The introduction to the Sermon on the Mount contains four sections: the setting (5:1–2), the Beatitudes (5:3–12), the identity of Jesus’ followers (5:13–16), and the teaching about the Law (5:17–20). The setting (5:1–2) on the mountain stands in contrast to the plain that serves as the setting of the Lukan sermon (Luke 6:17–20a). By placing this first and most dramatic instance of Jesus’ teaching on the mountain, Matthew sought to evoke biblical ideas about mountains as places of divine
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