. Luke’s “you poor” (6:20) is likely to be more primitive than Matthew’s “poor in spirit.” Two views can be traced in ancient Judaism, one seeing wealth as a sign of God’s favor, with adversity as a sign of divine judgment. The other view identifies wealth with wickedness and poverty with piety (cf. James 2:5; 5:1). Luke’s Beatitude reflects the latter pattern, “the poor,” possibly identified with “the people of the land.” The Semitic term behind the Greek designates the pious