Jesus’s beatitudes may well be the most commented on text of the New Testament, and rightly so. For many Christians they embody the essence of what it means to follow Jesus in the way of discipleship. Given the many studies of the beatitudes, one might ask if there is anything more to say. Keenly aware of this question and of the commentators who have written before him, Daniel Daley does not propose to offer something new. Rather, he seeks to contribute to the robust exegetical tradition of the beatitudes by investigating their meaning within the narrative of Matthew’s Gospel. For while the original voice behind the beatitudes is the voice of Jesus, today we hear his voice within the narrative setting of Matthew’s Gospel. Accordingly, Daley interprets each beatitude in terms of the language and themes of the Gospel.

Daley begins with an extended introduction that discusses how Matthew and Luke interpreted Jesus’s beatitudes, how the readers of the Gospel received and further interpreted them, how Matthew portrays the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders within the Gospel, and what it means to say that Jesus is the authority behind the beatitudes. After dealing with these introductory matters, he considers the nature of the beatitudes, examining the many ways in which they have been interpreted throughout the centuries. He concludes that the beatitudes do not function as entrance requirements to the kingdom but as paths to the happiness and flourishing life that characterizes those who belong to the kingdom. Thus, the first clause of each beatitude describes the disposition of ideal disciples, whereas the second proclaims the eschatological blessing that awaits them. Rather than translate makarioi as “blessed,” therefore, Daley adopts the translation “flourishing,” proposed by Jonathan T. Pennington, to highlight how the kingdom’s future eschatological blessing is already breaking into the lives of Jesus’s disciples.

In the final part of this work, Daley provides an exegetical commentary of each beatitude. In so doing, he examines the beatitudes in the light of the Jewish background that influenced Jesus and Matthew in their formulation of the beatitudes. He then interprets each beatitude in the light of Matthew’s Gospel narrative. In doing so, he contrasts the disposition of the ideal disciples that Jesus has in view with the behavior of his adversaries who opposed his teaching about the kingdom.

Daley’s work, which is intended for scholars and students, is carefully researched and generously footnoted. Pastors who want to teach and preach the beatitudes in depth will also find it a valuable resource. It provides readers with an understanding of how the exegetical tradition has interpreted the beatitudes through the centuries. Most importantly, it gives us further insight into the role they have played in defining what it means to live as disciples of Jesus.