The beatitudes unlocked by Hebrew parallelism, Matthew 5:3-10

Hebraic poetic parallelism

Much of the Old Testament is poetry. In fact one third of it is written in Hebrew poetic form, equivalent to more than the entire New Testament. Isaiah 40-66, Job and Lamentations are arranged poetically, as are the Psalms and Proverbs. Many of the prophecies are also poetic.

Hebrew poetry does not use rhyming words but rhyming ideas. Complementary or duplicate descriptions are written in parallel, line by line. This adds helpful insights for translation through word equivalence, and interpretation of difficult phrases by comparison with an easier to understand parallel phrase. Additionally, it acts as an aide memoire in that the idea when spoken twice is doubly memorable and like poetry or song is easier to remember than mere prose or narrative. Most believers know more hymns and choruses than Bible verses because more of their senses are involved in singing and dancing than in mere silent reading. At the very least we should get back to reading Scripture aloud so that we hear it twice, once with the mind and once with the external ear.

A good example would be Proverbs 31.20, there is no difference between poor and needy:

`She stretches / out her hand / to the poor `
`She reaches / forth her arms / to the needy`

Here, each phrase is paralleled by a similar phrase of different wording but of equal meaning in the corresponding second half of the verse.

Thus, `ask, seek and knock`, in the gospels, are three ways of saying `inquire of God` not suggesting that if your prayer was unanswered it was because you asked and sought but forgot to knock.

This phraseology is poetic, which you should read and get the flow and drift, the heart of the message, not be distracted by small print. Alternatively, if you were reading the Ten Commandments, you would read the small print, as they are a legal document. Different styles of writing require different methods of reading.

THE BEATITUDES UNLOCKED BY PARALLELLISM

The use of Hebraic poetic parallelism can be seen carried into the New Testament in the Sermon on the Mount. The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-10) are arranged in pairs which can help clarify the meaning of their corresponding phrase. Here the transposed order of verses 4 & 5 has been used as in many Greek NT and Latin Vulgate manuscripts , making a more obvious parallelism of the first four blessings:

Blessed [are] the poor in spirit:
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed [are] the meek:
for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed [are] they that mourn:
for they shall be comforted. Blessed [are] those who hunger and thirst for righteousness:
for they shall be filled.
Blessed [are] the merciful:
for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed [are] the pure in heart:
for they shall see God.
Blessed [are] the peacemakers:
for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed [are] those who are persecuted for righteousness` sake/pursue righteousness:
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

KINGDOM OF HEAVEN = INHERIT THE EARTH

`Heaven` is a Jewish synonym for God Himself, hence the `kingdom of heaven` in Matthew`s Jewish language is identical with `the kingdom of God` in the other gospels. Furthermore, Jewish kingdom expectation was not of an ethereal heavenly kingdom but of a messianic millennial earth where God dwelt with man. It is not that we ascend to be with God in the long run but that God descends, once sin and evil are banished, to once more dwell with man and walk with him, as He did with Adam in gan eden, the garden of Eden. Compare the picture of the earthly eternal reign of God in Revelation 21-22. One can see, then, that `to inherit the earth` is the same as inheriting the kingdom of God, or experiencing His eternal rule. His kingdom is `not of this world`, means that it is not of this `worldly order` or of this `age`, but rather it `of the age to come`.