* Similarly Harnack, Das Wesen des Christentums, 1901, p. 42 {Eng. tr. p. 65]: ‘There is nothing in the Gospels that tells us more certainly what the Gospel is, and what sort of disposition and temper it produces, than the Lord’s Prayer. With this Prayer we ought also to confront all those who disparage the Gospel as an ascetic or ecstatic or sociological pronouncement. It shows the Gospel to be the Fatherhood of God applied to the whole of life; to be an inner union with God’s will and God’s Kingdom, and a joyous certainty of the possession of eternal blessings and protection from eyil.’
+ Further, on the Lord’s Prayer, see Kamphausen, Das Gebet des Herrn (1866); Chase, The Lord’s Prayer in the Early Church (1891) ; Tholuck, Bergrede®, pp. 346-408 [Ene. tr. pp. 315- 869]; Achelis, Bergpredigt, pp. 225-305; J. Hanne, Jahrb. f. deutsche Theol. 1866; Haffner, Das Gebet des Herrn (1880); G. Hoffmann, De Oratione Domini (1884); Rieger, Das Gebet des Herrvn (1901); Wendt, Lehre Jesu, ii. 238-245; Plummer,
SERMON ON THE MOUNT
i. Devotion to the Kingdom.—Mt 6-*4 (cf. Lk TDP 184595 1168 127-5) Nearly all of those scholars who regard the Sermon in the First Gospel as a composite production in whole or in part, look upon this section as extraneous to the original discourse, being brought in here from some other historical connexion.* Two arguments against its present position are offered: (a) the subject-matter of the section is thought by many to be remote from the theme of Mt 5!7-6!8; and (6) this material is found scattered in the Gospel of Luke, none of it appearing in his parallel discourse (6%), To the first argument it may be replied (see above, ii. 3) that the theme of the Sermon does not lie in Mt 5'*-*°, but is more general, pertaining to the true nature and duty of righteousness. So that Mt 5'”-6'8, while containing the longest section of the reported discourse, is by no means to be re- garded as the only original matter in Matthew’s account. There is an abrupt transition, to be sure, between Mt 6!8 and 6%; but this abruptness may be due to the fact that we have only extracts or a digest of the historical Sermon. Moreover, the teaching contained in Mt 6-84 would seem to be germane—indeed essential—to a setting forth of the true righteousness ; the ideal life must be free from material aims, divided efforts, and distracting anxieties. The second argument presents a greater difficulty, for Luke’s arrangement of this material in other connexions must be explained. Concern- ing this it may be said that the Lukan Sermon had received severe treatment in transmission, as already frequently noted ; perhaps the exclusion of this sec- tion was a part of that process. Also, that the position assigned to this material in the Third Gospel is surely not historical; it appears in the so-called ‘Perzean section,’ but such teaching as this belonged in all probability to the Galilean ministry. Further, the Lukan settings of these verses show either no contextual relations, or only literary ones ; they are not associated with specific, distinct events. Therefore, while the question must be counted an open one whether Mt 6%*4 belonged to the historical Sermon, good reasons are at hand for treating the section as original in this connexion.
The passage has a real unity of thought, to the effect that there is but one aim in life. This aim is the complete realization of the Kingdom of God, in which every man attains that character and
erforms that service which God requires. The idea thus finds its general statement in Mt 6* ‘Seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness ; and all these things shall be added unto you.’ +
art. LoRD’s PRAYER in vol. iii.; Nestle, art. ‘Lord’s Prayer’ in Encyclopedia Biblica, vol. iii.; v. d. Goltz, Das Gebet in der diltesten Christenheit (1901), pp. 35-53 ; Maurice, Sermons on the Lord's Prayer (1870) ; Scanian: Studies in the Model Prayer (1879); Newman Hall, Vhe Lord’s Prayer? (1889). Also, the Patristic treatment of the Prayer by Tertullian (de Oratione), Cyprian (de Oratione Dominica), and Origen —e Box).
* So Feine, Godet, H. Holtzmann, B. Weiss, Wendt, Heinrici, Bacon, andothers. Its Matthzan position isdefended by Tholuck, Meyer, Keil, Morison, Broadus, Steinmeyer, H. Weiss, Nosgen, Grawert. Achelis regards the section as original here, with the exception of vy.20-21.24; and other partition theories are offered. ; ho
+ Mt 638 Gyreire D8 spdirov ray Bacirsioy xot why Dinaroobyyy wvTou, xa) toira xb&vre xpooreaceras vuiv. Lik 1281 cag Careize rhy Borirsiey obra, xxl raira xpooreiceras yuiv. There is much textual variation as respects the wording of the Matthean verse. It is difficult to determine the precise original form of this saying of Jesus. Bruce thinks it was simply ‘Seek ye his kingdom,’ all else in the present Greek forms being expansion for purposes of interpretation ; but it seems probable that the second clause was also given, as bringing the saying more closely into relation with its context. The zAqy which intro- duces the Lukan form is an idiosyncrasy of the Third Gospel (cf. Lk 624-35 et al.). Matthew’s s%vre, in the second clause, is likely to have been an expansion. The zpairov of Matthew may belong to the original saying. On this supposition it cannot be understood to mean that there are two things to be sought for, one before the other ; it is to be interpreted, not numerically, but qualitatively—there is just one thing to live for, the King-