Matthew 5:5

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Verse 4 Read Chapter 5 Verse 6

Ambrose of Milan

AD 397

In Luc. c. v. 20: When I have learned contentment in poverty, the next lessonis to govern my heart and temper. For what good is it to me to be without worldly things, unless I have besides a meek spirit? It suitably follows therefore, “Blessed are the meek.”

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Augustine of Hippo

AD 430

“Inherit the earth,” I believe, means the land promised in the psalm: “Thou art my hope, my portion in the land of the living.” It signifies the solidity and stability of a perpetual inheritance. The soul because of its good disposition is at rest as though in its own place, like a body on the earth, and is fed with its own food there, like a body from the earth. This is the peaceful life of the saints. The meek are those who submit to wickedness and do not resist evil but overcome evil with good. Let the haughty therefore quarrel and contend for earthly and temporal things. But “blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the land.” This is the land from which they cannot be expelled. .

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Augustine of Hippo

AD 430

Piety corresponds to the meek: for he who inquires piously honours Holy Scripture, and does not censure what he does not yet understand, and on this account does not offer resistance; and this is to be meek: whence it is here said, Blessed are the meek. Knowledge corresponds to those that mourn who already have found out in the Scriptures by what evils they are held chained which they ignorantly have coveted as though they were good and useful.

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Augustine of Hippo

AD 430

Blessed are the meek, for they shall by inheritance possess the earth: that earth, I suppose, of which it is said in the Psalm, You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. For it signifies a certain firmness and stability of the perpetual inheritance, where the soul, by means of a good disposition, rests, as it were, in its own place, just as the body rests on the earth, and is nourished from it with its own food, as the body from the earth. This is the very rest and life of the saints. Then, the meek are those who yield to acts of wickedness, and do not resist evil, but overcome evil with good. Let those, then, who are not meek quarrel and fight for earthly and temporal things; but blessed are the meek, for they shall by inheritance possess the earth, from which they cannot be driven out.

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Augustine of Hippo

AD 430

To the meek an inheritance is given, as it were the testament of a father to those dutifully seeking it: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

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Augustine of Hippo

AD 430

Serm. in Mont. i, 2: The meek are they who resist not wrongs, and give way to evil; but overcome evil of good. Let the unyielding then wrangle and quarrel about earthly and temporal things, "the meek are blessed, for they shall inherit the earth,” and not be rooted out of it; that earth of which it is said in the Psalms, “Thy lot is in the hand of the living,” meaning the fixedness of a perpetual inheritance, in which the soul that hath good dispositions rests as in its own place, as the body does in an earthly possession, it is fed by its own food, as the body bythe earth; such is the rest and the life of the saints.

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Chromatius of Aquileia

AD 407

The meek are those who are gentle, humble and unassuming, simple in faith and patient in the face of every affront. Imbued with the precepts of the gospel, they imitate the meekness of the Lord, who says, “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.” Moses found the greatest favor with God because he was meek. It was written about him: “And Moses was the meekest of all people on earth.” Furthermore, we read in David’s psalm: “Be mindful, O Lord, of David and his great meekness.” .

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George Leo Haydock

AD 1849

Not those that mourn for worldly motives, but such as mourn for their sins, are blessed. The sorrow that is according to God, says St. Paul, worketh penance steadfast unto salvation, but the sorrow of the world worketh death. (2 Corinthians vii. 10.) The same is promised in St. John; (xvi. 20,) you shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice; and you shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. (Menochius)

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Glossa Ordinaria

AD 1480

Ord.: The meek, who have possessed themselves, shall possess hereafter the inheritance of the Father; to possess is more than to have, for we have many things which we lose immediately.

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Hilary of Poitiers

AD 368

Or, the Lord promises the inheritance of the earth to the meek, meaning of that Body, which Himself took on Him as His tabernacle; and as by the gentleness ofour minds Christ dwells in us, we also shall be clothed with the glory of His renewed body.

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John Chrysostom

AD 407

Tell me, what kind of earth is referred to here? Some say a figurative earth, but this is not what he is talking about. For nowhere in Scripture do we find any mention of an earth that is merely figurative. But what can this Beatitude mean? Jesus holds out a prize perceptible to the senses, even as Paul also does. For even when Moses had said, “Honor your father and your mother,” he added, “For so shall you live long upon the earth.” And Jesus himself says again to the thief, “Today you shall be with me in paradise.” Today! In this way he does not speak only of future blessings but also of present ones. The Gospel of Matthew, Homily

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John Chrysostom

AD 407

Tell me, what kind of earth? Some say a figurative earth, but it is not this, for nowhere in Scripture do we find any mention of an earth that is merely figurative. But what can the saying mean? He holds out a sensible prize; even as Paul also does, in that when he had said, Honor your father and your mother, Ephesians 6:2 he added, For so shall you live long upon the earth. And He Himself unto the thief again, Today shall you be with me in Paradise. Luke 23:43 Thus He does not incite us by means of the future blessings only, but of the present also, for the sake of the grosser sort of His hearers, and such as before the future seek those others. Thus, for example, further on also He said, Agree with your adversary. Matthew 5:25 Then He appoints the reward of such self-command, and says, Lest at any time the adversary deliver you to the judge, and the judge to the officer. Matthew 5:25 Do you see whereby He alarmed us? By the things of sense, by what happens before our eyes. And ... Read More

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John Chrysostom

AD 407

This earth as some interpret, so long as it is in its present condition is the land of the dead, seeing it is “subject to vanity;” but when it is freed from corruption it becomes the land of the living, that the mortal may inherit an immortal country. I have read another exposition of it, as if the heaven in which the saints are to dwell is meant by “the land of the living,” because compared with the regions of death it is heaven, compared with the heaven above it is earth. Others again say, that this body as long as it is subject to death is the land of the dead, when it shall be made like unto Christ's glorious body, it will be the land of the living. Otherwise; Christ here has mixed things sensible with things spiritual. Because it is commonly supposed that he who is meek loses all that he possesses, Christ here gives a contrary promise, that he who is not forward shall possess his ownin security, but that he of a contrary disposition many times loses his soul and his paternal inher... Read More

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Theophylact of Ochrid

AD 1107

Some say that the "earth’’ is the spiritual earth, that is, heaven. But understand it to mean this earth as well. Since the meek are thought to be those who are despised and deprived of wealth, Christ says that it is the meek, rather, who possess everything. The meek are not those who never get angry at all, for such people are unfeeling and apathetic. Rather, the meek are those who possess the capacity for anger but control it, and become angry only when it is necessary.

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