And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
Parallel translations
- WEB Seeing the multitudes, he went up onto the mountain. When he had sat down, his disciples came to him.
- BSB When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain and sat down. His disciples came to Him,
- NKJV And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.
- NASB Now when Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.
- NLT One day as he saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples gathered around him,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Seeing the crowds, Jesus goes up the mountain, sits, and His disciples come to Him. It introduces the Sermon on the Mount.
Overview
Jesus assumes the posture of a teacher, sitting as rabbis did, on a mountainside that recalls Moses at Sinai. Yet here is one greater than Moses, giving authoritative instruction on the life of the kingdom. The setting signals that what follows is foundational teaching for His disciples.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Mark 3:13And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him.
- Matt 15:29And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there.
- John 6:2–3And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.
- Mark 4:1And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.
- Mark 3:20And the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.
- Matt 4:25And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.
- Matt 10:2–4Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;
- Luke 6:13–16And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;
- Matt 4:18–22And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
- Matt 13:2And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 5:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.