misery. The message is that becoming aware of this condition is essential for one’s understanding of life in general; it is also the starting point of an ethic. Precisely this point needs amplification. Before getting into this matter further, one may draw one conclusion already: the characterization of Matt 5:3a* as “spiritualization” and as a softening of Jesus’ original radicalism, which is then seen more adequately expressed in SP/Luke 6:20b*, is misleading.169 In fact, both parallels express