Matthew 5:5

"Happy are the gentle, because they will be inheriting the land."  The KJV, as well as many versions that followed it, use the word "meek" to describe those who are blessed.  In Holy Wind Living Breath, the best contemporary literal translation seems to be "gentle."  As unlikely as it sometimes seems in this age, the gentle can be in the process of inheriting the land.  And this contrary reality (of gentleness as inheritor) is a principle to live by.  Yes, in a world where being a Type A Personality is supposed to mean aggression, Jesus' words seem unrealistic.  But, if we want to pursue long term happiness in life, this gentle path is the way. 

Matthew 5:4

"Happy are those who mourn, for they will be comforted by those calling alongside."  Jesus' promise is not that our mourning will instantly disappear.  Nor that the cause of our anguish will suddenly be gone. The happiness of mourners happens in our tough times.  We find that that there is one calling alongside of us.  Because Holy Wind Living Breath New Testament is very literal, the word "comforted" is in italics.  The context clearly implies this sense, but the word is not present literally in the text.  Throughout the NT, this word is used for encouragement and comfort.  And, for exhortation and even rebuke.  Someone comes close to help us forward.

Matthew 5:3

"Happy are the poor, through the wind, because from them is the realm of upward vision."  Holy Wind Living Breath New Testament (HWLB) not only has fresh, literal language, but also provides alternative (and very literal) prepositions in many familiar passages.  Where the ENT translation follows most versions with the phrase "for theirs is"; HWLB has "because from them".  This literal translation makes clear that the realm of upward vision is not only a possession of the poor, but also that the poor are the source of this new realm.  The deep sense of joy stems, not from the poverty, but from the realization that the poor are the place for the birth of a new vision of human society.

A Unique Translation

What if? 

What if Jesus' view of God was bigger than ours? What if we've missed some of the emphasis on divine immanence in Jesus' teaching? 

What if Jesus' use of TELOS in the passages like Matthew 24 has more to do with "maturity" than with the "end"?  What if we have, at least in part, misapprehended his emphasis on a grown-up society (rather than one about to 'end')?

What if the common phrase, in Matthew, "Kingdom of Heaven" is better translated as "realm of upward vision"?  What if Jesus call for a new order of existence, of a higher aspiration for our human life, is what he is really "getting at" in his teaching?

And more...

What if the primary 'demon' of human society is literally "teaching that belittles"?  What if 'prayer' is more accurately "to hold toward (or in) well-being"?  What if Jesus did address LGBT concerns and recognized "other-gender persons" as part of the new realm? 

There is a need to hear Jesus in as authentic a way as possible.  Much of that hearing has to do with us.  And some has to do with fresh and very literal translation.  And, so you will read, in this blog, from a translation called Holy Wind Living Breath New Testament.  We will begin with Matthew 5.