It is not so easy to account for the omission of whole clauses by Lk. Accordingly, Dr. Plummer holds that Christ gave the Prayer originally on two different occasions in two different forms. But it has been pointed out that Lk.'s occasion requires us to view it as the first introduction of the Prayer, and yet this is later than the Sermon on the Mount. Besides, Ave must compare the briefer form of the Prayer with the briefer form of the Beatitudes. In both cases it is likely that the explanation is the same. Either Lk. abbreviates in both cases, or Mt. expands in both cases. With the Beatitudes we saw that the latter is the pro- bability. Moreover, viewing Mt. as a whole, we see in it a fulness of expression not found in the other Gospels, due possibly to a catechetical use of the sayings of Christ. Thus we have the sign of Jonah explained in Mt 12^" with a reference to the whale, while it is left indefinite in Lk 1 1^" ; in Mt 1618 ' the Son of the living God ' added to St. Peter's confession in Mk 8^ ' Thou art the Christ,' where Lk 9-" has ' the Christ of God ' ; in Mt 16'-« ' the Son of Man coming in his kingdom,' while Mk 91 and Lk 9^^ have only ' the kingdom of God,' etc. ; at Mt 26^* ' unto remission of sins ' with refer- ence to the blood of the covenant at the Lord's Supper, a clause not found in Mk 14^^, Lk 22-", 1 Co 11-^ Still Lk. has characteristic additions, such as in the verse, ' I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance ' (5^^), where the last two words appear to be a didactic gloss, since they are not found in Mt 9'^, Mk 2'^, and are not required by the context, but are congenial to Lk., the penitents' Gospel. Lk. has also char- acteristic alterations ; for instance, for ' good things 'in Mt 7", Lk ll'-' has 'the Holy Spirit,' in accordance with that Gospel's peculiarly fre- quent references to the Spirit of God — leaving the probability of originality with Mt. in this case. Therefore we cannot make an invariable rule of giving Lk. the preference. While, however, we cannot be positive in deciding the question, the reasons stated above seem, on the whole, to point to Lk.'s version of the Lord's Prayer as the more original. While admitting this, we may hold it probable that Mt.'s additional clauses are echoes of teachings of Jesus given on other occasions, or of His own explanations of the Prayer, analogously to the case of Mt.'s Beatitudes compared with Lk. 's. See, further, art. Lord's Prayer.
In other parts of the Sermon on the Mount the question of priority and superiority of authority is of less importance, since the divergences between
* TS, vol. i. No. 3 ; this is cited by Dr. Plummer in ICC on ' St. Luke."
SERMON ON THE MOUNT
SERMON ON THE MOUNT 611
Mt. and Lk. are less significant (see Wellhausen, Einleitiing, pp. 67-73).
i. Scene and circumstances. — A Latin tradition, that cannot be traced back earlier than the 13tli cent, and is not found in the Eastern Church, gives Karn Hattin, a two-peaked hill a little south - west of the plain of Gennesaret, as the locality of the delivery of the Sermon. AH that can be said in its favour is that this mountain would be a very suitable spot ; but there is no means of confirming so late a tradition. There is a discrepancy between Mt. and Lk., the one stat- ing that Jesus gave the Sermon when He was on the mountain, tiie other that it was on a level
1)lace after He had come down from the mountain, 't has been suggested by the harmonists that the level place might be somewhere among the hollows and shoulders of the mountain, so that, while Jesus had to descend to it, it was still in some degree on the mountain. But while this may be allowed as a possibility, the discrejiancy is only one of many that are scattered over the Gospels, most of which may be regarded as too trivial to aflect the ques- tion of historicity.
The circumstances under which the Sermon on the Mount was delivered justify the exceptional importance that has always been attached to it. It was given early in our Lord's ministry, though not at the commencement. It belongs to the first year, before the disfavour of the authorities had arisen, or at all events before it had become serious ; but it is sufficiently late for the popularity of the new Teacher to have reached a climax. The primitive stage of the Galilasan mission con- sisted of a round of preaching in the synagogues ; the second stage, still in the first year, is ciiar- acterized more by open-air preaching, necessitated by the vast growth of the crowds who pressed to hear the popular Teacher, and by their insistence on hearing Him in season and out of season without waiting for the set times of the synagogue services. Internally the teaching of Jesus has undergone development. At the primitive stage it followed closely the lines laid down by John the Baptist, and could be summarized under the formula, ' Repent : for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,' that is to say, it was an announcement of the coming Kingdom. But at the more advanced stages, to which the great Sermon belongs, Jesus had passed on from 'preaching' {K-qpvyixa) to teach- ing {5i5aaKakla), and was now expounding the. nature of the Kingdom, its character, principles,' processes. The Sermon on the Mount comes into this category. It is teaching, rather than preach- ing. Further, as a consequence, it was originally designed for disciples, for those who seriously desired to learn. This is made evident by the introductions of both Evangelists. In Mt. we read, ' And seeing the multitudes (roi)s fixXoyj), he went up into the mountain : and when he had sat down, his disciples (ol fxadTjral avroO) came unto him : and he opened his mouth, and taught them (avrovs),' i.e. the disciples (Mt 5'-"). Here the distinction between the crowd and the learners is very marked. It was to avoid the crowd that Jesus retreated to the mountain — a common habit, referred to on several occasions. Then the eager inquirers fol- lowed ; and finding Him there, led Him to speak to them, or, as seems more likely, they came at His own invitation. The situation is not so clear in Lk., where the coming of the crowd to Christ follows His visit to the mountain, which He had ascentled for prayer (Lk 6'-), and where He had chosen the Twelve Apostles (v.") ; and whence He had come down with them, after which He ' stood on a level place' (v.'"). Still Lk. preserves the distinction between the disciples and the crowd by saying, ' And a great multitude of his disciple's,