The following information is derived from a paper by Eric Ottenheijm of the University of Utrecht presented at the 2010 Society of Biblical Literature in the Matthew section.

In Matthew 5:1, Yeshua went up on “the mountain.” No one knows which mountain, although there is a lovely hill which is the traditional spot. More important than a physical location, though, is understanding the allusion of “the mountain.” There are a number of mountains of great significance in the Hebrew Bible. The echoes of Exodus and Isaiah in particular add depth and meaning to the Sermon on the Mount.

For a long time, it has been recognized that Yeshua’s ascending the mountain to deliver the Sermon on the Mount has echoes of Moses ascending Sinai to receive and then deliver the Torah. There is a long tradition of viewing the Beatitudes, for example, as a sort of new Ten Commandments.

Dale Allison, in The New Moses: A Matthean Typology, gives a few reinforcements to the Sinai imagery: (1) “went up the mountain” in the LXX (Greek or Septuagint version of the Bible) is used 18 times of Moses, (2) Yeshua sat on the mountain and Moses “dwelt” or “sat” forty days according to Deuteronomy 9:9, (3) other Jewish literature such as 4 Ezra 14 uses the “sat” motif to make a character echo Moses, and (4) Matthew 8:1 continues to echo language about Moses.

Eric Ottenheijm shows, however, that more than Moses is going in in the mount of the Sermon.

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who publishes peace, who brings good tidings of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns,’” says Isaiah in 52:7.

“Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings,” is Isaiah’s word in 40:9.

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted,” Isaiah says in 61:1.

The mountain of Isaiah is the mountain of good news. The one whose feet are on it delivers good news to the poor. “Blessed are the poor,” says Yeshua in the Sermon.

Ottenheijm points out a few things about Isaiah and Matthew:
(1) Matthew quotes and alludes to Isaiah more than any other book.
(2) Matthew 4:12 – 5:11 (the larger section surrounding 5:1) begins and ends with Isaiah references (see below).
(3) Matthew is not the only Jewish literature combining Isaiah 52:7 with 40:9 and 61:1 (see below).

Is this a denial of the Moses/Sinai theme in Matthew? Not at all. Ottenheijm says that first, Isaiah took the mountain theme from the story of Israel and gave it a new twist and then Matthew took up Isaiah’s mountain theme, which already had Moses overtones, and gave it still a new twist:

Moses/Sinai/Torah –> messenger/mountain/good news in Isaiah –> Yeshua brings good news on the mountain.

In the time of Yeshua and Matthew, people read the Torah looking for connection to God and an end to the exile. They also read Isaiah this way, finding Isaiah to be a sort of messianic handbook of the last days. It is not hard to imagine those who first heard Matthew’s version of the Sermon read aloud connecting Yeshua with the messenger of good news in Isaiah. God sends his Torah and his good news from “the mountain.”

APPENDIX A: Isaiah in Matthew 4:12 – 5:11 (derived from Ottenheijm’s paper):

Matt 4:12-17 Galilee of the gentiles, Isaiah 8:23 – 9:1.

Matt 4:23 Good news, allusion to Isaiah 52:7 and 40:9.

Matt 5:1 Yeshua ascends the mountain and sits down.

Matt 5:3-5 First two Beatitudes compare to Isaiah 61:1-3.

Matt 5:11 Echoes Isaiah 51:7.

APPENDIX B: Early Jewish Texts Combining Isaiah 52:7; 61:1-3; and 40:9 (abridged from Ottenheijm):

–11 QMelchizedek.

–Psalms of Solomon 11.

–Tanhuma Toledot 14 combines the idea of Messiah and Isaiah 52:7.

In Matthew 5:1, Yeshua went up on “the mountain.” No one knows which mountain, although there is a lovely hill which is the traditional spot. More important than a physical location, though, is understanding the allusion of “the mountain.” There are a number of mountains of great significance in the Hebrew Bible. The echoes of Exodus and Isaiah in particular add depth and meaning to the Sermon on the Mount.

For a long time, it has been recognized that Yeshua’s ascending the mountain to deliver the Sermon on the Mount has echoes of Moses ascending Sinai to receive and then deliver the Torah. There is a long tradition of viewing the Beatitudes, for example, as a sort of new Ten Commandments.

Dale Allison, in The New Moses: A Matthean Typology, gives a few reinforcements to the Sinai imagery: (1) “went up the mountain” in the LXX (Greek or Septuagint version of the Bible) is used 18 times of Moses, (2) Yeshua sat on the mountain and Moses “dwelt” or “sat” forty days according to Deuteronomy 9:9, (3) other Jewish literature such as 4 Ezra 14 uses the “sat” motif to make a character echo Moses, and (4) Matthew 8:1 continues to echo language about Moses.

Eric Ottenheijm shows, however, that more than Moses is going in in the mount of the Sermon.

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who publishes peace, who brings good tidings of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns,’” says Isaiah in 52:7.

“Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings,” is Isaiah’s word in 40:9.

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted,” Isaiah says in 61:1.

The mountain of Isaiah is the mountain of good news. The one whose feet are on it delivers good news to the poor. “Blessed are the poor,” says Yeshua in the Sermon.

Ottenheijm points out a few things about Isaiah and Matthew:
(1) Matthew quotes and alludes to Isaiah more than any other book.
(2) Matthew 4:12 – 5:11 (the larger section surrounding 5:1) begins and ends with Isaiah references (see below).
(3) Matthew is not the only Jewish literature combining Isaiah 52:7 with 40:9 and 61:1 (see below).

Is this a denial of the Moses/Sinai theme in Matthew? Not at all. Ottenheijm says that first, Isaiah took the mountain theme from the story of Israel and gave it a new twist and then Matthew took up Isaiah’s mountain theme, which already had Moses overtones, and gave it still a new twist:

Moses/Sinai/Torah –> messenger/mountain/good news in Isaiah –> Yeshua brings good news on the mountain.

In the time of Yeshua and Matthew, people read the Torah looking for connection to God and an end to the exile. They also read Isaiah this way, finding Isaiah to be a sort of messianic handbook of the last days. It is not hard to imagine those who first heard Matthew’s version of the Sermon read aloud connecting Yeshua with the messenger of good news in Isaiah. God sends his Torah and his good news from “the mountain.”

APPENDIX A: Isaiah in Matthew 4:12 – 5:11 (derived from Ottenheijm’s paper):

Matt 4:12-17 Galilee of the gentiles, Isaiah 8:23 – 9:1.

Matt 4:23 Good news, allusion to Isaiah 52:7 and 40:9.

Matt 5:1 Yeshua ascends the mountain and sits down.

Matt 5:3-5 First two Beatitudes compare to Isaiah 61:1-3.

Matt 5:11 Echoes Isaiah 51:7.

APPENDIX B: Early Jewish Texts Combining Isaiah 52:7; 61:1-3; and 40:9 (abridged from Ottenheijm):

–11 QMelchizedek.

–Psalms of Solomon 11.

–Tanhuma Toledot 14 combines the idea of Messiah and Isaiah 52:7.

This has nothing to do with the scientific or pre-scientific way of looking at vision. It is the observation, which moderns also make, that a person’s eyes show their inner character. So what does Yeshua’s saying mean and what does it have to do with the evil eye?

Yeshua contrasts two kinds of eyes. The problem is knowing how to translate best the first word. It can mean single, healthy, or possibly generous. It is contrasted with the evil eye. The concept of the evil eye is well known in rabbinic and pagan texts as an idiom for one giving a curse. So, Yeshua’s meaning is to contrast the eye that curses others with the eye that blesses or desires good for others. Generous is a good translation (possibly healthy could work as well, though the understanding is that the healthy eye sees people as needing blessing).

So, Yeshua’s saying now makes sense. If the eye is generous, it is bright and the body is filled with interior light or goodness. But if the eye is set on cursing others, the body is full of darkness. In simplest terms, Yeshua is saying that generosity is the ultimate sign of a righteous disciple.

Yeshua’s audience, at least those who thought he might be the King, Messiah, expected him to bring the kingdom right away. Some modern scholars have said that Yeshua was a failed idealist. He taught an in-breaking of divine blessing that never came. Perish the thought! Yeshua clearly taught reality and nowhere more clearly than in the Beatitudes. Consider these thoughts . . .

The Beatitudes are about happiness. Why, then, are they also sad? Yeshua said:
–there will be broken, dejected, unimportant people
–there will be death and mourning
–there will be unsatisfied longing
–there will be war and persecution and slander

Poor in spirit = broken, dejected, unimportant.
The presence of mourners means death will not cease with Yeshua’s coming.
The fact that people will hunger and thirst means satisfaction is not yet to come.
The need for peacemakers means swords will not yet be beaten into plowshares.

Yeshua prepared his disciples for this. Many thought he would bring the kingdom then. He taught that the kingdom has started but is not fully arrived.

The kingdom now is for his disciples. God will come and rule soon. Meanwhile, Yeshua’s followers are doing God’s work on earth. How have we been doing so far? The Beatitudes should sadden us and make us want more.

Another scholar famous for his work on the Sermon on the Mount is Hans Dieter Betz. He suggests, as do others, that the Sermon on the Mount is not to be thought of as the exact address or outline Yeshua used on one occasion when speaking. A number of factors give evidence that the Sermon on the Mount is an ancient summary of the many things Yeshua taught, compiled by someone after Yeshua’s time (Essays on the Sermon on the Mount). For one thing, there is the fact that the Sermon on the Mount is very similar to Luke’s Sermon on the Plain. Yet comparison of the two stories shows that they are not the same event. And differences between the two show that Yeshua spoke about certain topics repeatedly.

In other words, you can make a pretty good case that the Sermon on the Mount is a sort of summation of the life message of Yeshua prepared after him by his disciples.

And the Beatitudes occupy a very important place in the Sermon on the Mount. They introduce the essential message of Yeshua. They are the epitome of what he stood for.
–from pp. 71-72, Yeshua in Context