“Blessed Are All They Who Are Persecuted for My Name’s Sake”

Again, the contrast is implied. The person who is reviled on earth and perhaps kept from the worldly places that claim to admit him or her to heaven will be welcomed into the true kingdom of heaven. Acts 4:1–3, for example, describes Peter and John being arrested when they attempted to teach in the temple—thus being forcibly kept out of a holy place.

If people are persecuted for Jesus’s name’s sake, it will be because they believe in and follow the Atoning Messiah. In the Old World, this discipleship inevitably led to conflict with the Jewish leaders. That conflict was first focused on Jesus himself. When his death only became the springboard for the new movement’s broader diffusion, that faction of the Jews intensified their persecution, as the stoning of Stephen demonstrates. Jesus contrasts these future persecutions with their assured place in the kingdom of heaven. Of course, he was speaking of the future persecutions; but these conditions had become real by the time Matthew wrote his text. The fact that this beatitude and the next repeat the same message provides evidence of the problem’s seriousness.

Book of Mormon Context: While believers in the Old World would face future persecution, those in Mesoamerica had faced past persecutions from those who should have been their brethren. They were not being forewarned but comforted after the fact. Nephi’s brother had been stoned to death, although Nephi had brought him back to life (3 Ne. 7:19).

Comparison: The words in bold indicate Book of Mormon additions to the King James translation of Matthew 5:10:

And Blessed are they whowhich are persecuted for my name’srighteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:10)

“Who” simply replaces “which,” a pronoun that could apply to either people or things with “who,” indicating people. More interesting is the replacement by “my name’s sake” of “righteousness’ sake.” The Old World language is a general concept; the New World language reflects a specific belief in the Atoning Messiah, who was standing before them.