This beatitude again has strong biblical overtones. Prov 14:21b reads ἐλεῶν δὲ πτωχοὺς μακαριστός, “blessed is the one who has mercy on the poor” (cf. Prov 17:5c, a phrase only in the LXX text: ὁ δὲ ἐπισπλαγχνιζόμενος ἐλεηθήσεται, “the one who has compassion will be shown mercy”). Showing mercy to the needy became a key element in rabbinic ethics (see b. Šabb 151b; t B. Qam. 9.30[366]; cf. Str-B 1:203–5 and the excursus in 4:559–610). For the importance of mercy to Matthew’s presentation