spirit) i.e. in their inmost self. This word is to be understood also in the following passages as far as ver. 8, where the words rip Kaediy, in heart, occur. — on, because) Each kind of blessed ness which is predicated corresponds with the previous descrip tion of [the character or condition which is] its subject,1 and is taken, either (1.) from the contrary (for the works of God, 2 Cor. iv. 6, vii. 6, xii. 9, are effected in the midst of their contraries) ; 2 or (2.) regulated by a law of benignant retribution or exact conformity.3 — sanv, is) sc. already. The present in this verse, and the future in those which follow, mutually imply each other. — r\ ftaatXiia r£jv oupavuv, the kingdom of heaven, literally, the king dom of the heavens),* which, promised in the Old Testament, is actually conferred by the Messiah.
4 and 5. Oi vrevSovvres, x.r.X.) they that mourn, etc. — oi irpqtTf, x.r.X., the meek, etc.) Most of the Latins transpose these verses, and certainly the third and fifth verses correspond with each other. Blessed are the POOR in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of HEAVEN ; Messed are the MEEK, for they shall inherit the EARTH. ^y = VTU^O;, poor, vy = irpaus, meek, especially in Ps. xxxvii. 11, where the inheritance of the earth is spoken of, and ibid. ver. 14. But this does not interfere with our order of the verses ; for ver. 4 is subordinate to ver. 3, and ver. 6 to ver. 5.5 Mourning has a
1 Sc. of the present state of the subject. Ex. gr. •'' Blessed are they that mourn : for they shall be comforted." — ED.
2 In the original, " in mediis contrariis," the full force of which it is diffi cult to give by a single phrase. Bengel's meaning is best obtained by a re ference to the texts which he gives. — (I. B.)
3 In the original, "a talione benlgna proximave convenientia," where talio (talion) is used in a sense cognate with its original derivation from tails, such, but unknown (as far as I am aware) to classical usage. It is one of those peculiar adaptations of words frequently occurring in Berigel, and sanctioned (in its principle) by no less an authority than Horace. — See his Ars Poetica, ver. 47, 48. For an example of Bengel's meaning, cf ver. 7, 8 of this chapter.— (I. B.)
* This expression, the kingdom of the heavens, marks the commencement of the discussion (tractatio) in this verse, as it also marks the close of the discussion in ver. 10. — Vers. Germ.
6 For the arrangement, whereby the beatitude of oi iritis comes before that of oi Ktvdovvrss, there are Dae Vulg. Orig. 3, 740d, Euseb. Canon. Hilary 621d, G22«. For the arrangement of the Rec. Text, oi vtvd. — oi Tfate<f, there are of very old authorities B6. — ED. By the word etvrot it is