract Shabbath, fol. 151, there is a saying very like this of our Lord.
“He who shows mercy to men, God will show mercy to him: but to him who shows no mercy to man, God will show no mercy.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The men of the world bless themselves if they can take care of themselves, let others do what they will, and as well as they can: but I tell you, that those alone are the blessed men, who are touched with a true sense and feeling of the wants and miseries of others, and that not out of a mere goodness and tenderness of nature, but out of a true obedience to the will of God, and a sense of his love to them, and faith in his promises; and, moved from these principles, do not only pity and compassionate them, and wish them well, but extend their helping hand to them, suitably to their miseries: for these men shall obtain mercy, and that not only from men, if they come into straits and distress, but from the hand of God, Psa 37:26; 112:5,6; he doth not say they shall merit mercy at Gods hand, but they shall be mercified, they shall obtain mercy.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. Blessed are the merciful: forthey shall obtain mercyBeautiful is the connection betweenthis and the preceding beatitude. The one has a natural tendency tobeget the other. As for the words, they seem directly fetched from Ps18:25, “With the merciful Thou wilt show Thyself merciful.”Not that our mercifulness comes absolutely first. On the contrary,our Lord Himself expressly teaches us that God’s method is to awakenin us compassion towards our fellow men by His own exercise of it, inso stupendous a way and measure, towards ourselves. In the parable ofthe unmerciful debtor, the servant to whom his lord forgave tenthousand talents was naturally expected to exercise the small measureof the same compassion required for forgiving his fellow servant’sdebt of a hundred pence; and it is only when, instead of this, herelentlessly imprisoned him till he should pay it up, that his lord’sindignation was roused, and he who was designed for a vessel of mercyis treated as a vessel of wrath (Mt18:23-35; and see Mat 5:23;Mat 5:24; Mat 6:15;Jas 2:13). “According to theview given in Scripture,” says TRENCHmost justly, “the Christian stands in a middle point, between amercy received and a mercy yet needed. Sometimes the first is urgedupon him as an argument for showing mercy’forgiving one another,as Christ forgave you’ (Col 3:13;Eph 4:32): sometimes thelast’Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy’;’Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven’ (Luk 6:37;Jas 5:9). And thus, while he isever to look back on the mercy received as the source and motive ofthe mercy which he shows, he also looks forward to the mercy which heyet needs, and which he is assured that the mercifulaccording towhat BENGEL beautifullycalls the benigna talio (‘the gracious requital’) of thekingdom of Godshall receive, as a new provocation to its abundantexercise.” The foretastes and beginnings of this judicialrecompense are richly experienced here below: its perfection isreserved for that day when, from His great white throne, the Kingshall say, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdomprepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was anhungered, and thirsty, and a stranger, and naked, and sick, and inprison, and ye ministered unto Me.” Yes, thus He acted towardsus while on earth, even laying down His life for us; and He will not,He cannot disown, in the merciful, the image of Himself.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Blessed are the merciful,…. Who show mercy to the bodies of men, to those that are poor, indigent, and miserable, in their outward circumstances; by both sympathizing with them, and distributing unto them; not only making use of expressions of pity and concern; but communicating with readiness and cheerfulness, with affection and tenderness, and with a view to the glory of God: who also show mercy to the souls of men, by instructing such as are ignorant, giving them good counsel and advice: reproving them for sin, praying for them, forgiving injuries done by them, and by comforting those that are cast down. To show mercy is very delightful to, and desirable by God; it is what he requires, and is one of the weightier matters of the law; it is very ornamental to a child of God, and what makes him more like to his heavenly Father. The happiness of such persons is this, that
they shall obtain mercy; from man, whenever they are attended with any uncomfortable circumstances of life; , “whoever is merciful”, men show mercy to him d: and from God, through Christ; which is free, sovereign, abundant, and eternal. Men are said to obtain this, when they are regenerated, and called by grace; and when they have a discovery, and an application, of the forgiveness of their sins: but here, it seems to design those supplies of grace and mercy, which merciful persons may expect to find and obtain, at the throne of grace, to help them in time of need; and who shall not only obtain mercy of God in this life, but in the world to come, in the great day of the Lord; for which the Apostle prayed for Onesiphorus, 2Ti 1:18.
d Maimon. Hilch. Mattanot Anayim. c. 10. sect. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Obtain mercy () “Sal win pitie theirsels” (Braid Scots). “A self-acting law of the moral world” (Bruce).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
The merciful. See on Luk 1:50.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Blessed are the merciful:” (makarioi hoi eleemones) “Spiritually prosperous or very much blessed are the merciful ones;” Those who show mercy to their fellow man, after that righteous character seen in Jesus as He went about through all Galilee healing and helping those with all kinds of diseases of physical and mental nature, Mat 4:23-25; How apt is that story of the Good Samaritan regarding mercy, Luk 10:33.
2) “For they shall obtain mercy.” (hoti autoi eleethesontai) “Because they shall obtain or receive mercy.” Our Lord in mercy saved the Samaritan woman who went in mercy to win fallen men of her city to Jesus ‘Christ, Joh 4:1-54. Mercy given is mercy returned, in kind or rewards, Mat 25:34-45; We have obtained mercy; let us show it, from God and our fellow man. Let us therefore be assured of Spiritual prosperity in daily showing mercy to all mankind, Luk 6:37; Jas 5:9; La 3:22,23.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
7. Happy are the merciful This paradox, too, contradicts the judgment of men. (367) The world reckons those men to be happy, who give themselves no concern about the distresses of others, but consult their own ease. Christ says that those are happy, who are not only prepared to endure their own afflictions, but to take a share in the afflictions of others, — who assist the wretched, — who willingly take part with those who are in distress, — who clothe themselves, as it were, with the same affections, that they may be more readily disposed to render them assistance. He adds, for they shall obtain mercy, — not only with God, but also among men, whose minds God will dispose to the exercise of humanity. (368) Though the whole world may sometimes be ungrateful, and may return the very worst reward to those who have done acts of kindness to them, it ought to be reckoned enough, that grace is laid up with God for the merciful and humane, so that they, in their turn, will find him to be gracious and merciful, (Psa 103:8.)
(367) “ Ceci aussi est un paradoxe, c’est a dire, une sentence contraire au jugement commun des hommes.” — “This also is a paradox, that is to say, a sentiment contrary to the general opinion of men.”
(368) “ A douceur et compassion;” — “to mildness and compass
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) The merciful.The thought is the same as that afterwards embodied in the Lords Prayer. They who are pitiful towards men their brethren are ipso facto the objects of the divine pity. The negative aspect of the same truth is presented in Jas. 2:13. In this case, the promised blessing tends to perpetuate and strengthen the grace which is thus rewarded. No motive to mercy is so constraining as the feeling that we ourselves needed it and have found it.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. Blessed are the merciful Mercy is the exercise of benevolence toward the unfortunate or guilty. It may and does exist as a natural quality in the human heart. It is an approvable trait which has survived the fall.
We must here distinguish between a virtue and a piety. A virtue may exist in unregenerate nature. It is an excellence. Nor is it, like some excellences, as beauty of person, elegance of manners, strength of intellect, taste for literature, a mere neutral excellence; for as a moral excellence it is in itself superior to any of these. Moral virtues stand as good by themselves, as approved by man, and even, in a sense, approved by God; inasmuch as even to God himself they are better than their absence, or their opposite instead.
But all mere virtue is defective unless the sanctifying grace of God brightens and heightens it to piety. For (1.) it is in itself defective, not being as perfect as it should be. (2.) Being defective, it cannot receive the unqualified favour of God. (3.) Virtues not heightened to piety may be used to wicked ends, as Absalom used his own justice, amiableness, and beauty to win Israel to rebellion. (4.) Mere unregenerate virtues cannot atone for our sins of countless multiplicity. They cannot stand in the place of the Redeemer; nay, they may ruin us by inducing us to make these a substitute for him.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Blessed ones, the merciful, for they will obtain mercy.’
Not only does God make men lowly of heart and contrite, but He also blesses them by making them merciful, so that in return they can find mercy from Him. Such people as have been described will inevitably be merciful because God has been at work in them. They will thus forgive others because they have been forgiven (Mat 6:12; Mat 6:14-15; Mat 18:33). That is why Jesus could point out that those who would not forgive could not be forgiven. For it was evidence that they had not been made merciful. The merciful will have compassion on the weak, and give strength to the needy, because they are aware of their own need (Mat 9:13; Mat 12:7). They will not be over-judgmental and yet will always be ready to humbly help their brothers and sisters (Mat 7:1-6; Mat 12:7). They are meek at heart, so they will not exert their rights to the detriment of others (Mat 5:38-39). And the result is that they will obtain mercy from God and will have God’s forgiveness now, and mercy in the Last Day (Psa 100:5; Psa 103:17; Isa 54:8). ‘They will obtain mercy’. That is, God will be merciful to them. They will bask in His abundant mercy. For God is the abundantly merciful (Exo 20:6; Exo 34:7; Num 14:18; Deu 4:31; Psa 18:25; Psa 103:8; Psa 103:17; Psalms 136 all; Isa 49:10; Isa 49:13; Isa 54:8; Isa 54:10; Isa 60:10; Zec 10:6)
The idea of mercy is seen as important in both wisdom literature (Pro 3:3; Pro 11:17; Pro 14:21-22; Pro 14:31; Pro 17:5; Pro 20:28; Pro 21:21) and the prophets (Isa 57:1; Hos 4:1; Hos 6:6; Hos 12:6; Mic 6:8; Zec 7:9). Mercy and truth are not to forsake men (Pro 3:3) and the merciful man does himself good (Pro 11:17), so that those who are glad at calamity will not go unpunished (Pro 17:5). Mercy, along with truth, even preserves the king, for his throne is upheld by mercy (Pro 20:28). And men must especially show mercy to the poor (Pro 14:21; Pro 14:31). In Isa 57:1 the righteous are paralleled with the merciful. And when there is no mercy in the land (along with truth and the knowledge of God) God has a controversy with His people (Hos 4:1), for God desires mercy and a knowledge of God rather than offerings and sacrifices (Hos 6:6). Indeed to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God is God’s prime requirement for man (Mic 6:8), while in the exercising of justice, mercy and compassion must always be present (Zec 7:9). Thus mercy is at the very centre of God’s requirements for His people, and it was partly the lack of this that angered Jesus about the Scribes and Pharisees (Mat 9:13; Mat 12:7; Mat 23:23). It was the sin that finally showed them up for what they were.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
One of the chief proofs of the Christian’s piety is mercy:
v. 7. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. A heart filled with deep sympathy and sincere compassion for the temporal and spiritual need of the neighbor, that is deeply concerned for, and earnestly endeavors to do good to, all men, especially such as are of the household of faith, is well-pleasing to the Lord. And all the efforts thus made, insignificant as they may seem even in the Christian’s own estimation, will receive, as a reward of mercy, the compassion of God Himself.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 5:7. Blessed are the merciful Those who feel for the sorrows of others as their own, and with tender sympathy hasten to relieve them. Dr. Heylin remarks excellently upon this beatitude, nearly in the following words; that the frailty of human nature renders men continually liable to abuse, and perverts the good dispositions which religion would excite;thus mourning for sin may degenerate into a gloomy melancholy and moroseness of temper; and some, because they are displeased, as they have reason, with themselves, become peevish and fretful at all about them; and again, with regard to the hunger and thirst after justice, that is to say, universal holiness and virtue (see on ch. Mat 3:15.), men, when called to Christ and true religion, have commonlypowerfulconvictions concerning the turpitude of vice, with the danger and guilt of neglecting Christ and holiness, of stopping short of the pardon of their sins, and the sanctification of their natures. And they ought studiously to cultivate these convictions, and impressthem deeply upon their minds by assiduous meditation; but, above all, by going to Jesus Christ in ardent prayer, as the only refuge of the penitent soul. But, notwithstanding, as the speculations of justice are pleasing, and the practice of it laborious; and as it is much easier to desire that others should be holy, than to become so themselves; it too often happens that they misapply their concern for the interests of religion to the morals of other men, and are more intent upon their neighbour’s faults than their own. Thus they turn their zeal the wrong way, and suffer it to evaporate in chimeras of reforming the public; while they themselves are under the dominion of sin. But hunger and thirst are personal; for no man hungers for another’s want, but for his own. Those holy desires which the Spirit of God excites in his servants, chiefly tend to their own pardon, and theirown purification: and in the progress of that work, I mean while they grieve for their own folly, and pine for their own want of justice, they willcompassionately bear with the follies of other men, and be very indulgent to their want of justice; a want which they so sensibly experience in themselves. To ripen this good disposition to which, through almighty grace, the state already described leads them, Christ here so seasonably pronounces his benediction, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. See the Reflections for farther views on this subject.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 5:7 . ] the compassionate (Heb 2:17 ; Hom. Od . v. 191) in general, not, as de Wette arbitrarily limits it, in opposition to the desire for revenge and cruelty against the heathen , which were contained in the ordinary Messianic hopes.
] that is, in this way, that they get assigned to them the salvation of the Messiah’s kingdom, which will be the highest act of the divine compassion , Luk 1:72 ; Rom 9:16 ; Rom 5:17 . The divine maxim, which lies at the foundation of the statement, Mat 7:2 ; Mat 25:35 . Kienlen is wrong when he says the . refers to the forgiveness of the sins which still cleave even to the regenerate; it points to this, that the entire bestowal of Messianic salvation is the work of divine grace, which follows in its procedure its own moral rules (faith working by love ).
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 1291
THE REWARD OF MERCIFULNESS
Mat 5:7. Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.
THERE can be no doubt but that every Minister should set forth the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel with frequency and firmness. If he lay not the foundation well, he can never hope to have his labours crowned with success. On the other hand, it becomes him very earnestly to inculcate the necessity of a Christian temper: and, if he be not attentive to this, he must expect, that, whilst his people are filled with head-knowledge, they will dishonour their profession both by their spirit and conduct. Our blessed Lord, throughout this whole discourse, shews us the importance of cultivating holy and heavenly dispositions: and, at the same time that he corrects the false notions which were entertained respecting the nature of his kingdom, declares unequivocally, that it is the practical Christian, and he only, that is truly blessed.
In considering the declaration before us, let us inquire,
I.
Who are they that answer to the character in the text
Love has respect to men universally, whatever their condition be; but mercifulness has respect to them as objects of pity and compassion. Now the merciful man sympathizes with persons in affliction, and desires to relieve them. He looks with an eye of pity,
1.
Upon those who are bowed down under their troubles
[If their trials be of a temporal nature, he longs to render them such service as their necessities require. Are they labouring under bodily diseases? he will rejoice to procure for them all necessary aid [Note: Job 30:25.] Are they oppressed with poverty, or in embarrassed circumstances? he will deny himself in order to impart to them [Note: Job 29:11; Job 29:16.]. Are they distressed on account of painful bereavements? he will labour to assuage the anguish of their minds by tender assiduities and suitable consolations [Note: 1Th 4:13-14; 1Th 4:18.].
If their trials be of a spiritual nature, he will labour to bring them to that heavenly Physician, who will apply the balm of Gilead to their souls. If a sense of guilt appal them, he will lead them to the fountain opened for sin, and encourage them with assurances that the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse them from all sin [Note: Zec 13:1. 1Jn 1:7.]. If they be sorely tempted by Satan, he will endeavour to counteract the wiles and devices of their great adversary, and to direct them to that adorable Saviour, whose grace shall be sufficient for them [Note: Eph 6:10-18. 2Co 12:7-9.]. If they be dejected on account of the hidings of Gods face, he will strengthen their weak hands, and confirm their feeble knees, and say unto their fearful hearts, Your God will come and save you [Note: Isa 35:3-4.].]
2.
Upon those who, though unconscious of their state, are really in a pitiable condition
[Does he behold a poor drunken man staggering in the streets? he cannot laugh at his frantic gestures, but is ready to weep over him, as he would over a maniac or an idiot that was lacerating his own flesh, or beating his head against a wall. The scoffing infidel, the proud Pharisee, the profane sensualist, the self-deceiving professor, and the bitter persecutor, all in their turn call forth his compassionate regards. He mourns over them, well knowing the misery which they are bringing on themselves [Note: So did David, Psa 119:136. Jeremiah, Jer 9:1. Paul, Php 3:18-19. Christ himself, Luk 19:41.]: and, instead of despising them on account of the superiority of his own character, he longs, if possible, to turn them from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God. If he see any hopeful signs in them, he travails in birth with them, till Christ be formed in them [Note: Gal 4:19.]. Even if they be incorrigibly obstinate, he will not presently give up all hope, but will still watch for opportunities of doing them good. Filled with compassion towards them, he will, if possible, save them with fear, pulling them out of the fire [Note: Jude, ver. 22, 23.]. If he himself be evil entreated by them, he is affected with pity rather than with anger; and laments, not so much the injury which he suffers from them, as the injury they do unto their own souls [Note: 2Co 12:15. Luk 23:34.].]
Such is the merciful man: O that there were in all of us such a heart!
To prove that all such characters are blessed, we shall proceed to inquire,
II.
What is the reward promised to them
They shall obtain mercy, says our blessed Lord. But from whom? from man? yes, from man. Good men universally will account it the joy of their hearts to administer to them, whenever occasion shall require it And even bad men have within themselves such a conviction of the excellence of such characters, that they must do violence to themselves, before they can withhold that assistance which their necessities may require. Thus Job found it [Note: Job 42:11-12.], and so shall we [Note: Luk 6:38. Ecc 11:1.].
But supposing that men are ungrateful and unmerciful, still such characters shall be blessed; for God will be merciful unto them:
1.
Here
[He will rather feed them by the ministry of ravens, than suffer them to want. The lions may lack and suffer hunger; but they shall not want any good thing. God will supply all their want according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus, and will bless them in all that they put their hand unto [Note: Php 4:17-19. Deu 15:10.]. But it is in their souls that they shall experience the richest blessings. Who can express the joy and delight which merciful men often experience in the exercise of their benevolence. It is no little joy that they diffuse; but infinitely more that they receive: they find the truth of that favourite saying of our Lord, It is more blessed to give than to receive [Note: Act 20:35.]. This, indeed, is promised to them [Note: Isa 58:10-11.] and that God who cannot lie, will not fail to fulfil his word. In the time of their own greatest need, they shall find Gods mercy to them most abundant [Note: Psa 41:1-3.].]
We make our appeal to all who have exerted themselves much in doing good, whether they have not found it incomparably better to go to the house of mourning, than to the house of feasting.
2.
Hereafter
[Though no dispositions or actions of ours can merit any thing at the hands of God, he will give unto them a reward of grace [Note: Rom 4:4.]. He would even account himself unjust, if he did not do so [Note: Heb 6:10.]. He considers himself as our dehtor for every thing that we do, provided we do it from a sense of gratitude to him, and of zeal for his glory; and he will repay us [Note: Pro 19:17.]. Not even a cup of cold water, given for his sake, shall pass without a recompence [Note: Mat 10:42.]. Our exertions in acts of mercy will be the peculiar subjects of his inquiry in the day of judgment, and will be considered as evidences either of our being meet for glory, or ripe for vengeance [Note: Mat 25:34-46.]. And if we be found to have fulfilled his will in relation to them, our harvest shall be proportioned to the seed that we have sown [Note: 2Co 9:6.]. Certainly it becomes us to be jealous of ourselves, that we do not found our hopes of salvation upon our deeds of mercy: for Jesus Christ is the only foundation of a sinners hope [Note: 1Co 3:11.]: but if we look for happiness to arise from the employment of the unrighteous mammon, we must look for it, not in the hoarding of riches, nor in making them subservient to carnal gratifications, but in doing good with them [Note: Luk 16:9.]: and in that view, we do lay up a good foundation against the time to come, a foundation that shall stand for ever [Note: 1Ti 6:17-19.].]
We will subjoin for your use some salutary cautions:
1.
Be careful to distinguish between mercy and piety
[It is possible for persons to be of a merciful disposition, whilst they are utter strangers to real piety. Natural constitution has made some more tender than others; and education has formed some to better habits. But it often happens, that persons of benevolent minds imagine all religion to consist in acts of kindness to their fellow-creatures. They found this notion even on the word of God itself [Note: Mic 6:8.]: but they sadly misinterpret that passage, and entirely overlook the duty of walking humbly with God. But this is no less necessary than acts of justice and of mercy: yea, without it all our virtues will he no better than splendid sins [Note: Hab 1:16.] ]
2.
Be careful at the same time to combine mercy with piety
[Piety cannot exist without mercy. The wisdom that is from above is full of mercy and good fruits [Note: Jam 3:17.]. The tree that bringeth forth not good fruit is fit only to be hewn down and cast into the fire. It is by bearing one anothers burthens that we fulfil the law of Christ [Note: Gal 5:2.]. We may talk of love to God, but we cannot possess it, if we delight not in every act and exercise of love [Note: 1Jn 3:17.]. We may give good words to our indigent neighbour; but, if we do not administer relief at the same time, he will be no better for us: and as our pretences to love will be of no benefit to him, so neither will our pretences to faith be of any benefit to ourselves [Note: Jam 2:15-16.]. If we have not learned to weep with them that weep [Note: Rom 12:13.], it is to no purpose to call ourselves Christians: we only deceive our own souls [Note: Jam 2:13.].
But it may be said, We have not a capacity to instruct our fellow-creatures; nor have we ability to relieve them: must we therefore be excluded from the number of true Christians? No: If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not [Note: 2Co 8:12.]. But let us be sure that there is in us that willing mind, and that God sees the yearning of our bowels in secret prayer for the relief of those, whom, in other respects, we are unable to assist.]
3.
Be on your guard against any declension in the exercise of this duty
[We are changeable creatures; and they who have run well for a season, are sometimes hindered in a more advanced stage of their course [Note: Gal 5:7.]. But let us be on our guard, that we be not weary in well-doing [Note: Gal 6:9.]. If we have learned how to walk and to please God, we should then endeavour to abound more and more [Note: 1Th 4:1.]. There is no limit at which we should stop. God himself is the pattern we should keep in view; and we should seek to be merciful as our Father which is in heaven is merciful [Note: Luk 6:36.]. If we want motives to exertion, let us reflect on the mercy shewn to us by our adorable Lord and Saviour, who gave his own life a ransom for us: or let us consider what compassion he yet daily exercises towards us, being touched with the feeling of our infirmities [Note: Heb 4:15.]: and, as he has so loved us as to die for us, let us remember, that life itself is not too great a sacrifice for us to make, to promote the welfare of our fellow-creatures [Note: 1Jn 3:16.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Ver. 7. Blessed are the merciful, ] They that from a compassionate heart (melting with sense of God’s everlasting mercy to itself, and yearning over the miseries of others) extend and exercise spiritual and corporal mercy. The former, which teacheth a man to warn the unruly, comfort the feeble minded, support the weak, be patient toward all men, &c., 1Th 5:14 . The schoolmen thus, Consule, castiga, solare, remitte, fer, ora, usually excel and exceed the latter, which stirs a man up to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, &c., Mat 25:35-36 .
” Visito, poto, cibo, redimo, tego, colligo, condo. “
1. In the nature of the gift, which is more noble. 2. In the object (the soul), which is more illustrious. 3. In the manner, which is transcendent, as being spiritual. 4. In the kind, which is more heavenly, as that which aims at our brothers’ endless salvation. And this way the poorest may be plentiful, and enrich the richest with spiritual alms. As also the other way, something must be done by all the candidates of true blessedness. They that labour with their hands must have something to give to him that needeth, Eph 4:28 ; be it but two mites, nay, a cup of cold water, it shall be graciously accepted from a sincere heart, and certainly rewarded. And here the poor Macedonians may shame (and many times do) the rich Corinthians, that have a price in their hands but not a heart to use it; for it is the love, and not the lack, of money that makes men churls and misers. (Money hoarders have no quicksilver, no current coin. Ward.) And hence it is that the richer men are many times the harder, as Dives: being herein like children, who when they have their mouths full, and both hands full. yet will rather spoil all than give any away. But do men give to God’s poor or, do they not rather lend it to the Lord, who turns pay master to such? Do they not lay it out for him, or rather lay it up for themselves? The safest chest is the poor man’s box. Make you friends with the mammon of unrighteousness (God hath purposely branded riches with that infamous adjunct, that we might not overlove them), “that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations,” Luk 16:9 , that is, either the angels, or the poor, or thy well employed wealth, shall let thee into heaven. Only thou must draw forth not thy sheaf alone, but thy soul also to the hungry, Isa 38:10 : show bowels of mercy, as our Saviour did, , Mat 15:32 , to bleed in other men’s wounds, and be deeply and tenderly affected in other men’s miseries. This is better than alms; for when one gives an alms, he gives something without himself; but by compassion we relieve another by somewhat within and from ourselves. And this is properly the mercy to which mercy is here promised, and blessedness to boot.
For they shall obtain mercy ] Misericordiam, non mercedem, Mercy, not wages: it being a mercy (and not a duty) in God, to render unto every man according to his works, Psa 62:12 . How much more according to his own works in us! But mercy he shall be sure of, that showeth mercy to those in misery. His soul shall be like a watered garden. “The liberal soul shall be made fat,” saith Solomon; “and he that watereth shall be watered also himself,” Pro 11:25 ; or (as Kimchi expounds it), He shall be a sweet and seasonable shower to himself and others. ( Etiam ipse pluvia erit, iuxta Kimchi. Insignis hyperbole. Merc.) His body also shall be fat and fair-liking. Thy health shall spring forth speedily, and thy bones shall be made fat, Isa 58:10-11 . Or if he be sick, the Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing, Psa 41:3 ; he will make all his bed in his sickness; as he did for that faithful and painful preacher of God’s word (while he lived) Master William Whately, Pastor of Banbury (whom for honour’s sake I here name), the most bountiful minister to the poor, I think (saith a learned gentleman that knew him thoroughly), in England, of his means. He abounded in works of mercy (saith another grave divine, that wrote his life), he set apart, and expended, for the space of many years, for good uses, the tenth part of his yearly comings in, both out of his temporal and ecclesiastical means of maintenance. (Edw. Leigh, Hen. Scudder.) A rare example: and God was not behind-hand with him; for in his sickness he could comfort himself with that precious promise, Psa 41:1 ; Psa 41:3 “Blessed is he that considereth the poor” ( Qui praeoccupat vocem petituri, saith Austin, in Psa 103:1-22 ); that prevents the poor man’s cry; as he did, for he devised liberal things, seeking out to find objects of his mercy, and not staying many times till they were offered. Therefore by liberal things he stood, as God had promised; his estate (as himself often testified) prospered the better after he took that course above mentioned. For, in the next place, not getting, but giving is the way to wealth, as the Sareptan found it, whose barrel had no bottom; and as Solomon assureth it, Ecc 11:1 . The mercy of God crowneth our beneficence with the blessing of store. Thine horn shall be exalted with honour, and thou shalt not want, Psa 112:9 ; Pro 28:27 . Say not then how shall our own do hereafter? Is not mercy as sure a gain as vanity? Is God like to break? Is not your Creator your creditor? Hath not he undertaken for you and yours? How sped Mephibosheth and Chimham for the kindness their fathers showed to distressed David? Were they not plentifully provided for? And did not the Kenites, that were born many ages after Jethro’s death, receive life from his dust, and favour from his hospitality? 1Sa 15:6 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
7. ] , , . , . , . Euthymius, expanding Chrysostom. This beatitude comprises every degree of sympathy and mutual love and help; from that fulness of it which is shed abroad in those who have been forgiven much, and therefore love much, down to those first beginnings of the new birth, even among those who know not the Lord, which are brought out in ch. Mat 25:37-40 , where see notes.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 5:7 . This Beatitude states a self-acting law of the moral world. The exercise of mercy ( , active pity) tends to elicit mercy from others God and men. The chief reference may be to the mercy of God in the final awards of the kingdom, but the application need not be restricted to this. The doctrine of Christ abounds in great ethical principles of universal validity: “he that humbleth himself shall be exalted,” “to him that hath shall be given,” etc. This Beatitude suitably follows the preceding. Mercy is an element in true righteousness (Mic 6:8 ). It was lacking in Pharisaic righteousness (Mat 23:23 ). It needed much to be inculcated in Christ’s time, when sympathy was killed by the theory that all suffering was penalty of special sin, a theory which fostered a pitiless type of righteousness (Schanz). Mercy may be practised by many means; “not by money alone,” says Euthy. Zig., “but by word, and if you have nothing, by tears” ( ).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat 5:7
7″Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”
Mat 5:7 “merciful” Mercy is the result-not the grounds-of knowing God. It is the ability to put one’s self in another’s situation and act with compassion (cf. Mat 6:12; Mat 6:14-15; Mat 18:21-35; Luk 6:36-38; Jas 2:13).
A change occurs here in the beatitudes. The two previous ones have focused on the Kingdom person’s sense of spiritual need; the following ones, however, focus on the attitudes that motivate one’s actions. This was what was missing in Pharisaism then and legalism now.
“they shall receive mercy” This is a future passive indicative which is literally translated “shall be mercied.” The implications of this tense are: (1) the future tense was used in the sense of certainty now, in this age or (2) the FUTURE blessing and forgiveness in the Last Day Judgment (eschatology) scene. The passive voice may be another circumlocution like “kingdom of heaven,” to avoid using God’s name.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
merciful = compassionate. Compare Psa 41:1.
mercy. Not merely now, but in the manifestation of the kingdom, Jam 2:13 (compare Heb 4:16; Heb 8:12; Heb 10:28).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
7. ] , , . , . , . Euthymius, expanding Chrysostom. This beatitude comprises every degree of sympathy and mutual love and help; from that fulness of it which is shed abroad in those who have been forgiven much, and therefore love much,-down to those first beginnings of the new birth, even among those who know not the Lord, which are brought out in ch. Mat 25:37-40, where see notes.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 5:7. , the merciful) The Greek word , ruth, from which is derived, corresponds to the Hebrew ,[177] and does not refer merely to miserable objects.
[177] (1) in a good sense, zeal towards any one, love, kindness, specially (a) of men amongst themselves, benignity, benevolence, as shown in mutual benefits; mercy, pity, when referring to those in misfortune: Gen 21:23; 2Sa 10:2. LXX. often .-GESENIUS.-(I. B.)
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
are: Mat 6:14, Mat 6:15, Mat 18:33-35, 2Sa 22:26, Job 31:16-22, Psa 18:25, Psa 37:26, Psa 41:1-4, Psa 112:4, Psa 112:9, Pro 11:17, Pro 14:21, Pro 19:17, Isa 57:1, Isa 58:6-12, Dan 4:27, Mic 6:8, Mar 11:25, Luk 6:35, Eph 4:32, Eph 5:1, Col 3:12, Jam 3:17
for: Hos 1:6, Hos 2:1, Hos 2:23, Rom 11:30, 1Co 7:25, 2Co 4:1, 1Ti 1:13, 1Ti 1:16, 2Ti 1:16-18, Heb 4:16, Heb 6:10, Jam 2:13, 1Pe 2:10
Reciprocal: Jos 2:14 – when the Lord 1Sa 26:24 – as thy life 2Sa 2:6 – the Lord 2Ch 28:11 – the fierce Psa 109:16 – he remembered Pro 11:25 – liberal soul Pro 14:22 – but Hos 6:6 – I desired Luk 6:37 – forgive Act 16:30 – brought
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
MERCIFULNESS IN PRINCIPLE AND PRACTICE
Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.
Mat 5:7
The mercifulness of the text is a principle and a grace. It comes from the happy sense of forgiveness. It is the mercifulness of one who not only seeks to obtain mercy, but who has obtained it already.
I. Mercifulness as a principle.It involves
(a) Commiseration for suffering men. Though this world is the abode of much suffering, because it is the theatre of much sin, God leaves the Christian here that he may be the channel of Gods beneficence and the perpetuation of his Masters kindness.
(b) Compassion for the souls of men. This sort of mercy is a surer test of piety. Blessed are they whose pity, like the Divine compassion, seeks the lost.
II. Mercifulness in practice.How shall we describe the merciful man? He is
(a) Considerate of othersof their health and comfort. From want of forethought, or want of timely activity on their own part, people who are not cruel often perpetrate great cruelties.
(b) Considerate of his neighbours character. Perhaps there is no production of our world so rare and precious, and yet none which has so many enemies or is so generally attacked, as character.
(c) Merciful to his beast. A merciful disposition is an indication of what men are, and an earnest of what awaits them.
Bishop Hamilton.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
5:7
The single English word “mercy” is Thayer’s definition of the word here. It is defined in the English dictionary to mean to be sparing in inflicting even punishment that is due another. It does not call for endorsement of wrong or for overlooking it, but to be considerate of the other person.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 5:7. The merciful. Meekness is a passive virtue, mercy an active one. The meek bear the injustice of the world, the merciful bravely address themselves to the wants of the world.Every degree of sympathy and mutual love and help is included. The spring of this grace is in Gods mercy, although it is ever rewarded with new mercy; according to the annexed promise: for they shall obtain mercy. First of all, Gods mercy; the merciful character is both the evidence and the measure of Gods mercy. Mercy from men is included. All these beatitudes have a subordinate temporal application, for God rules the world, despite its sin.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Here our blessed Redeemer recommends to us a compassionate regard towards the miseries of others, and that both in soul and body, name and estate; to be forward to pity and pardon, to relieve and help, to give and forgive.
And as an encouragement, he adds, that as we deal with others, God will deal with us; our charity towards men shall be crowned with mercy from God, and that in abundance too; for our rivulet of charity we shall partake of an ocean of mercy: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Learn, That the merciful man is a blessed man, and therefore blessed because he shall obtain mercy, when he most wants it, and most desires it. Mercy, not wages.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Mat 5:7. Blessed [or happy] are the merciful The tender-hearted, compassionate, kind, and beneficent, who, being inwardly affected with the infirmities, necessities, and miseries of their fellow-creatures, and feeling them as their own, with tender sympathy endeavour, as they have ability, to relieve them; and who, not confining their efforts to the communicating of temporal relief to the needy and wretched, labour also to do spiritual good; to enlighten the darkness of mens minds, heal the disorders of their souls, and reclaim them from vice and misery, from every unholy and unhappy temper, from every sinful word and work; always manifesting a readiness to forgive the faults of others, as they themselves need and expect forgiveness from God. The merciful, says Erasmus, are those who, through brotherly love, account another persons misery their own; who weep over the calamities of others; who, out of their own property, feed the hungry and clothe the naked; who admonish those that are in error, inform the ignorant, pardon the offending; and who, in short, use their utmost endeavours to relieve and comfort others. They shall obtain mercy When they most need it. As they deal with their fellow-creatures, God will deal with them. He will incline men to show them mercy and deal kindly with them in this world, and he himself will grant them mercy and loving kindness in the day of final accounts. And since the best and happiest of mankind may need even the former, and inasmuch as all will want the latter, this is surely a strong and powerful argument to persuade us to show mercy to men, in any and every way in our power, that both God and men may show mercy to us. Add to this, that, were there no other inducement, the comfort and satisfaction arising from a disposition that renders us so like our heavenly Father, might, one would suppose, be sufficient to prevail with us to endeavour, especially in this instance, to imitate Him who, being touched with the feeling of our infirmities, was daily employed in relieving them, and even took them upon himself, continually going about doing good, and at last giving up his life to ransom ours.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
A merciful person forgives the guilty and has compassion on the needy and the suffering. A meek person acknowledges to others that he or she is sinful, but a merciful person has compassion on others because they are sinful. [Note: John R. W. Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount, p. 48.] Notice that Jesus did not specify a situation or situations in which the merciful person displays mercy because he or she is characteristically merciful. The promise applies in many different situations.
The blessing of the merciful is that they will receive mercy from God. Jesus did not mean that people can earn God’s mercy for salvation by being merciful to others. God will deal mercifully with people who have dealt mercifully with their fellowmen (cf. Mat 6:12-15; Mat 9:13; Mat 12:7; Mat 18:33-34). There are many Old Testament texts that speak of Messiah dealing mercifully with the merciful (e.g., Isa 49:10; Isa 49:13; Isa 54:8; Isa 54:10; Isa 60:10; Zec 10:6).