The Sermon on the Mount, Including the Sermon on the Plain (Hermeneia | Herm)

by Hans Dieter Betz

Publisher:

Fortress Press

, 1995

Overview

To study these sermons with Hans Dieter Betz is to be vastly informed about all forms of gospel criticism, and ultimately, about Jesus himself. This fantastic volume is a quintessential part of any New Testament scholar’s library.

Key Features

• Includes a number of valuable insights
• Presents a detailed and authoritative interpretation
• Provides a fantastic commentary for students, teachers, scholars, and professors

Contents

Top Highlights

“Rather, the expression ‘poor in (the) spirit’ first of all points to an intellectual insight into the human condition.¹⁷³ The attitude adequately corresponding to that insight is ‘humility,’ a virtue highly praised in antiquity.¹⁷⁴ This virtue is opposed to hubris, arrogance, selfindulgence, and overextension of the natural limits of the human predicament. Therefore, the way of life set forth and recommended by the SM is based on the insight into the condicio humana that accepts it as ‘poverty’ in the wider sense of the term. By the time of the New Testament, this insight and the attitudes following from it had become a mark of religious piety and wisdom.” (Pages 115–116)

“In their present context, the Beatitudes are doctrinal statements; they are intended to be learned by heart and remembered. This secondary function is quite appropriate in that it shows the connections between doctrine and ritual.” (Page 95)

“The term ‘the poor’ has unquestionably always referred to persons living in social and economic misery. Therefore, it is important to realize that the SM does not regard the condition of poverty as a blessing.” (Page 114)

“The SM recognizes war, persecution, and injustice as part of the evil world. Precisely because there is war, strife, dissension, and hostility, peacemaking is a demand that comes with justice and the kingdom of God. Peacemaking is a means of involvement in the human predicament of warlike conditions. Coping with such conditions corresponds to God’s own response and action. Consequently, affirming peacemaking is more than agreeing with a commonplace. It implies assuming responsibility against all the odds, risking peacemaking out of the situation of powerlessness, and demonstrating the conviction that in the end God’s kingdom will prevail. For this reason, the peacemakers will be rewarded by God.” (Page 140)

Product Details

• Title: The Sermon on the Mount: A Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, including the Sermon on the Plain
• Author: Hans Dieter Betz
• Series: Hermeneia
• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Print Publication Date: 1995
• Logos Release Date: 2006
• Pages: 736
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Bible › Commentaries--Collected works
• Resource ID: LLS:HRMNEIASRMT
• Resource Type: Bible Commentary
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-25T20:01:59Z

About Hans Dieter Betz

Specific New Testament projects include the letters of the apostle Paul, the Sermon on the Mount, and the Gospel of Matthew. In addition to many articles and reviews, he has published Galatians; 2 Corinthians 8 and 9; and The Sermon on the Mount (commentaries in the Hermeneia series). He has also published several monographs, including Lucian of Samosata and the New Testament; Discipleship and Imitation of Christ; The Apostle Paul and the Socratic Tradition; Essays on the Sermon on the Mount; and two edited volumes on Plutarch and early Christian literature. Four volumes of his collected essays (in English and in German) have appeared under the titles Hellenismus und Urchristentum; Synoptische Studien; Paulinische Studien; and Antike und Christentum. The volume of translated magical papyri (The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation Including the Demotic Spells), which he edited, has been published in a second, paperback edition. Professor Betz is also involved in international research and publication projects, especially as editor in chief of the eight-volume lexicon Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart (fourth edition). He is an ordained member of the Presbytery of Chicago, United Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. and its The