Jesus said, "Congratulations to the poor, for to you belongs Heaven's domain." (54 Thomas)

In modern translations the beatitudes have become the congratulations. Instead of blessed are the poor, we read congratulations to the poor.

What is gained by the new translation comes at considerable expense.

Jesus almost certainly used the Aramaic word barak which is very closely related to the Hebrew bawrak.

This is to kneel: to be so overcome with a sense of praise and thanksgiving that one falls to his or her knees.

There is also the sense of being fulfilled and completed. So in the forty-fifth psalm we read, "You are fairer than the sons of men, Grace is poured upon your lips; Therefore God has blessed you forever."

Congratulations suggests an objective observation. To be blessed is much more an engagement with God and an experience of wholeness.