“Poor in spirit”
Matthew 5:3
IdiomWell-supportedJesus
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3 BSB)
What it sounds like today
Spiritually weak, or lacking confidence: a puzzling thing to bless.
The cultural key
Echoes the Hebrew anawim, the lowly poor of the Psalms and Isaiah 61 who, having nothing else, lean wholly on God. 'Poor in spirit' names people crushed low who look up. Isaiah 61 ('good news to the poor') runs underneath the whole Beatitudes.
Recovered meaning
Blessed are those with no standing, no leverage, and no illusions of self-sufficiency; the kingdom belongs to exactly the people everyone assumed God had passed over.
Parallels: Luke 6:20