Jamieson, Fausset and Brown on Matthew 5:1

CHAPTER 5

Mt 5:1-16. The Beatitudes, and Their Bearing upon the World.

1. And seeing the multitudes--those mentioned in Mt 4:25.

he went up into a mountain--one of the dozen mountains which Robinson says there are in the vicinity of the Sea of Galilee, any one of them answering about equally well to the occasion. So charming is the whole landscape that the descriptions of it, from Josephus downwards [Wars of the Jews, 4.10,8], are apt to be thought a little colored.

and when he was set--had sat or seated Himself.

his disciples came unto him--already a large circle, more or less attracted and subdued by His preaching and miracles, in addition to the smaller band of devoted adherents. Though the latter only answered to the subjects of His kingdom, described in this discourse, there were drawn from time to time into this inner circle souls from the outer one, who, by the power of His matchless word, were constrained to forsake their all for the Lord Jesus.