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What Is a Beatitude?
This essay is the text of a presentation I made on October 2, 2025, at The Light Network Conference, which convened at the Henderson Church of Christ in Henderson, Tennessee. Some of the comments here reflect that context. Other comments have been updated.
You ever go to a grocery store for just an item or two, maybe a place like Aldi, where they don’t have a self-checkout lane, and you just have to wait in the back behind a bunch of people with full carts—and then, oh glory of glories, what happens, but another cashier walks up from the back and opens a register, and we see with the eyes of flesh that the last shall be first? What had been the back of the line becomes now the front of the line, as you move over to another register. If 30 seconds earlier someone had walked into the Aldi with a robe and sandals, you probably would have hardly noticed, but if that person had proclaimed for all to hear, “blessed are you who wait in the back of the line,” you would probably roll your eyes. No, not blessed, cursed. This is no fun at all. I’m not fortunate to be at the back of the line. I’d rather be up closer. And yet, 30 seconds later as you move over to the new grocery line, you realize if you had been further up in the line, if you had not been in the back, you would not have been able to move over to the new line so easily, and someone in the back probably would have gotten ahead of you. Whether you knew it at the time or not, you were, indeed, fortunate to be at the back of the line.
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This is a beatitude—or, to be more specific, I think what I have described in that Aldi check-out line is a reasonably close approximation of the kind of beatitude we have at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Sermon on the Plain in Luke. But these beatitudes that we have in the Gospels are not your typical beatitudes. There is something unexpected about them; the blessing is pronounced on the kind of person that is normally not considered fortunate. Like the person in the back of a check-out line. Often beatitudes outside the Gospels do not have this element of surprise.
So, in general, a beatitude is a wisdom saying, something like a proverb, that highlights someone’s good fortune. Let me give you an example: Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. I’ll stop there, and I’m sure some of you could finish that verse, or even that psalm. It is the first verse of the Psalter. A person is described as occupying a fortunate position, namely, the person who avoids ungodly counsel. Note two things about this beatitude:
* it is not at all surprising; you would expect a person to be considered blessed if that person avoids ungodly counsel. All cultures throughout the world and throughout history would have considered that kind of person fortunate. This is like pronouncing a blessing on the person who gets in the check-out line immediately before the rush.
* the point of the beatitude is to encourage people to recognize this truth, to recognize the fortunate position this person is in. The psalm goes on to describe this person who avoids ungodly counsel as akin to a firmly planted tree, whereas the ungodly themselves are like the chaff blown by the wind. Which would you rather be like, the tree or the chaff? The answer is obvious, and that means you need to avoid ungodly counsel. The function is much like the proverbs.
The first verse of the Psalter is a beatitude, and then many more beatitudes appear throughout the book of Psalms. Let me give you more examples, ten of them, all from the book of Psalms. As I read over these verses, give consideration to the two points I’ve already made: the lack of surprise in these beatitudes, and their proverbial nature.
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man unto whom YHWH imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. (Psalm 32:1–2)
Blessed is he that considereth the poor: YHWH will deliver him in time of trouble.
YHWH will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. (Psalm 41:1–2)
Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts:
we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. (Psalm 65:4)
Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.
Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them. (Psalm 84:4–5)
YHWH of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. (Psalm 84:12)
Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O YHWH, in the light of thy countenance. (Psalm 89:15)
Blessed is the man that feareth YHWH, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. (Psalm 112:1)
Blessed are the undefiled in the way,who walk in the law of YHWH.
Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. (Psalm 119:1–2)
Happy (ashrei, makarios) is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in YHWH his God:
Which made heaven, and earth,the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth forever:
Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. (Psalm 146:5–7)
I have now read nine examples of beatitudes from the Psalter, and here is the tenth, somewhat longer, but still not long. This is the entirety of Psalm 128, one of the Songs of Ascents.
Blessed (ashrei, makarios) is everyone that feareth YHWH; that walketh in his ways.
For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy (ashrei, makarios) shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.
Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.
Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed (barak, eulogeō) that feareth YHWH.
YHWH shall bless (barak, eulogeō) thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalemall the days of thy life.
Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children,and peace upon Israel. (Psalm 128)
Hebrew Words
This last example of a beatitude from the Psalter highlights the issue of terminology and meaning. For in this psalm there are two different words translated “blessed” in the KJV. The psalm was originally written in Hebrew, and the two Hebrew words in play are ashrei (אשרי) and barak (ברך). They mean, I think, two different things. Barak has to do with blessing someone, like when Melchizedek blessed Abram (Gen 14:19), or Jacob blessed Pharaoh (Gen 47:10). Here you are changing the status of someone, putting a blessing on a person that had not been in a blessed position, or, at least, didn’t have the blessing that you then gave them. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the person wasn’t in a fortunate position, but your action of blessing has added good fortune to them. So, for example, maybe you go to church with a rich lady. That rich woman is in a fortunate position. But maybe you send her a very sweet greeting card that touches her and feels her with joy. You have blessed her, moving her into a new position of blessing.
That’s barak. In Psalm 128, “YHWH shall bless (barak) thee out of Zion.”
The second Hebrew word translated “blessed” is ashrei, and it does not indicate movement into a new position, but rather acknowledges a current situation as fortunate. “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.” That’s ashrei. That man is in a blessed position, a fortunate situation. It’s not that he is being blessed by someone else, not even by God. Well, yes, of course, he is being blessed by God, but that’s not what the verse is stressing. It is highlighting that he is in a fortunate position. The first verse of Psalm 128 says “Blessed is everyone that feareth YHWH.” That’s ashrei. Sometimes this word is translated happy, which again emphasizes the state of the person, the position that they’re in, not the position that they’re moving into.
When I was a new father, I brought my 6-month-old baby to church one evening, and a middle-aged father about to be an empty-nester came up to me and made goo-goo noises at my daughter. And he said, “I miss this age.” He did not call me blessed, but that was the implication. What he was thinking was how fortunate I was to be a young man and to have a young child, to be just starting out with a family. He wasn’t able to go back to those days, and he missed them. They were fun, even if hectic. Blessed is the man who is just beginning his family, for he shall have fun, if he pays attention. This middle-aged man at church was not blessing me, but he was saying that I was blessed. He did not give me anything or change my situation at all. But he did pronounce my situation fortunate.
That’s a beatitude. The word “beatitude” comes from Latin, beatitudo. It means “happiness” or “blessedness” or “a blessed condition” or “good fortune.”
Familiar Truths
A lot of times a beatitude is a cliche, but sometimes we need to be reminded of a cliche. The middle-aged man at church who told me how much he missed having young kids in the house was not telling me anything shocking or even mildly surprising. A lot of people express that exact thought frequently, especially church people. But that doesn’t mean that young fathers don’t need to hear it. It is always necessary to be intentional about enjoying the time of life you’re in, rather than getting distracted by all that needs to get done or putting out all the fires that pop up. That’s true of young fathers. They need older fathers to tell them again to enjoy having those babies in the house, to recognize that that time of life comes with joys that can never be experienced again. Even if it’s a cliche, it’s necessary to hear.
Think again about Psalm 1. I’ve mentioned how the opening line is not surprising, and especially in the context of the Bible, we are not surprised to read a blessing pronounced on those who avoid ungodly counsel. Coming across such a verse in the Bible is cliche. Of course the Bible is going to tell us to avoid ungodly counsel. That doesn’t mean we don’t need to hear it. Sometimes the ungodly counsel seems so fun. Sometimes you get so tired of conducting your life according to the godly counsel. You’d just like to do what the ungodly people are doing. You don’t want to be like a tree firmly planted; you’d rather be chaff. There are a lot of people who live their lives as if they are chaff, just blowing from one place to another, never firmly planted, and don’t they make it look fun? Sometimes? If you don’t look too closely? Don’t you just want, sometimes at least, to forgo your responsibilities, to not do what everybody expects? It may be cliche, but, booooy, we need that constant reminder. It is the person who does not walk in ungodly counsel who is fortunate.
Or perhaps we need to hear another part of that beatitude. That verse, Psalm 1:1, has more in it than just a warning against ungodly counsel. How does it go? Let’s see, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” Now, listen, I think that telling Christians, telling people who are likely to read the Bible, that they should not be sitting in the seat of the scornful is anything but surprising. It’s cliche. It’s expected. It’s the kind of thing we hear a lot, so often that we’ll hardly give that advice a second thought. I say, it’s such expected advice that we’ll hardly give it a second thought. Yeah, yeah, don’t sit in the seat of the scornful. Got it!
Here’s the thing: I think I know some Christians who hear this advice all the time who might need to think about it, who might need to reflect on what it means to sit in the seat of the scornful, who might need to reflect on the implicit curse in Psalm 1 on the scornful, as they are lumped in with the ungodly and compared to chaff. On the one hand, I think there are people in this world who want to be chaff, not rooted, but independent, no responsibilities. But usually that’s not church people. Church people want to be firmly planted. That’s the whole idea of joining a church. You have decided that this is where you’re going to be. Church people don’t want to be chaff. But, on the other hand, in the year 2026, we got some scornful people in this world. There is a competition for the seat of the scornful. People on the radio. Social media personalities. There are entire YouTube channels dedicated to scorn.
Now, let me ask you about politicians. Is your favorite politician someone that you would describe as scornful? Do you delight in his or her scornfulness? Maybe you would tell me that you don’t have a favorite politician—to which I can only say, “Blessed are ye who have no favorite politician!” But what I want to know is, do you like the scorn that your team’s politicians heap on the other team? That’s a large part of what American politics is about these days; it’s about scorn. And church buildings in 2026 are populated by people who delight in scorn. My brethren, these things ought not to be.
It may be cliche, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need to hear it, and ask ourselves, how much scorn do I generate? Are there certain topics of conversation where I almost can’t help but fall into scorn? Maybe I need to avoid talking about those topics. Because I want to avoid the seat of the scornful.
Back to Terminology
But we were talking about terminology. As I said, there are two Hebrew words often translated “blessed,” but they have different nuances. Barak is the one I have said moves someone into a new position, gives them a blessing. Ashrei, on the other hand, describes the position that the person is already in. Beatitudes use ashrei, not barak. Beatitudes describe someone’s fortunate situation. The man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, or sitteth in the seat of the scornful? That guy is blessed. He is in a fortunate position.
We might think of the two different Hebrew words as corresponding to two pronunciations of our English word. When we are blessing someone else, moving them into a position of blessing, the Hebrew word is barak, and we can say we have “blessed” (blest) that person. When we are acknowledging that a person is in a fortunate situation, the Hebrew word is ashrei, and we can say that the person is “bless-ed” (two syllables). We wouldn’t say that Jacob bless-ed Pharaoh, but we might recite Psalm 1 as “Bless-ed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.”
Another way to think about beatitudes is with the #Blessed. This morning I googled #Blessed and here are some examples of what the internet gave me. Would you believe that some of them are about football? There’s a school in Louisville called LCA, that put on the Twitter this morning: “#Blessed to have these young men leading LCA into district play,” and the post had pictures of some high school football players. Somebody named Matt Peck put a gif of Homer Simpson talking about sports, and he wrote the comment “Free football on the same night the Cubs win their wild card series? We are truly #Blessed.” Another one, not about football: somebody put up a picture of a sunrise and commented: “Thank you, God, for another beautiful day! #Blessed.” These are all describing the fortunate situation that a person is in, whether fortunate to be witnessing a sunrise, or fortunate to be able to watch football. That’s what the #Blessed is for.
And that’s what ashrei means. We could think about the first verse of the Psalter this way: Not walking in the counsel of the ungodly? #Blessed. It’s a comment about the situation someone is in.
Acknowledgement, Not Promise
I have been stressing this meaning of the Hebrew word ashrei, and therefore the point of a beatitude, because I think some people misunderstand it. So, let me go ahead and say that I am offering my opinion, an opinion that is shared by many scholars, but not nearly all. Some people think that the point of a beatitude is to offer a promise of blessing from God. The man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly will receive blessing from God. Of course, I think it is true that this man will receive blessing from God, but I don’t think that’s what Psalm 1:1 is talking about. Other people do think so; why don’t I think so?
Well, first, I just don’t think that’s what the word ashrei means. To say it again, ashrei describes a state of being. You will sometimes see it translated as “happy,” and I’m sure everyone reading this essay has encountered that translation suggestion for the beatitudes in the Gospels. It’s usually not translated as “happy” in the KJV, but we saw that it was translated that way at Psalm 146:5, “Happy (ashrei, makarios) is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help.” The scholar Ulrich Luz in the Hermeneia commentary on Matthew (2007) says: “these beatitudes are not designed to give comfort by making promises about the next life; they are an authoritative language act that pronounces people happy in the here and now” (1.190). But Luz has already said “the translation ‘happy’ sounds somewhat banal,” and I agree. I don’t like the translation “happy” because it signifies the emotions of the person, and I don’t think that’s what ashrei is doing. Again, ashrei describes a state of being, or the position that someone is in, no matter whether they’re happy about it or not. I prefer the translation “fortunate.” One group of scholars (the Jesus Seminar) has suggested the translation “Congratulations,” which I think captures the meaning well. But at any rate, even though I don’t like the translation “happy,” it does helpfully convey that the beatitude is about the present state of the person, not a promise for the future. The person right now is in a fortunate position deserving of our congratulations.
I also think my understanding of beatitudes—not as a promise but as a description—makes more sense of the beatitudes that we find in Scripture. Let me remind you of Psalm 32.
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man unto whom YHWH imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. (Psalm 32:1–2)
Is this a promise for the future? Does this passage mean that the person will be blessed or that the person is already blessed? Already. Now, of course, the person will be blessed in the future, too, but we know that from our knowledge of Scripture and of God’s ways, not from this particular passage. This passage, Psalm 32:1–2, tells us that a person whose transgression is forgiven is in a fortunate position. It’s a state of being.
Now, it’s true that sometimes you’re in a fortunate position because of the good that will come to you because you’re in that position. Being in the back of a grocery store line is usually not fortunate, but sometimes it is. And we can imagine the people in that line, waiting on the slow check out person, and they all see the new worker clock in and put on their jacket with a name tag and take their place behind the new counter and flip the switch that turns on the light above their cash register. We can imagine the people in the line seeing this whole process and realizing that the people in the back of the line are probably going to check out before them, and they’re already jealous. “I wish I were in the back of the line.” It’s not so much that they value being in the back, but they recognize that it’s fortunate to be in the back because of the benefit about to come to those in the back. The last shall be first.
Here is the beginning of Psalm 41.
Blessed (ashrei) is he that considereth the poor: YHWH will deliver him in time of trouble.
YHWH will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed (ashrei) upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. (Psalm 41:1–2)
This passage looks like it might be an example of a beatitude that is a promise for the future, that the person that considereth the poor will be blessed by God. Certainly this person will be blessed, and the Psalm says it: “YHWH will deliver him in time of trouble.” But I maintain that the first clause, “Blessed is he that considereth the poor” means not that the person will be blessed but that he is already in a fortunate position. “I consider the poor. #Blessed.” Why does the psalmist think that the one who considers the poor is in a fortunate position? Because the other grocery line is about to open up. You’re in a fortunate position because you are in the position of having God on your side, and only good can result from that.
Greek Words
Enough on that. You’re either convinced or you’re not. You’re probably wondering why I’m talking so much about Hebrew anyway, since we’re supposed to be talking about the Sermon on the Mount, which we have in Greek. So let’s talk about Greek. There are two Greek words for blessing. Actually, there might be a dozen Greek words for “blessing,” but there are two I’m going to talk about right now, and they happen to correspond closely to the two Hebrew words I’ve mentioned. The two Greek words are eulogeo (εὐλογέω) and makarios (μακάριος). Eulogeo corresponds to barak, to bless someone. Makarios corresponds to ashrei, to describe someone’s fortunate position. All the beatitudes in the Bible—I think this is right—all of them use makarios. In the LXX, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, makarios appears dozens of times and it is always a translation of ashrei. In the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus says that the poor in spirit are blessed, he uses the Greek word makarios. Everything I’ve said about the Hebrew word ashrei applies to the Greek word makarios. It does not give a promise for future blessing, it describes a present fortunate position.
By the way, it’s the use of the word makarios that gives an alternative title for beatitudes. Some people call them macarisms.
Outside the Bible
Now, of course, beatitudes or macarisms are not found only in the Bible. Apparently in Greek the oldest beatitudes go back to the mystery religions. This is according to the scholar Hans Dieter Betz in his Hermeneia commentary on the Sermon on the Mount (1995, pp. 97–105). He cites the Homeric Hymn to Demeter as containing this beatitude near the end of the poem (line 480): “Happy (ὄλβιος) is he among humans on earth who has seen these mysteries” (LCL, trans. West). Let me point out two things about this beatitude. First, like all the ones we’ve looked at so far, there is no surprise involved here. It’s not at all unexpected to say that someone who has seen these mysteries is fortunate. Of course they’re fortunate. Second, the Greek word used here is not makarios. I said that all the biblical beatitudes use that word, but not all beatitudes in Greek use it. There are a few other Greek terms that are sometimes used for beatitudes outside the Bible. The term used in the Homeric Hymn here is olbios, for instance. (For other terms used for beatitudes, see TDNT 4.362–70.)
Beatitudes also show up in Second Temple Jewish literature. There’s a list of beatitudes in 2 Enoch 42:6–14 that I won’t review right now. There’s also a list in one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, a scroll that modern scholars have labeled 4QBeatitudes or 4Q525. In the image below, the arrows point to appearances of the word ashrei in 4QBeatitudes.
Here is a translation of a portion of 4QBeatitudes.
[Blessed is the one who …] with a pure heart and does not slander with his tongue (Ps. 15:3). [first red arrow] Blessed are those who hold fast to its statutes and do not hold fast to the ways of injustice. Ble[ssed] are those who rejoice in it, and do not exult in paths of folly. [second red arrow] Blessed are those who seek it with pure hands, and do not search for it with a deceitful [hea]rt. [third red arrow] Blessed is the man who attains wisdom, and walks in the law of the Most High: establishes his heart in its ways, restrains himself by its corrections, is continually satisfied with its punishments, does not forsake it in the face of [his] trials, at the time of distress he does not abandon it, does not forget it [in the day of] terror, and in the humility of his soul he does not abhor [it.] But he meditates on it continually, and in his trial he reflects [on it, and with al]l his being [he gains understanding] in it…
The term translated “blessed” is ashrei. And notice again that the beatitudes are not very surprising.
It’s the same in Sirach. In the beatitudes at Sirach 14:20 or 25:7–10, there is the use of the Hebrew term ashrei or the Greek term makarios, and there is nothing surprising about the beatitudes. For example, at Sirach 14:20, we read, “Blessed is the person who meditates on wisdom.”
The New Testament
Finally, in the New Testament, we have several beatitudes. The book of Revelation contains seven beatitudes scattered throughout the book (Rev 1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14). Paul reports the words of Jesus, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35), and the word blessed here is makarios. And let’s pause here briefly to note that this dominical saying is somewhat counterintuitive. You are more fortunate to give away things than to receive things. I have been stressing that beatitudes, even in the Bible, reinforce familiar truths rather than offer any surprise. And I have been laying so much stress on that aspect of beatitudes in order to set up a contrast with the beatitudes of Jesus. His beatitudes, perhaps in Acts 20:35, certainly in the Sermon on the Mount, do not traffic in cliches, do not reinforce familiar truths. Or, for the most part. Maybe we would say that it is a familiar truth to call the peacemakers or the pure in heart fortunate. But not the persecuted. Not the mourners. Not the poor in spirit. Declaring them to be fortunate is intended to surprise, to provoke, and to teach that the values of Christ’s kingdom are often upside down in comparison to the expected values of even religious people in this world.
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By Ed GallagherThis essay is the text of a presentation I made on October 2, 2025, at The Light Network Conference, which convened at the Henderson Church of Christ in Henderson, Tennessee. Some of the comments here reflect that context. Other comments have been updated.
You ever go to a grocery store for just an item or two, maybe a place like Aldi, where they don’t have a self-checkout lane, and you just have to wait in the back behind a bunch of people with full carts—and then, oh glory of glories, what happens, but another cashier walks up from the back and opens a register, and we see with the eyes of flesh that the last shall be first? What had been the back of the line becomes now the front of the line, as you move over to another register. If 30 seconds earlier someone had walked into the Aldi with a robe and sandals, you probably would have hardly noticed, but if that person had proclaimed for all to hear, “blessed are you who wait in the back of the line,” you would probably roll your eyes. No, not blessed, cursed. This is no fun at all. I’m not fortunate to be at the back of the line. I’d rather be up closer. And yet, 30 seconds later as you move over to the new grocery line, you realize if you had been further up in the line, if you had not been in the back, you would not have been able to move over to the new line so easily, and someone in the back probably would have gotten ahead of you. Whether you knew it at the time or not, you were, indeed, fortunate to be at the back of the line.
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This is a beatitude—or, to be more specific, I think what I have described in that Aldi check-out line is a reasonably close approximation of the kind of beatitude we have at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Sermon on the Plain in Luke. But these beatitudes that we have in the Gospels are not your typical beatitudes. There is something unexpected about them; the blessing is pronounced on the kind of person that is normally not considered fortunate. Like the person in the back of a check-out line. Often beatitudes outside the Gospels do not have this element of surprise.
So, in general, a beatitude is a wisdom saying, something like a proverb, that highlights someone’s good fortune. Let me give you an example: Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. I’ll stop there, and I’m sure some of you could finish that verse, or even that psalm. It is the first verse of the Psalter. A person is described as occupying a fortunate position, namely, the person who avoids ungodly counsel. Note two things about this beatitude:
* it is not at all surprising; you would expect a person to be considered blessed if that person avoids ungodly counsel. All cultures throughout the world and throughout history would have considered that kind of person fortunate. This is like pronouncing a blessing on the person who gets in the check-out line immediately before the rush.
* the point of the beatitude is to encourage people to recognize this truth, to recognize the fortunate position this person is in. The psalm goes on to describe this person who avoids ungodly counsel as akin to a firmly planted tree, whereas the ungodly themselves are like the chaff blown by the wind. Which would you rather be like, the tree or the chaff? The answer is obvious, and that means you need to avoid ungodly counsel. The function is much like the proverbs.
The first verse of the Psalter is a beatitude, and then many more beatitudes appear throughout the book of Psalms. Let me give you more examples, ten of them, all from the book of Psalms. As I read over these verses, give consideration to the two points I’ve already made: the lack of surprise in these beatitudes, and their proverbial nature.
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man unto whom YHWH imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. (Psalm 32:1–2)
Blessed is he that considereth the poor: YHWH will deliver him in time of trouble.
YHWH will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. (Psalm 41:1–2)
Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts:
we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. (Psalm 65:4)
Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.
Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them. (Psalm 84:4–5)
YHWH of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. (Psalm 84:12)
Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O YHWH, in the light of thy countenance. (Psalm 89:15)
Blessed is the man that feareth YHWH, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. (Psalm 112:1)
Blessed are the undefiled in the way,who walk in the law of YHWH.
Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. (Psalm 119:1–2)
Happy (ashrei, makarios) is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in YHWH his God:
Which made heaven, and earth,the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth forever:
Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. (Psalm 146:5–7)
I have now read nine examples of beatitudes from the Psalter, and here is the tenth, somewhat longer, but still not long. This is the entirety of Psalm 128, one of the Songs of Ascents.
Blessed (ashrei, makarios) is everyone that feareth YHWH; that walketh in his ways.
For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy (ashrei, makarios) shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.
Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.
Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed (barak, eulogeō) that feareth YHWH.
YHWH shall bless (barak, eulogeō) thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalemall the days of thy life.
Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children,and peace upon Israel. (Psalm 128)
Hebrew Words
This last example of a beatitude from the Psalter highlights the issue of terminology and meaning. For in this psalm there are two different words translated “blessed” in the KJV. The psalm was originally written in Hebrew, and the two Hebrew words in play are ashrei (אשרי) and barak (ברך). They mean, I think, two different things. Barak has to do with blessing someone, like when Melchizedek blessed Abram (Gen 14:19), or Jacob blessed Pharaoh (Gen 47:10). Here you are changing the status of someone, putting a blessing on a person that had not been in a blessed position, or, at least, didn’t have the blessing that you then gave them. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the person wasn’t in a fortunate position, but your action of blessing has added good fortune to them. So, for example, maybe you go to church with a rich lady. That rich woman is in a fortunate position. But maybe you send her a very sweet greeting card that touches her and feels her with joy. You have blessed her, moving her into a new position of blessing.
That’s barak. In Psalm 128, “YHWH shall bless (barak) thee out of Zion.”
The second Hebrew word translated “blessed” is ashrei, and it does not indicate movement into a new position, but rather acknowledges a current situation as fortunate. “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.” That’s ashrei. That man is in a blessed position, a fortunate situation. It’s not that he is being blessed by someone else, not even by God. Well, yes, of course, he is being blessed by God, but that’s not what the verse is stressing. It is highlighting that he is in a fortunate position. The first verse of Psalm 128 says “Blessed is everyone that feareth YHWH.” That’s ashrei. Sometimes this word is translated happy, which again emphasizes the state of the person, the position that they’re in, not the position that they’re moving into.
When I was a new father, I brought my 6-month-old baby to church one evening, and a middle-aged father about to be an empty-nester came up to me and made goo-goo noises at my daughter. And he said, “I miss this age.” He did not call me blessed, but that was the implication. What he was thinking was how fortunate I was to be a young man and to have a young child, to be just starting out with a family. He wasn’t able to go back to those days, and he missed them. They were fun, even if hectic. Blessed is the man who is just beginning his family, for he shall have fun, if he pays attention. This middle-aged man at church was not blessing me, but he was saying that I was blessed. He did not give me anything or change my situation at all. But he did pronounce my situation fortunate.
That’s a beatitude. The word “beatitude” comes from Latin, beatitudo. It means “happiness” or “blessedness” or “a blessed condition” or “good fortune.”
Familiar Truths
A lot of times a beatitude is a cliche, but sometimes we need to be reminded of a cliche. The middle-aged man at church who told me how much he missed having young kids in the house was not telling me anything shocking or even mildly surprising. A lot of people express that exact thought frequently, especially church people. But that doesn’t mean that young fathers don’t need to hear it. It is always necessary to be intentional about enjoying the time of life you’re in, rather than getting distracted by all that needs to get done or putting out all the fires that pop up. That’s true of young fathers. They need older fathers to tell them again to enjoy having those babies in the house, to recognize that that time of life comes with joys that can never be experienced again. Even if it’s a cliche, it’s necessary to hear.
Think again about Psalm 1. I’ve mentioned how the opening line is not surprising, and especially in the context of the Bible, we are not surprised to read a blessing pronounced on those who avoid ungodly counsel. Coming across such a verse in the Bible is cliche. Of course the Bible is going to tell us to avoid ungodly counsel. That doesn’t mean we don’t need to hear it. Sometimes the ungodly counsel seems so fun. Sometimes you get so tired of conducting your life according to the godly counsel. You’d just like to do what the ungodly people are doing. You don’t want to be like a tree firmly planted; you’d rather be chaff. There are a lot of people who live their lives as if they are chaff, just blowing from one place to another, never firmly planted, and don’t they make it look fun? Sometimes? If you don’t look too closely? Don’t you just want, sometimes at least, to forgo your responsibilities, to not do what everybody expects? It may be cliche, but, booooy, we need that constant reminder. It is the person who does not walk in ungodly counsel who is fortunate.
Or perhaps we need to hear another part of that beatitude. That verse, Psalm 1:1, has more in it than just a warning against ungodly counsel. How does it go? Let’s see, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” Now, listen, I think that telling Christians, telling people who are likely to read the Bible, that they should not be sitting in the seat of the scornful is anything but surprising. It’s cliche. It’s expected. It’s the kind of thing we hear a lot, so often that we’ll hardly give that advice a second thought. I say, it’s such expected advice that we’ll hardly give it a second thought. Yeah, yeah, don’t sit in the seat of the scornful. Got it!
Here’s the thing: I think I know some Christians who hear this advice all the time who might need to think about it, who might need to reflect on what it means to sit in the seat of the scornful, who might need to reflect on the implicit curse in Psalm 1 on the scornful, as they are lumped in with the ungodly and compared to chaff. On the one hand, I think there are people in this world who want to be chaff, not rooted, but independent, no responsibilities. But usually that’s not church people. Church people want to be firmly planted. That’s the whole idea of joining a church. You have decided that this is where you’re going to be. Church people don’t want to be chaff. But, on the other hand, in the year 2026, we got some scornful people in this world. There is a competition for the seat of the scornful. People on the radio. Social media personalities. There are entire YouTube channels dedicated to scorn.
Now, let me ask you about politicians. Is your favorite politician someone that you would describe as scornful? Do you delight in his or her scornfulness? Maybe you would tell me that you don’t have a favorite politician—to which I can only say, “Blessed are ye who have no favorite politician!” But what I want to know is, do you like the scorn that your team’s politicians heap on the other team? That’s a large part of what American politics is about these days; it’s about scorn. And church buildings in 2026 are populated by people who delight in scorn. My brethren, these things ought not to be.
It may be cliche, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need to hear it, and ask ourselves, how much scorn do I generate? Are there certain topics of conversation where I almost can’t help but fall into scorn? Maybe I need to avoid talking about those topics. Because I want to avoid the seat of the scornful.
Back to Terminology
But we were talking about terminology. As I said, there are two Hebrew words often translated “blessed,” but they have different nuances. Barak is the one I have said moves someone into a new position, gives them a blessing. Ashrei, on the other hand, describes the position that the person is already in. Beatitudes use ashrei, not barak. Beatitudes describe someone’s fortunate situation. The man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, or sitteth in the seat of the scornful? That guy is blessed. He is in a fortunate position.
We might think of the two different Hebrew words as corresponding to two pronunciations of our English word. When we are blessing someone else, moving them into a position of blessing, the Hebrew word is barak, and we can say we have “blessed” (blest) that person. When we are acknowledging that a person is in a fortunate situation, the Hebrew word is ashrei, and we can say that the person is “bless-ed” (two syllables). We wouldn’t say that Jacob bless-ed Pharaoh, but we might recite Psalm 1 as “Bless-ed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.”
Another way to think about beatitudes is with the #Blessed. This morning I googled #Blessed and here are some examples of what the internet gave me. Would you believe that some of them are about football? There’s a school in Louisville called LCA, that put on the Twitter this morning: “#Blessed to have these young men leading LCA into district play,” and the post had pictures of some high school football players. Somebody named Matt Peck put a gif of Homer Simpson talking about sports, and he wrote the comment “Free football on the same night the Cubs win their wild card series? We are truly #Blessed.” Another one, not about football: somebody put up a picture of a sunrise and commented: “Thank you, God, for another beautiful day! #Blessed.” These are all describing the fortunate situation that a person is in, whether fortunate to be witnessing a sunrise, or fortunate to be able to watch football. That’s what the #Blessed is for.
And that’s what ashrei means. We could think about the first verse of the Psalter this way: Not walking in the counsel of the ungodly? #Blessed. It’s a comment about the situation someone is in.
Acknowledgement, Not Promise
I have been stressing this meaning of the Hebrew word ashrei, and therefore the point of a beatitude, because I think some people misunderstand it. So, let me go ahead and say that I am offering my opinion, an opinion that is shared by many scholars, but not nearly all. Some people think that the point of a beatitude is to offer a promise of blessing from God. The man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly will receive blessing from God. Of course, I think it is true that this man will receive blessing from God, but I don’t think that’s what Psalm 1:1 is talking about. Other people do think so; why don’t I think so?
Well, first, I just don’t think that’s what the word ashrei means. To say it again, ashrei describes a state of being. You will sometimes see it translated as “happy,” and I’m sure everyone reading this essay has encountered that translation suggestion for the beatitudes in the Gospels. It’s usually not translated as “happy” in the KJV, but we saw that it was translated that way at Psalm 146:5, “Happy (ashrei, makarios) is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help.” The scholar Ulrich Luz in the Hermeneia commentary on Matthew (2007) says: “these beatitudes are not designed to give comfort by making promises about the next life; they are an authoritative language act that pronounces people happy in the here and now” (1.190). But Luz has already said “the translation ‘happy’ sounds somewhat banal,” and I agree. I don’t like the translation “happy” because it signifies the emotions of the person, and I don’t think that’s what ashrei is doing. Again, ashrei describes a state of being, or the position that someone is in, no matter whether they’re happy about it or not. I prefer the translation “fortunate.” One group of scholars (the Jesus Seminar) has suggested the translation “Congratulations,” which I think captures the meaning well. But at any rate, even though I don’t like the translation “happy,” it does helpfully convey that the beatitude is about the present state of the person, not a promise for the future. The person right now is in a fortunate position deserving of our congratulations.
I also think my understanding of beatitudes—not as a promise but as a description—makes more sense of the beatitudes that we find in Scripture. Let me remind you of Psalm 32.
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man unto whom YHWH imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. (Psalm 32:1–2)
Is this a promise for the future? Does this passage mean that the person will be blessed or that the person is already blessed? Already. Now, of course, the person will be blessed in the future, too, but we know that from our knowledge of Scripture and of God’s ways, not from this particular passage. This passage, Psalm 32:1–2, tells us that a person whose transgression is forgiven is in a fortunate position. It’s a state of being.
Now, it’s true that sometimes you’re in a fortunate position because of the good that will come to you because you’re in that position. Being in the back of a grocery store line is usually not fortunate, but sometimes it is. And we can imagine the people in that line, waiting on the slow check out person, and they all see the new worker clock in and put on their jacket with a name tag and take their place behind the new counter and flip the switch that turns on the light above their cash register. We can imagine the people in the line seeing this whole process and realizing that the people in the back of the line are probably going to check out before them, and they’re already jealous. “I wish I were in the back of the line.” It’s not so much that they value being in the back, but they recognize that it’s fortunate to be in the back because of the benefit about to come to those in the back. The last shall be first.
Here is the beginning of Psalm 41.
Blessed (ashrei) is he that considereth the poor: YHWH will deliver him in time of trouble.
YHWH will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed (ashrei) upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. (Psalm 41:1–2)
This passage looks like it might be an example of a beatitude that is a promise for the future, that the person that considereth the poor will be blessed by God. Certainly this person will be blessed, and the Psalm says it: “YHWH will deliver him in time of trouble.” But I maintain that the first clause, “Blessed is he that considereth the poor” means not that the person will be blessed but that he is already in a fortunate position. “I consider the poor. #Blessed.” Why does the psalmist think that the one who considers the poor is in a fortunate position? Because the other grocery line is about to open up. You’re in a fortunate position because you are in the position of having God on your side, and only good can result from that.
Greek Words
Enough on that. You’re either convinced or you’re not. You’re probably wondering why I’m talking so much about Hebrew anyway, since we’re supposed to be talking about the Sermon on the Mount, which we have in Greek. So let’s talk about Greek. There are two Greek words for blessing. Actually, there might be a dozen Greek words for “blessing,” but there are two I’m going to talk about right now, and they happen to correspond closely to the two Hebrew words I’ve mentioned. The two Greek words are eulogeo (εὐλογέω) and makarios (μακάριος). Eulogeo corresponds to barak, to bless someone. Makarios corresponds to ashrei, to describe someone’s fortunate position. All the beatitudes in the Bible—I think this is right—all of them use makarios. In the LXX, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, makarios appears dozens of times and it is always a translation of ashrei. In the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus says that the poor in spirit are blessed, he uses the Greek word makarios. Everything I’ve said about the Hebrew word ashrei applies to the Greek word makarios. It does not give a promise for future blessing, it describes a present fortunate position.
By the way, it’s the use of the word makarios that gives an alternative title for beatitudes. Some people call them macarisms.
Outside the Bible
Now, of course, beatitudes or macarisms are not found only in the Bible. Apparently in Greek the oldest beatitudes go back to the mystery religions. This is according to the scholar Hans Dieter Betz in his Hermeneia commentary on the Sermon on the Mount (1995, pp. 97–105). He cites the Homeric Hymn to Demeter as containing this beatitude near the end of the poem (line 480): “Happy (ὄλβιος) is he among humans on earth who has seen these mysteries” (LCL, trans. West). Let me point out two things about this beatitude. First, like all the ones we’ve looked at so far, there is no surprise involved here. It’s not at all unexpected to say that someone who has seen these mysteries is fortunate. Of course they’re fortunate. Second, the Greek word used here is not makarios. I said that all the biblical beatitudes use that word, but not all beatitudes in Greek use it. There are a few other Greek terms that are sometimes used for beatitudes outside the Bible. The term used in the Homeric Hymn here is olbios, for instance. (For other terms used for beatitudes, see TDNT 4.362–70.)
Beatitudes also show up in Second Temple Jewish literature. There’s a list of beatitudes in 2 Enoch 42:6–14 that I won’t review right now. There’s also a list in one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, a scroll that modern scholars have labeled 4QBeatitudes or 4Q525. In the image below, the arrows point to appearances of the word ashrei in 4QBeatitudes.
Here is a translation of a portion of 4QBeatitudes.
[Blessed is the one who …] with a pure heart and does not slander with his tongue (Ps. 15:3). [first red arrow] Blessed are those who hold fast to its statutes and do not hold fast to the ways of injustice. Ble[ssed] are those who rejoice in it, and do not exult in paths of folly. [second red arrow] Blessed are those who seek it with pure hands, and do not search for it with a deceitful [hea]rt. [third red arrow] Blessed is the man who attains wisdom, and walks in the law of the Most High: establishes his heart in its ways, restrains himself by its corrections, is continually satisfied with its punishments, does not forsake it in the face of [his] trials, at the time of distress he does not abandon it, does not forget it [in the day of] terror, and in the humility of his soul he does not abhor [it.] But he meditates on it continually, and in his trial he reflects [on it, and with al]l his being [he gains understanding] in it…
The term translated “blessed” is ashrei. And notice again that the beatitudes are not very surprising.
It’s the same in Sirach. In the beatitudes at Sirach 14:20 or 25:7–10, there is the use of the Hebrew term ashrei or the Greek term makarios, and there is nothing surprising about the beatitudes. For example, at Sirach 14:20, we read, “Blessed is the person who meditates on wisdom.”
The New Testament
Finally, in the New Testament, we have several beatitudes. The book of Revelation contains seven beatitudes scattered throughout the book (Rev 1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14). Paul reports the words of Jesus, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35), and the word blessed here is makarios. And let’s pause here briefly to note that this dominical saying is somewhat counterintuitive. You are more fortunate to give away things than to receive things. I have been stressing that beatitudes, even in the Bible, reinforce familiar truths rather than offer any surprise. And I have been laying so much stress on that aspect of beatitudes in order to set up a contrast with the beatitudes of Jesus. His beatitudes, perhaps in Acts 20:35, certainly in the Sermon on the Mount, do not traffic in cliches, do not reinforce familiar truths. Or, for the most part. Maybe we would say that it is a familiar truth to call the peacemakers or the pure in heart fortunate. But not the persecuted. Not the mourners. Not the poor in spirit. Declaring them to be fortunate is intended to surprise, to provoke, and to teach that the values of Christ’s kingdom are often upside down in comparison to the expected values of even religious people in this world.
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