Mountainside??? Mt 5

Mt 5:1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down.
Why mountainside??? (thanks cindy for rising up the interesting question :D )

There are no actual mountains in this part of Galilee, but there are several large hills in the region to the west of the Sea of Galilee, and so a number of scholars do not feel "the mountain" is the most accurate understanding of the Greek word used in Matthew 5:1. Gundry feels it could mean "mountainous region," while France feels it should be read as "the hills". Less clinical academic analysis amongst some modern Christians has suggested the location as a hill on the north end of the Sea of Galilee, near Capernaum.

The Church of the Beatitudes on the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee.







One possible location of the sermon is on a hill that rises near Capernaum. Known in ancient times as Mt. Eremos and Karn Hattin, this hill is now the site of a twentieth century Roman Catholic chapel called the Church of the Beatitudes.
The reference to going up a mountain prior to preaching is considered by many to be deliberate reference to Moses on Mount Sinai, and though Hill disagrees, arguing that the links would have been made far clearer, Lapide feels that the clumsy phrasing implies that this verse is an exact transliteration from the Hebrew passage describing Moses

http://www.answers.com/topic/sermon-on-the-mount