“Except Ye Shall Keep My Commandments”

Alan C. Miner

Anti-Pharisaism can be seen as one of the main tendencies of Matthew, and hence its manifestations in the Sermon on the Mount have been advanced as evidence of the Matthean composition of the Sermon on the Mount. Interestingly, the places in which scholars see these anti-Pharisaical evidences in the Sermon on the Mount are not found in the Sermon at the Temple. Thus, the saying "except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees" [Matthew 5:20] is not present in 3 Nephi. A very different and important statement in 3 Nephi 12:19-20 about obedience and sacrifice appears instead. Likewise, the unflattering comparison between good men the world over and the publicans, both of whom love their friends (see Matthew 5:46-47), is wholly absent in 3 Nephi 12. [John W. Welch, The Sermon at the Temple and the Sermon on the Mount, F.A.R.M.S., p. 105 ]

Step by Step Through the Book of Mormon: A Cultural Commentary

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