The Sermon on the Mount is the first discourse by Jesus narrated by
Matthew, and is the longest connected discourse to be found in the four
Gospels. The place of its delivery is not fixed other than that "He went
up into a mountain," but it was probably some elevation of land in
Galilee, near Capernaum (Matt. IV:13). The time of its delivery is also
not fixed, although it must have been shortly after the baptism by John.
Jesus had already done some preaching in Galilee and performed some
miracles (Matt. IV:23, 24), but the delivery of the sermon ante-dates
all the specific miracles which Matthew relates. The discourse covers
three chapters (109 verses) of Matthew's text.
There is, in the four Gospels, no other connected discourse
corresponding to the Sermon on the Mount, except in Luke. In Chapter VI
he gives a discourse covering twenty-nine verses of his text, which are
substantially the same as corresponding verses of the Sermon on the
Mount. The place of the delivery of this discourse is not fixed, except
that it was on a "plain" (Luke VI:17), probably near Capernaum (Luke
VII:1). The time is not fixed, except that Luke's sermon on the plain
occurs _after_ a number of miracles and other events (Luke IV:33-44;
VI:1-19), while in Matthew's narrative the Sermon on the Mount occurs
_before_ these events (Matt. VIII and following).
Some of the verses of this discourse will be found scattered through
Mark and John, but a considerable portion of it is entirely lacking. For
instance, the "beatitudes" do not appear in either Mark or John.[20]