Structural and compositional analysis of the sermon on the mount

Tis article is devoted to the Sermon on the Mount - the first public speech of Jesus Christ according to the narration of the evangelist Mathew. Te author analyzes its structure and composition, considers the location where the Sermon was preached, brings in parallels with Old Testament events, and analyzes the intended audience. Te author concludes that, most probably, the sermon has not been edited, but, rather, was writen down from memory and recorded basically in the form in which it was preached. Te wholeness of composition, clarity of language, and lack of an introductory preface testify to the internal completeness of the Author's thought process and His conviction in the truth of His own words. Te preaching of a sermon on a mountain, on the one hand, reminds of Old Testament revelations of God and, on the other hand, the fact that listeners are led up a mountain testifies to the unique character of the Preacher and the establishment of a new relationship between God and men. Te location of the Sermon of the Mount in the Gospel of Mathew (and in the entire corpus of the Four Gospels) makes one see it as a spiritual and ethical program of sorts, which is further developed and completed on the pages of the New Testament and to consider it as one complete text, preached in the same shape, in which it has come down to us