Proverbs in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount

The Gospel of Matthew is thought to have been written by a Jewish follower of Jesus for a Jewish audience. The Sermon on the Mount—chapters 5 through 7—includes discussion of key verses from the Hebrew Bible and is partly written in the form of compact proverbial statements that echo the style and substance of Hebrew wisdom literature. From the counterintuitive statements of the Beatitudes (e.g., “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth”; Matthew 5:5) to straightforward teachings on topics like fasting or hypocrisy, the Sermon on the Mount exemplifies many Hellenistic Jewish values. See more in Jesus and the Law.

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The Gospel of Matthew is thought to have been written by a Jewish follower of Jesus for a Jewish audience. The Sermon on the Mount—chapters 5 through 7—includes discussion of key verses from the Hebrew Bible and is partly written in the form of compact proverbial statements that echo the style and substance of Hebrew wisdom literature. From the counterintuitive statements of the Beatitudes (e.g., “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth”; Matthew 5:5) to straightforward teachings on topics like fasting or hypocrisy, the Sermon on the Mount exemplifies many Hellenistic Jewish values. See more in Jesus and the Law.

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