This Beatitude is more syntactically complex, but is nevertheless a parallel to the previous one on persecution. In the attempt to expand on the importance of suffering persecutions, the Beatitude itself becomes expanded and explained. The Old and New World meanings are the same. For the New World the persecution of the prophets was much more recent (see Helaman 13-23-25).
Textual: The changes between the Matthean redaction and that of the Book of Mormon are interesting and telling. In the following verses from Matthew, bracked words indicate words and/phrases added in the Book of Mormon. Parentheses will surround text that was deleted in the Book of Mormon.
Matthew 5:11-12
11 [And] Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute (you,) and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 [For ye shall have great joy] (Rejoice,) and be exceeding glad: for great [shall be] (is) your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets [who] (which) were before you.
Of first interest is the subtraction of the “you” of “persecute you.” The “you” is italicized in the KJV text, and the removal of that word in this context creates another case of an alteration at the point of an italicized word. In this case, the sentence can be understood without it, and so it is removed. This indicates that the subtraction was created by an interaction with the KJV text rather than the underlying language in which the “you” might have been explicit, or was at least implied as was the “you” that was supplied by the KJV translators for the implied “you” of the Hebrew.
The second set of changes comes from shifting tenses. The addition of “For ye shall have great joy…. Shall be” replaces “Rejoice…. Is.” The verb tense is moved from the present to the future. Of course the intent of the phrase was for a future blessing, and the alteration appears to have been made in contrast to the apparent present tense and therefore “current” promise of the KJV Matthean text. What Joseph did not understand was the use of the present as a future, a feature in many languages, including English, though it is not used as often. The Book of Mormon “corrects” a text that was technically correct as it stood, but represented a more archaic usage of English present tense.
“Blessed Are Ye When Men Shall Revile You and Persecute and Shall Say All Manner of Evil Against You Falsely, for My Sake”
The contrast implicit in this saying is that of the ultimate presence of a person in the blessed kingdom of heaven when they are now reviled and perhaps forced out of the worldly places that might profess to admit one to heaven. If people are persecuted for the sake of the name of Christ, it will be because they believe in and follow the Atoning Messiah. In the Old World, this would inevitably lead to a conflict with the leaders of the Jewish community. The initial persecution was of Jesus himself. When his death not only did not stop the Christian movement, but because a springboard for an even greater acceptance of this new movement, the persecution of this new religion by the Jews themselves became more and more prevalent. We have the stoning of Steven and the early career of Saul of Tarsus as prime examples of the persecutions the Christians would have to endure at the hands of those who should have been their brothers. Jesus contrasts these future persecutions with the dominance they would have in the kingdom of heaven. Of course by the time this was written in Matthew’s texts, the persecutions and become real. The fact that we have this explicit Beatitude on persecution, and the very next one that repeats this message, tells us that at Matthew’s time this had become a serious problem, and one for which there was required at least the reminder that there was purpose in the sufferance of the persecutions.
Book of Mormon Context: In contrast to the future persecutions of the believers, the Mesoamerican context was one of past persecutions. They were not being forewarned, but comforted after the fact. In the New World context the believers had also been persecuted by those who should have been their brethren, and it was likely that there were many who were in this audience in Bountiful who had either been persecuted, or who had a member of their family who had been. Nephi himself had a brother who had been stoned to death, although Nephi had performed the miracle of bringing him back to life.
Textual: The Book of Mormon text alters the Matthean text. In the following verse, brackets indicate text added to the KJV translation of Matthew. Parenteses indicate text deleted/replaced in the Book of Mormon.
Matthew 5:10
10 [And] Blessed are they [who] (which) are persecuted for [my name’s] (righteousness’) sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The addition of “who” in place of “which” regularized the text with more modern English usage. Since “they” are people, the more pronoun indicating people is used (who). The more interesting change is where “my name’s sake” replaces “righteousness’ sake.” The shift is from the more general concept in the Old World to the very specific belief in the Atoning Messiah in the New World. At least for the New World, this was a much more present and real concept when the risen Lord was standing before them.