The Sermon is not, however, addressed exclu- sively or specifically to the newly - appointed apostles. It contains no trace of esoteric teach- ing. There is no portion of the discourse which does not pertain equally to all of Jesus’ followers, present and future. The internal evidence of the Sermon, therefore, sustains the correctness of the Evangelists’ statements (Mt 7°-”, Lk 7) that Jesus spoke directly and inclusively to the people who thronged Him at this time.* The multitude was a disciple multitude in the sense that many were professed followers of Jesus, many were con- templating discipleship, and all were favourably disposed towards Him, listening with interest to His teaching. The Sermon contains no direct polemic against opponents, but an appeal to all to adopt and to attain a higher type of righteousness than that which was conventionally taught them by the scribes.
The exact time, 7.e. the year, month, and day, at which the Sermon was given cannot be deter- mined. There is no agreement among scholars as to either the duration or the calendar dates of Jesus’ public ministry.+ But on any chronological hypothesis the discourse stands about half-way between the beginning of Jesus’ public work and His crucifixion.
The Sermon was spoken in Galilee, the scene of the main ministry of Jesus (cf. Mt 4°, Lk 617). If there is an indication in Mt 8°, Lk 7! that the
lace of the event was near Capernaum, the precise Recality would not even then be defined, since the site of Capernaum itself is in dispute. The moun- tain referred to in Mt 5! 81, Lk 6” is not named and cannot be identified.t We may suppose, how-
* That the discourse was addressed to the multitude is the view of Achelis, Bleek, Bruce, Godet, Meyer, Nésgen, and others. That it was addressed to close disciples, but overheard by the multitude to whom it did not directly pertain, is held by Tholuck, B. Weiss, Grawert, and others. Burton and Bacon maintain that the discourse was spoken only to an inner circle of followers. But these hypotheses presuppose a sharper line between disciples (Mt 51, Lk 620) and general followers of Jesus than Jesus Himself indicates in the Sermon, or than can other- wise be made out at this stage of the public ministry. The use of the second personal form by Luke cannot be adduced as evidence that Jesus was speaking only to a close circle of dis- ciples ; it was equally applicable to a large company. Matthew’s account also has the second personal form after 53-10, Yet both Evangelists have statements (Mt 5! 728, Lk 619 71) to the effect that Jesus addressed His teaching to the multitudes at this time ; and it is not clear that these statements are mere literary features, without historical value. The discourse contains positively nothing to indicate that Jesus was speaking only to a small, inner circle of His followers. f
+See artt. CHRronoLogy or NT, vol. i, and Jesus Curist, vol. ii. ; also art. ‘Chronology of NT’ in Encyclopedia Biblica, vol. i.; and Literature cited in connexion. : :
t Four views are now current concerning this ‘mountain’: (1) Latin tradition identifies it with Karn Hattin; the theory is accepted by Stanley (SP J 368f.), and also by Plummer and H. Weiss. This Latin tradition did not arise until the 13th cent., and is quite unknown to the Eastern Church, so that it cannot have been more than a plausible guess. The location
SERMON ON THE MOUNT 3
ever, that the scene of the Sermon was in the region to the west of the lake, not far distant from the thickly-populated shore.
3. TRANSMISSION AND TRANSLATION.— We seem to have in Mt 5-7, Lk 6° two accounts of the Sermon ; they differ somewhat in setting, verbal expression, and content, but are nevertheless essentially one discourse.* Both Gospels assign the Sermon to the earlier Galilean ministry. The circumstances of the discourse are similar—the mountain, the representative multitude, the heal- ings, the address to disciples. The theme of the discourse is the same in each—the true righteous- ness. The development of the theme is similar— a characterization of this righteousness, with specific teaching as to how it is to affect thought and conduct, and an exhortation to men to live in this way. Each account begins with the Beati- tudes, and closes with the injunction to do God’s will as revealed in Jesus’ teaching, enforced by the parable of the Two House-builders. And, finally, nearly the whole of Luke’s discourse is contained in Matthew’s.
and features of Karn Hattin correspond sufficiently well with the history; but there are a number of other hills along the western shore of the lake which are also suitable (Robinson, BRP iii. 487). (2) Some specific mountain is referred to, and was known to the early Christians as the scene of the discourse, but its identity became lost from the Gospel tradition. So Tholuck, Meyer, Keil, Ktibel, Achelis, Andrews. (3) The phrase 76 dpos designates not a particular hill or mountain peak, but the range of tableland rising to the west of the Sea of Galilee ; and the site of the event is not more specifically designated. The Jews used three leading terms to distinguish the surface features of their territorv—‘ mountain,’ ‘ plain,’ and ‘valley’: of these designations the first is understood to have referred to the tableland, whether broken into isolated peaks or not (cf. Gn 1917. 19. 30 3128. 25 368.9, Mt 1423 1529, Mik 646, Lk 928, Jn 63), Therefore +d 00s would in any particular instance refer to the high land—whether tableland or peak—in the vicinity of the event. This view also leaves the site of the Sermon undeter- mined. So Bleek, Robinson, Ebrard, Thomson, Edersheim, Broadus, Bruce, Nosgen, Stewart, B. Weiss, Bacon. (4) Those who regard the Sermon as a mosaic only, resting upon no particular discourse, but made up of material gathered from many connexions (see names in footnote above), perforce look upon ‘the mountain’ as a part of the artificial scenery which the compiler of the Sermon arranged about it to give verisimilitude to the whole. Of these four views one may adopt the second or the third, but between these two it is difficult to choose.