Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
All Commentaries on Matthew 5:5 Go To Matthew 5
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 inheritance. But because the Prophet had said, “The meek shall inherit the earth,” He used these well known words in conveying His meaning.
