Matthew 5:11 (YLT)

Passage

`Happy are ye whenever they may reproach you, and may persecute, and may say any evil thing against you falsely for my sake--

Nearby Context

Matthew 5:9 `Happy the peacemakers--because they shall be called Sons of God.

Matthew 5:10 `Happy those persecuted for righteousness' sake--because theirs is the reign of the heavens.

Matthew 5:11 `Happy are ye whenever they may reproach you, and may persecute, and may say any evil thing against you falsely for my sake--

Matthew 5:12 rejoice ye and be glad, because your reward <FI>is<Fi> great in the heavens, for thus did they persecute the prophets who were before you.

Matthew 5:13 `Ye are the salt of the land, but if the salt may lose savour, in what shall it be salted? for nothing is it good henceforth, except to be cast without, and to be trodden down by men.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "happy", "whenever", "reproach", "persecute", "evil", "against", "falsely", and "sake--". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "happy" and "whenever", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "Happy those persecuted for righteousness' sake--because theirs..." into verse 12's "rejoice ye and be glad because your...", so "happy" and "whenever" belong inside that flow. In Matthew context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "happy" and "whenever" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.