Which are persecuted; which have been persecuted (Revised Version); οἱδεδιωγμένοι. "Those who are harassed, hunted, spoiled. The term is properly used of wild beasts pursued by hunters, or of an enemy or malefactor in flight" (Wetstein). Our Lord, by the use of the perfect, wishes to indicate
They have "suffered the loss," possibly, "of all things," but they are "blessed." For righteouness'sake ( ἕνεκεν δικαιοσύνης). No article (contrast Matthew 5:6), either as indicating that for even a part of righteousness persecution can be undergone, or, and more probably, simply dwelling on the cause of persecution without idealizing it. St. Peter also says, perhaps with a reference to our Lord's words, that they who suffer διὰ δικαιοσύνην are μακάριοι (1 Peter 3:14). For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The same promise that was given to "the poor in spirit" (Matthew 5:3) is here given to the persecuted for righteousness'sake. In the former case, poverty in the sphere of the spirit obtains the fullest possessions; here the same promise is given to temporal loss produced by faithfulness to the cause of righteousness. In Matthew 5:3 our Lord removed all occasion for intellectual and spiritual pride. Here he comforts for temporal and social losses (cf. especially 2 Corinthians 6:10; further see 2 Corinthians 6:3, note). Clement of Alexandria, 'Strom.,' 4.6