“Blessed are
The merciful!
They shall receive mercy.”
μακάριοι οἱ ἐλεήμονες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ ἐλεηθήσονται.
The happy, blessed, and fortunate ones (μακάριοι) would be those who were merciful. Along with justice, one of Yahweh’s two great attributes was mercy. Matthew just said that people who hungered and thirsted after righteousness or justice would be holy or blessed. Now, you would be emulating God, if you showed mercy. Not only that, if you were merciful (οἱ ἐλεήμονες), you would receive mercy (ὅτι αὐτοὶ ἐλεηθήσονται). God would be merciful to you, just as in Psalm 145:8-9. Yahweh, God the Father, was gracious and merciful, slow to anger, in his abundant steadfast love. Yahweh was good to all the people, because he had compassion and mercy over all that he had made.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 