Psalms 24:4

24:4 The one whose deeds are blameless

and whose motives are pure, ¹ 

who does not lie, ² 

or make promises with no intention of keeping them. ³ 

Psalms 73:1

Book 3
(Psalms 73-89)

Psalm 73 ⁴ 

A psalm by Asaph.

73:1 Certainly God is good to Israel, ⁵ 

and to those whose motives are pure! ⁶ 

Matthew 5:8

5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Matthew 5:1

The Beatitudes

5:1 When ⁷  he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain. ⁸  After he sat down his disciples came to him.

Matthew 5:22

5:22 But I say to you that anyone who is angry with a brother ⁹  will be subjected to judgment. And whoever insults ¹⁰  a brother will be brought before ¹¹  the council, ¹²  and whoever says ‘Fool’ ¹³  will be sent ¹⁴  to fiery hell. ¹⁵ 

Matthew 5:1

The Beatitudes

5:1 When ¹⁶  he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain. ¹⁷  After he sat down his disciples came to him.

Matthew 1:22

1:22 This all happened so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled:

¹ tn Heb “the innocent of hands and the pure of heart.” The “hands” allude to one’s actions, the “heart” to one’s thought life and motives.

² tn Heb “who does not lift up for emptiness my life.” The first person pronoun on נַפְשִׁי (nafshiy, “my life”) makes little sense here; many medieval Hebrew mss support the ancient versions in reading a third person pronoun “his.” The idiom “lift the life” here means to “long for” or “desire strongly.” In this context (note the reference to an oath in the following line) “emptiness” probably refers to speech (see Ps 12:2).

³ tn Heb “and does not swear an oath deceitfully.”

⁴ sn Psalm 73. In this wisdom psalm the psalmist offers a personal testimony of his struggle with the age-old problem of the prosperity of the wicked. As he observed evil men prosper, he wondered if a godly lifestyle really pays off. In the midst of his discouragement, he reflected upon spiritual truths and realities. He was reminded that the prosperity of the wicked is only temporary. God will eventually vindicate his people.

⁵ tn Since the psalm appears to focus on an individual’s concerns, not the situation of Israel, this introduction may be a later addition designed to apply the psalm’s message to the entire community. To provide a better parallel with the next line, some emend the Hebrew phrase לְיִשְׂרָאֵל אֱלֹהִים (lÿyisra’el ’elohim, “to Israel, God”) to אֱלֹהִים [or אֵל] לָיָּשָׁר (’elohim [or ’el] lÿyyashar, “God [is good] to the upright one”).

⁶ tn Heb “to the pure of heart.”

⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁸ tn Or “up a mountain” (εἰς τὸ ὄρος, eis to oro").

⁹ tc The majority of mss read the word εἰκῇ (eikh, “without cause”) here after “brother.” This insertion has support from א² D L W Θ 0233 Ë^1,13 33 Ï it sy co Ir^lat Or^mss Cyp Cyr. Thus the Western, Caesarean, and Byzantine texttypes all include the word, while the best Alexandrian and some other witnesses (Ì⁶⁴ א* B 1424^mg pc aur vg Or Hier^mss) lack it. The ms evidence favors its exclusion, though there is a remote possibility that εἰκῇ could have been accidentally omitted from these witnesses by way of homoioarcton (the next word, ἔνοχος [enocos, “guilty”], begins with the same letter). An intentional change would likely arise from the desire to qualify “angry,” especially in light of the absolute tone of Jesus’ words. While “without cause” makes good practical sense in this context, and must surely be a true interpretation of Jesus’ meaning (cf. Mark 3:5), it does not commend itself as original.

¹⁰ tn Grk “whoever says to his brother ‘Raca,’” an Aramaic word of contempt or abuse meaning “fool” or “empty head.”

¹¹ tn Grk “subjected,” “guilty,” “liable.”

¹² tn Grk “the Sanhedrin.”

¹³ tn The meaning of the term μωρός (mwros) is somewhat disputed. Most take it to mean, following the Syriac versions, “you fool,” although some have argued that it represents a transliteration into Greek of the Hebrew term מוֹרֵה (moreh) “rebel” (Deut 21:18, 20; cf. BDAG 663 s.v. μωρός c).

¹⁴ tn Grk “subjected,” “guilty,” “liable.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “the Gehenna of fire.”

¹⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹⁷ tn Or “up a mountain” (εἰς τὸ ὄρος, eis to oro").