Blessings that last
Preface
This article originally published 2008120, with a reworked, republished version for Blogger and an entry on academia.edu, 20241116.
New Testament Greek
I will non-exhaustively look at the use of the term 'blessed' in Matthew 5, which is according to Strong’s (3107) μακάριος (makarios) and is a prolonged form of the poetical μάκαρ (makar) which means the same. Strong (1986: 60). The term is defined as meaning extremely blessed and by extension fortunate, well off, blessed, happy. Strong (1986: 60). Bauer defines the word as meaning blessed, fortunate, happy, usually in the sense of privileged recipient of divine favour. Bauer (1979: 486). Bauer explains that in Matthew 5: 3ff the translated idea of happiness to or hail to persons is favoured by some scholars. Bauer (1979: 486). Bauer reasons that this idea may be correct for the Aramaic original, but scarcely exhausts the context for Greek speaking Christians where the state of being blessed is brought about by ascension into heaven. Bauer (1979: 486).
From Bible Hub: 3107
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 3107: μακάριος
μακάριος, μακαρία, μακάριον (poetic μάκαρ) (from Pindar, Plato down), blessed, happy: joined to names of God, 1 Timothy 1:11; 1 Timothy 6:15 (cf. μακαρες Θεοί in Homer and Hesiod); ἐλπίς, Titus 2:13; as a predicate, Acts 20:35; 1 Peter 3:14; 1 Peter 4:14; ἡγοῦμαι τινα μακάριον, Acts 26:2; μακαραριος ἐν τίνι, James 1:25. In congratulations, the reason why one is to be pronounced blessed is expressed by a noun or by a participle taking the place of the subject, μακάριος ὁ etc. (Hebrew פְּ אַשְׁרֵי, Psalm 1:1; Deuteronomy 33:29, etc.) blessed the man, who etc. (Winer's Grammar, 551 (512f)): Matthew 5:3-11; Luke 6:20-22; John 20:29; Revelation 1:3; Revelation 16:15; Revelation 19:9; Revelation 20:6; Revelation 22:14; by the addition to the noun of a participle which takes the place of a predicate, Luke 1:45; Luke 10:23; Luke 11:27; Revelation 14:13; followed by ὅς with a finite verb, Matthew 11:6; Luke 7:23; Luke 14:15; Romans 4:7f; the subject noun intervening, Luke 12:37, 43; Luke 23:29; James 1:12; μακάριοι ... ὅτι, Matthew 13:16; Matthew 16:17; Luke 14:14; followed by ἐάν, John 13:17; 1 Corinthians 7:40. (See Schmidt, chapter 187, 7.)
Englishman's Concordance
Matthew 5:3 Adj-NMP (Adjective, Nominative, Masculine, Plural, my add)
GRK: ΜΑΚΑΡΙΟΙ οἱ πτωχοὶ
Blessed
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Commentaries
Kissinger quotes Soren Kierkegaard from his 1847 work, 'What we Learn from the Lilies of the Field and the Birds of the Air'. Kierkegaard notes that persons are to seek first God’s Kingdom which is the name of eternal (I would use the term everlasting, as eternal has no beginning and no end, and everlasting has a beginning and no end) happiness which is promised to persons and before which the beauty and peace of nature do not compare. God’s Kingdom is righteousness and is to be sought first and shall endure forever. Kierkegaard (1847: 236). Kissinger writes when discussing the work of C.H. Dodd that the ideal Jesus expressed in the Sermon on the Mount, (which includes Matthew 5) would never be completely realized by humanity in this present world. Kissinger (1975: 82). H.L. Ellison writes that Matthew 5 expresses Beatitudes that are addressed to those who live lives beyond what the laws of the Hebrew Bible asked for and now live in grace. Ellison (1986: 1124).
It can be seen through the works of Strong, Bauer and the sources provided that the correct definition can be found in Matthew 5, by understanding what the word means in New Testament Greek. However, the word’s context in each individual usage must be sought after for better understanding. Therefore, Bauer points out that a definition of the word in Matthew 5: 3ff would properly express the idea of happiness, but the context of the verses are deeper as happiness is directly related to Christian participation in the culminated Kingdom of God. Kierkegaard picks up on this point as well, and although Christians are to work for this type of blessed happiness in our present reality, it will not happen in this present realm. The establishment of perfected blessed happiness and the end of the problems of evil, my MPhil and PhD dissertation topics, are both dependent on the culmination of the Kingdom of God, which belongs to those who are regenerated (John 3, Titus 3, 1 Peter 1). These persons are moved by God to embrace salvation in Christ, through his atoning and resurrection work as applied to those chosen, the elect.
Secular happiness in our present realm can be somewhat synonymous with being blessed from Matthew 5 in that persons can be extremely fortunate and happy. But the concept of being blessed is very importantly, different in the New Testament. Without a Biblical hope in God’s culminated Kingdom, secular based happiness is fleeting as it philosophically terminates in death.
It can be seen through the works of Strong, Bauer and the sources provided that the correct definition can be found in Matthew 5, by understanding what the word means in New Testament Greek. However, the word’s context in each individual usage must be sought after for better understanding. Therefore, Bauer points out that a definition of the word in Matthew 5: 3ff would properly express the idea of happiness, but the context of the verses are deeper as happiness is directly related to Christian participation in the culminated Kingdom of God. Kierkegaard picks up on this point as well, and although Christians are to work for this type of blessed happiness in our present reality, it will not happen in this present realm. The establishment of perfected blessed happiness and the end of the problems of evil, my MPhil and PhD dissertation topics, are both dependent on the culmination of the Kingdom of God, which belongs to those who are regenerated (John 3, Titus 3, 1 Peter 1). These persons are moved by God to embrace salvation in Christ, through his atoning and resurrection work as applied to those chosen, the elect.
Secular happiness in our present realm can be somewhat synonymous with being blessed from Matthew 5 in that persons can be extremely fortunate and happy. But the concept of being blessed is very importantly, different in the New Testament. Without a Biblical hope in God’s culminated Kingdom, secular based happiness is fleeting as it philosophically terminates in death.
A theistic argument based on secular reasoning
A related argument, using secular, materialistic, empirical, reasoning. Let us define blessed as primarily happy here:
Premise 1: Human life terminates at death.
Premise 2: Bob the billionaire had a significantly, blessed, life.
Premise 3: Hank the homeless person had a significantly, less blessed life.
(No assumption here, that a homeless person will always have a significantly, less blessed life than a billionaire, but in this case)
Premise 4: Post-mortem the status of the Bob the billionaire and Hank the homeless person is non-life.
Premise 4: Post-mortem the status of the Bob the billionaire and Hank the homeless person is non-life.
Premise 5: Bob the billionaire's life legacy is significant.
Premise 6: Hank the homeless person's life legacy is less significant.
(No assumption here, that a homeless person will always have a less significant life legacy than a billionaire, but in this case)
Conclusion: Post-mortem, a person, is not significantly, everlastingly blessed, if permanently terminated.
Explanation from a Christian, theological perspective:
Any life that permanently terminates in death is not ultimately significantly, everlastingly, blessed. Typically, even the significance and legacy of a famous, notable, post-mortem person will decline over time as fewer and fewer persons view the deceased as significant. This also occurs within family trees and people are eventually, typically, forgotten. Notable, Jesus Christ has continued significance post-mortem because of the claims of empirically viewed resurrection within the New Testament (examples, the Gospel accounts and 1 Corinthians 15, 1-2 Thessalonians).
The historically based gospel through divine regeneration of a person and the atoning and resurrection work of Christ applied to the same, offers significant, blessed happiness that is everlasting and philosophically superior to secular happiness.
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BAUER, WALTER. (1979) A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Translated by Eric H. Wahlstrom, Chicago, The University of Chicago Press.
BAUER, WALTER. (1979) A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Translated by Eric H. Wahlstrom, Chicago, The University of Chicago Press.
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KISSINGER, WARREN S. (1975) The Sermon on the Mount: A History of Interpretation and Bibliography, The Scarecrow Press, Inc, Metuchen, New Jersey.
KIERKEGAARD, SOREN (1847) 'What we Learn from the Lilies of the Field and the Birds of the Air', in The Sermon on the Mount: A History of Interpretation and Bibliography, The Scarecrow Press, Inc, Metuchen, New Jersey.
KISSINGER, WARREN S. (1975) The Sermon on the Mount: A History of Interpretation and Bibliography, The Scarecrow Press, Inc, Metuchen, New Jersey.
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STRONG, J. (1986) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Pickering, Ontario, Welch Publishing Company.
STRONG, J. (1986) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Pickering, Ontario, Welch Publishing Company.
