“You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted? It is then good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men.
Parallel Translations
-
“You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted? It is then good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men.
-
ye are the salt of the erthe: but and yf the salt have lost hir saltnes what can be salted ther with? It is thence forthe good for nothynge but to be cast oute and to be troade vnder fote of men.
-
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt haue lost his sauour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be troden vnder foote of men.
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Matthew 5:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Colossians 4:6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
- Luke 14:34-35 Salt is good, but if the salt becomes flat and tasteless, with what do you season it? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
- Mark 9:49-50 For everyone will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, with what will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
- Hebrews 6:4-6 For concerning those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put him to open shame.
- Leviticus 2:13 Every offering of your meal offering you shall season with salt. You shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your meal offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.
- 2 Peter 2:20-21 For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (23 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain The ministers of the word, especially (unless they will…
The ministers of the word, especially (unless they will be the most caitiff of all) must needs lead others both by word and deed to this greatest joy and felicity.
Your doctrine must be very sound and good, for if it be not so, it shall be naught set by, and cast away as a thing unsavory and vain.
Read full note →
What shall you have to salt withal? And so are fools in the Latin tongue called saltless, as you would say, men that have no salt, or savor and taste in them.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but…
13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
Ver. 13. Ye are the salt of the earth] As salt keepeth flesh from putrefying, so do the saints the world: and are therefore sprinkled up and down (here one and there one) to keep the rest from rotting. Suillo pecori anima pro sale data, quae carnem servaret, ne putresceret, saith Varro. Swine and swinish persons have their souls for salt only, to keep their bodies from stinking above ground. Christ and his people are somewhere called the soul of the world. The saints are called all things; the Church, every creature, Mar 16:15; Tabor and Hermon are put for east and west, Psa 89:12; for God accounts for the world by the Church, and upholds the world for the Church’s sake. Look how he gave Zoar to Lot, and all the souls in the ship to Paul, Act 27:24; so he doth the rest of mankind to the righteous. Were it not for such Jehoshaphats, "I would not look toward thee, nor see thee," said Elijah to Jehoram, saith God to the wicked, 2Ki 3:14. The holy seed is statumen terrae, saith one prophet: the earth’s substance or settlement, Isa 6:13. (Junius.) The righteous are fundamentum mundi, the world’s foundation, saith another, Pro 10:25. ( Quia propter probes stabilis est mundus. because on account you may make the earth firm. Merc.) I bear up the pillars of it, saith David, Psa 75:3. And it became a common proverb in the primitive times, Absque stationibus non stare mundus: but for the piety and prayers of Christians, the world could not subsist. It is a good conclusion of Philo, therefore, Oremus, ut tanquam columna in domo vir iustus permaneat, ad calamitatum remedium. Let us pray that the righteous may remain with us, for a preservative, as a pillar in the house, as the salt of the earth. But as all good people, so good ministers especially are here said, for their doctrine, to be the salt of the earth; and for their lives, the light of the world. ( Doctrina salis est; vita lucis. Aret.) Ye are salt, not honey, which is bitter to wounds. Ye are light, which is also offensive to sore eyes. Salt hath two things in it, Acorem et saporem, sharpness and savouriness. Ministers must reprove men sharply, that they may be "sound in the faith," Tit 1:13, and a sweet savour to God; savoury meat, as that of Rebekah, a sweet meat offering, meet for the master’s tooth, that he may eat and bless them. Cast they must their cruses full of this holy salt into the unwholesome waters, and upon the barren grounds of men’s hearts (as Elisha once of Jericho), so shall God say the word that all be whole, and it shall be done. No thought can pass between the receipt and the remedy.
Read full note →
But if the salt have lost his savour, &c.] A loose or lazy minister is the worst creature upon earth, so fit for no place as for hell, -as unsavoury salt is not fit for the dunghill, but makes the very ground barren whereupon it is cast. Who are now devils but they which once were angels of light? Corruptio optimi pessima, as the sweetest wine makes the sourest vinegar, and the finest flesh is resolved into the vilest earth. Woe to those dehonestamenta cleri, disgraceful ministers that, with Eli’s sons, cover foul sins under a white ephod: that neither spin nor labour, Mat 6:28, with the lilies, unless it be in their own vineyards, little in God’s; that want either art or heart, will or skill, to the work; being not able or not apt to teach, and so give occasion to those blackmouthed Campians to cry out, Ministris eorum nihil villus: their ministers are the vilest fellows upon earth. (Campian in Rationibus.) God commonly casteth off such as incorrigible; for wherewithal shall it be salted? there is nothing in nature that can restore unsavoury salt to its former nature. He will not only lay such by, as broken vessels, boring out their right eyes and drying up their right arms, Zec 11:17; i.e. bereaving them of their former abilities; but also he will cast dung upon their faces, Mal 2:3; so that, as dung, men shall tread upon them (which is a thing not only calamitous, but extremely ignominious), as they did upon the Popish clergy; and the devil shall thank them when he hath them in hell, for sending him so many souls: as Matthew Paris telleth us he did those in the days of Hildebrand. Literas ex inferno missas commenti sunt quidam, in quibus Satanas omni Ecclesiastico coetui gratias emisit. As for themselves, it grew into a proverb, Pavimentum inferni rasis sacrificulorum verticibus, et magnatum galeis stratum esse: that hell was paved with the shaved crowns of priests and great men’s head pieces. God threatens to feed such with gall and wormwood, Jer 23:15.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain In our Christian course we are not to trouble…
In our Christian course we are not to trouble ourselves with what men say of us, and do unto us, but only to attend to our duty of holiness, and an exemplary life, which is what our Saviour presseth plainly, Mat 5:16, and leads his hearers to it by four comparisons, which he institutes between them and four other things. The first we have in this verse,
Ye are the salt of the earth: the doctrine which you profess is so, a thing as opposite as can be to the putrefaction of the world, both in respect to corrupt doctrine and corrupt manners (therefore, by the way, it will be no wonder if they resist it by reviling and persecuting you).
Read full note →
You are the salt of the earth: through the grace of God bestowed upon you, Mar 9:50; Col 4:6. If it were not for the number of sound and painful ministers, and holy and gracious persons, the earth would be but a stinking dunghill of drunkards, unclean persons, thieves, murderers, unrighteous persons, that would be a stench in the nostrils of a pure and holy God. Look as it is in the world,
if the salt hath lost its savour, its acrimony, by which it opposeth putrefaction in fish and flesh, not the fish or flesh only will be good for nothing, but the salt itself, so infatuated, (as it is in the Greek), will be
good for nothing, but to be cast upon a dunghill and trodden under foot. So it is with ministers of the gospel, so with the professors of it; if they have lost their soundness in the faith, and holiness of life, they are of no value, nay, they are worse than other men. Money, if it be clipped in pieces, and hath lost its usefulness as coin, yet is of use for a goldsmith; meat corrupted, if it will not serve for men, yet will feed dogs; salt is good for nothing. No more are pretended ministers or Christians; their excellency lies in their savour; if that be lost, wherewith shall they be salted? Of what use are they, unless to cause the name of God and religion to be blasphemed? Such another similitude the prophet useth, Eze 15:2,3.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Our Saviour compares Christians in general, and his ministers…
Our Saviour compares Christians in general, and his ministers in particular, unto salt, for a double reason.
First, Because it is the nature of salt to preserve things from corruption and putrefaction, and to render them savoury and pleasant. Thus are the ministers of the gospel to labour and endeavour, by the purity of their doctrine, to sweeten putrifying sinners, that they may become savoury to God and man; and may be kept from being fly-blown with errors and false doctrine.
Read full note →
Secondly, Because salt has a piercing power in it, which subdues the whole lump, and turns it into its own nature: such a piercing power is there in the ministry of the word, that it subdues the whole man to the obedience of itself.
As it Christ had said, "Ye are to be preachers and patterns to the world; ye are appointed by your pure doctrine, and good conversation, to purge the world from that corruption in which it lies: but if you lose either soundness of doctrine, or the savour of a good conversation, you will be wholly useless, as to these great ends, and must expect to be cast off by me, as unsavoury salt is cast to the dunghill."
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Christ had lately called his disciples, and told them…
Christ had lately called his disciples, and told them that they should be fishers of men; here he tells them further what he designed them to be - the salt of the earth, and lights of the world, that they might be indeed what it was expected they should be.
I. Ye are the salt of the earth. This would encourage and support them under their sufferings, that, though they should be treated with contempt, yet they should really be blessings to the world, and the more so for their suffering thus. The prophets, who went before them, were the salt of the land of Canaan; but the apostles were the salt of the whole earth, for they must go into all the world to preach the gospel. It was a discouragement to them that they were so few and so weak. What could they do in so large a province as the whole earth? Nothing, if they were to work by force of arms and dint of sword; but, being to work silent as salt, one handful of that salt would diffuse its savour far and wide; would go a great way, and work insensibly and irresistibly as leaven, Mat 13:33. The doctrine of the gospel is as salt; it is penetrating, quick, and powerful (Heb 4:12); it reaches the heart Act 2:37. It is cleansing, it is relishing, and preserves from putrefaction. We read of the savour of the knowledge of Christ (Co2 2:14); for all other learning is insipid without that. An everlasting covenant is called a covenant of salt (Num 18:19); and the gospel is an everlasting gospel. Salt was required in all the sacrifices (Lev 2:13), in Ezekiel's mystical temple, Eze 43:24. Now Christ's disciples having themselves learned the doctrine of the gospel, and being employed to teach it to others, were as salt. Note, Christians, and especially ministers, are the salt of the earth.
Read full note →
1. If they be as they should be they are as good salt, white, and small, and broken into many grains, but very useful and necessary. Pliny says, Sine sale, vita humana non potest degere - Without salt human life cannot be sustained. See in this, (1.) What they are to be in themselves - seasoned with the gospel, with the salt of grace; thoughts and affections, words and actions, all seasoned with grace, Col 4:6. Have salt in yourselves, else you cannot diffuse it among others, Mar 9:50. (2.) What they are to be to others; they must not only be good but do good, must insinuate themselves into the minds of the people, not to serve any secular interest of their own, but that they might transform them into the taste and relish of the gospel. (3.) What great blessings they are to the world. Mankind, lying in ignorance and wickedness, were a vast heap of unsavoury stuff, ready to putrefy; but Christ sent forth his disciples, by their lives and doctrines, to season it with knowledge and grace, and so to render it acceptable to God, to the angels, and to all that relish divine things. (4.) How they must expect to be disposed of. They must not be laid on a heap, must not continue always together at Jerusalem, but must be scattered as salt upon the meat, here a grain and there a grain; as the Levites were dispersed in Israel, that, wherever they live, they may communicate their savour. Some have observed, that whereas it is foolishly called an ill omen to have the salt fall towards us, it is really an ill omen to have the salt fall from us.
2. If they be not, they are as salt that has lost its savour. If you, who should season others, are yourselves unsavoury, void of spiritual life, relish, and vigour; if a Christian be so, especially if a minister be so, his condition is very sad; for, (1.) He is irrecoverable: Wherewith shall it be salted? Salt is a remedy for unsavoury meat, but there is no remedy for unsavoury salt. Christianity will give a man a relish; but if a man can take up and continue the profession of it, and yet remain flat and foolish, and graceless and insipid, no other doctrine, no other means, can be applied, to make him savoury. If Christianity do not do it, nothing will. (2.) He is unprofitable: It is thenceforth good for nothing; what use can it be put to, in which it will not do more hurt than good? As a man without reason, so is a Christian without grace. A wicked man is the worst of creatures; a wicked Christian is the worst of men; and a wicked minister is the worst of Christians. (3.) He is doomed to ruin and rejection; He shall be cast out - expelled the church and the communion of the faithful, to which he is a blot and a burden; and he shall be trodden under foot of men. Let God be glorified in the shame and rejection of those by whom he has been reproached, and who have made themselves fit for nothing but to be trampled upon.
II. Ye are the light of the world, Mat 5:14. This also bespeaks them useful, as the former (Sole et sale nihil utilius - Nothing more useful than the sun and salt), but more glorious. All Christians are light in the Lord (Eph 5:8), and must shine as lights (Phi 2:15), but ministers in a special manner. Christ call himself the Light of the world (Joh 8:12), and they are workers together with him, and have some of his honour put upon them. Truly the light is sweet, it is welcome; the light of the first day of the world was so, when it shone out of darkness; so is the morning light of every day; so is the gospel, and those that spread it, to all sensible people. The world sat in darkness, Christ raised up his disciples to shine in it; and, that they may do so, from him they borrow and derive their light.
This similitude is here explained in two things:
1. As the lights of the world, they are illustrious and conspicuous, and have many eyes upon them. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. The disciples of Christ, especially those who are forward and zealous in his service, become remarkable, and are taken notice of as beacons. They are for signs (Isa 7:18), men wondered at (Zac 3:8); all their neighbours have any eye upon them. Some admire them, commend them, rejoice in them, and study to imitate them; others envy them, hate them, censure them, and study to blast them. They are concerned therefore to walk circumspectly, because of their observers; they are as spectacles to the world, and must take heed of every thing that looks ill, because they are so much looked at. The disciples of Christ were obscure men before he called them, but the character he put upon them dignified them, and as preachers of the gospel they made a figure; and though they were reproached for it by some, they were respected for it by others, advanced to thrones, and made judges (Luk 22:30); for Christ will honour those that honour him.
2. As the lights of the world, they are intended to illuminate and give light to others (Mat 5:15), and therefore, (1.) They shall be set up as lights. Christ has lighted these candles, they shall not be put under a bushel, not confined always, as they are now, to the cities of Galilee, or the lost sheep of the house of Israel, but they shall be sent into all the world. The churches are the candlesticks, the golden candlesticks, in which these lights are placed, that they light may be diffused; and the gospel is so strong a light, and carries with it so much of its own evidence, that, like a city on a hill, it cannot be hid, it cannot but appear to be from God, to all those who do not wilfully shut their eyes against it. It will give light to all that are in the house, to all that will draw near to it, and come where it is. Those to whom it does not give light, must thank themselves; they will not be in the house with it; will not make a diligent and impartial enquiry into it, but are prejudiced against it. (2.) They must shine as lights, [1.] By their good preaching. The knowledge they have, they must communicate for the good of others; not put it under a bushel, but spread it. The talent must not be buried in a napkin, but traded with. The disciples of Christ must not muffle themselves up in privacy and obscurity, under pretence of contemplation, modesty, or self-preservation, but, as they have received the gift, must minister the same, Luk 12:3. [2.] By their good living. They must be burning and shining lights (Joh 5:35); must evidence, in their whole conversation, that they are indeed followers of Christ, Jam 3:13. They must be to others for instruction, direction, quickening, and comfort, Job 29:11.
See here, First, How our light must shine - by doing such good works as men may see, and may approve of; such works as are of good report among them that are without, and as will therefore give them cause to think well of Christianity. We must do good works that may be seen to the edification of others, but not that they may be seen to our own ostentation; we are bid to pray in secret, and what lies between God and our souls, must be kept to ourselves; but that which is of itself open and obvious to the sight of men, we must study to make congruous to our profession, and praiseworthy, Phi 4:8. Those about us must not only hear our good words, but see our good works; that they may be convinced that religion is more than a bare name, and that we do not only make a profession of it, but abide under the power of it.
Secondly, For what end our light must shine - "That those who see your good works may be brought, not to glorify you (which was the things the Pharisees aimed at, and it spoiled all their performances), but to glorify your Father which is in heaven." Note, The glory of God is the great thing we must aim at in every thing we do in religion, Pe1 4:11. In this centre the lines of all our actions must meet. We must not only endeavor to glorify God ourselves, but we must do all we can to bring others to glorify him. The sight of our good works will do this, by furnishing them, 1. With matter for praise. "Let them see your good works, that they may see the power of God's grace in you, and may thank him for it, and give him the glory of it, who has given such power unto men." 2. With motives of piety. "Let them see your good works, that they may be convinced of the truth and excellency of the Christian religion, may be provoked by a holy emulation to imitate your good works, and so may glorify God." Note, The holy, regular, and exemplary conversation of the saints, may do much towards the conversion of sinners; those who are unacquainted with religion, may hereby be brought to know what it is. Examples teach. And those who are prejudiced against it, may hereby by brought in love with it, and thus there is a winning virtue in a godly conversation.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Ye are the salt of the earth,.... This is…
Ye are the salt of the earth,.... This is to be understood of the disciples and apostles of Christ; who might be compared to "salt", because of the savoury doctrines they preached; as all such are, which are agreeable to the Scriptures, and are of the evangelic kind, which are full of Christ, serve to exalt him, and to magnify the grace of God; and are suitable to the experiences of the saints, and are according to godliness, and tend to promote it: also because of their savoury lives and conversations; whereby they recommended, and gave sanction to the doctrines they preached, were examples to the saints, and checks upon wicked men. These were the salt "of the earth"; that is, of the inhabitants of the earth, not of the land of Judea only, where they first lived and preached, but of the whole world, into which they were afterwards sent to preach the Gospel.
But if the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? The "savour" here supposed that it may be lost, cannot mean the savour of grace, or true grace itself, which cannot be lost, being an incorruptible seed; but either gifts qualifying men for the ministry, which may cease; or the savoury doctrines of the Gospel, which may be departed from; or a seeming savoury conversation, which may be neglected; or that seeming savour, zeal, and affection, with which the Gospel is preached, which may be dropped: and particular respect seems to be had to Judas, whom Christ had chosen to the apostleship, and was a devil; and who he knew would lose his usefulness and place, and become an unprofitable wretch, and at last be rejected of God and men; and this case is proposed to them all, in order to engage them to take heed to themselves, their doctrine and ministry. Moreover, this is but a supposition;
Read full note →
if the salt, &c. and proves no matter of fact; and the Jews have a saying (k), that all that season lose their savour "hmej hgypm hnya but salt does not lose its savour". Should it do so,
it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot. Salt is good for nothing, but to make things savoury, and preserve from putrefacation; and when it has lost its savour, it is of no use, neither to men nor beasts, as some things are when corrupted; nor is it of any use to the land, or dunghill, for it makes barren, and not fruitful: so ministers of the word, when they have dropped the savoury doctrines of the Gospel, or have quitted their former seeming savoury and exemplary conversations; as their usefulness is gone, so, generally speaking, it is never retrieved; they are cast out of the churches of Christ, and are treated with contempt by everyone.
(k) T. Bab. Betzah, fol. 14. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Ye - Not the apostles, not ministers only; but…
Ye - Not the apostles, not ministers only; but all ye who are thus holy, are the salt of the earth - Are to season others. Mark ix, 50; Luke xiv, 34.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 13. Ye are the salt of the earth]…
Verse 13. Ye are the salt of the earth] Our Lord shows here what the preachers of the Gospel, and what all who profess to follow him, should be; the salt of the earth, to preserve the world from putrefaction and destruction. See Clarke on Le 2:13.
But if the salt have lost his savour] That this is possible in the land of Judea, we have proof from Mr. Maundrell, who, describing the Valley of Salt, speaks thus: "Along, on one side of the valley, toward Gibul, there is a small precipice about two men's lengths, occasioned by the continual taking away of the salt; and, in this, you may see how the veins of it lie. I broke a piece of it, of which that part that was exposed to the rain, sun, and air, though it had the sparks and particles of salt, YET IT HAD PERFECTLY LOST ITS SAVOUR: the inner part, which was connected to the rock, retained its savour, as I found by proof." See his Trav., 5th edit., last page. A preacher, or private Christian, who has lost the life of Christ, and the witness of his Spirit, out of his soul, may be likened to this salt. He may have the sparks and glittering particles of true wisdom, but without its unction or comfort. Only that which is connected with the rock, the soul that is in union with Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit, can preserve its savour, and be instrumental of good to others.
Read full note →
To be trodden underfoot] There was a species of salt in Judea, which was generated at the lake Asphaltites, and hence called bituminous salt, easily rendered vapid, and of no other use but to be spread in a part of the temple, to prevent slipping in wet weather. This is probably what our Lord alludes to in this place. The existence of such a salt, and its application to such a use, Schoettgenius has largely proved in his Horae Hebraicae, vol. i. p. 18, &c.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Mat 5:13. Ye — Not the apostles, not ministers…
Mat 5:13. Ye — Not the apostles, not ministers only; but all who possess and manifest the graces spoken of in the preceding verses, and are truly holy and righteous; are the salt of the earth — Appointed to be the means of preventing or curing the growth of that corruption which prevails in the world, and of seasoning men’s minds with wisdom and grace. But if the salt have lost its savour — Or, be grown insipid, and therefore want seasoning itself, wherewith shall it be salted — By what means can its lost virtue be restored? The word μωρανθη, rendered have lost its savour, has peculiar strength and beauty, and is literally, be infatuated, or, grown foolish, “alluding,” says Dr. Doddridge, “to the common figure, in which sense and spirit are expressed by salt.” It is thenceforth good for nothing — It is wholly useless, and left to be thrown out of doors, and trampled on by men as the common dirt in the streets: “thus worthless and contemptible will you, my disciples, be, even in the most eminent stations, if you lose your character for real and vital religion.” The following passage of Mr. Maundrell, quoted by Dr. Macknight, illustrates our Lord’s supposition of salt’s losing its savour. In the valley of Salt, near Gebul, and about four hours’ journey from Aleppo, there is a small precipice, occasioned by the continual taking away of the salt. “In this,” says he, “you may see how the veins of it lie; I brake a piece off it, of which the part that was exposed to the rain, sun, and air, though it had the sparks and particles of salt, yet it had perfectly lost its savour. The innermost part, which had been connected to the rock, retained its savour, as I found by proof.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Ye are the salt of the earth - Salt…
Ye are the salt of the earth - Salt renders food pleasant and palatable, and preserves from putrefaction. So Christians, by their lives and instructions, are to keep the world from entire moral corruption. By bringing down the blessing of God in answer to their prayers, and by their influence and example, they save the world from universal vice and crime.
Salt have lost its savour - That is, if it has become tasteless, or has lost its preserving properties. The salt used in this country is a chemical compound - chloride of sodium - and if the saltness were lost, or it were to lose its savor, there would be nothing remaining. It enters into the very nature of the substance. In eastern countries, however, the salt used was impure, or mingled with vegetable or earthy substances, so that it might lose the whole of its saltness, and a considerable quantity of earthy matter remain. This was good for nothing, except that it was used to place in paths, or walks, as we use gravel. This kind of salt is common still in that country. It is found in the earth in veins or layers, and when exposed to the sun and rain, loses its saltness entirely. Maundrell says, “I broke a piece of it, of which that part that was exposed to the rain, sun, and air, though it had the sparks and particles of salt, yet it had perfectly lost its savor. The inner part, which was connected to the rock, retained its savor, as I found by proof. So Dr. Thomson (The Land and the Book, vol. ii. pp. 43, 44) says, “I have often seen just such salt, and the identical disposition of it that our Lord has mentioned. A merchant of Sidon having farmed of the government the revenue from the importation of salt, brought over an immense quantity from the marshes of Cyprus - enough, in fact, to supply the whole province for at least 20 years. This he had transferred to the mountains, to cheat the government out of some small percentage. Sixty-five houses in June - Lady Stanhope’s village were rented and filled with salt. These houses have merely earthen floors, and the salt next the ground, in a few years, entirely spoiled. I saw large quantities of it literally thrown into the street, to be trodden underfoot by people and beasts. It was ‘good for nothing.’
Read full note →
“It should be stated in this connection that the salt used in this country is not manufactured by boiling clean salt water, nor quarried from mines, but is obtained from marshes along the seashore, as in Cyprus, or from salt lakes in the interior, which dry up in summer, as the one in the desert north of Palmyra, and the great lake of Jebbul, southeast of Aleppo.
“Maundrell, who visited the lake at Jebbul, tells us that he found salt there which had entirely ‘lost its savor,’ and the same abounds among the debris at Usdum, and in other localities of rocksalt at the south end of the Dead Sea. Indeed, it is a well-known fact that the salt of this country, when in contact with the ground, or exposed to rain and sun, does become insipid and useless. From the manner in which it is gathered, much earth and other impurities are necessarily collected with it. Not a little of it is so impure that it cannot be used at all, and such salt soon effloresces and turns to dust - not to fruitful soil, however. It is not only good for nothing itself, but it actually destroys all fertility wherever it is thrown; and this is the reason why it is cast into the street. There is a sort of verbal verisimilitude in the manner in which our Lord alludes to the act: ‘it is cast out’ and ‘trodden under foot;’ so troublesome is this corrupted salt, that it is carefully swept up, carried forth, and thrown into the street. There is no place about the house, yard, or garden where it can be tolerated. No man will allow it to be thrown on to his field, and the only place for it is the street, and there it is cast to be trodden underfoot of men.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain The former instructions Jesus Christ gave to the multitude.…
The former instructions Jesus Christ gave to the multitude. Now he addresses his apostles, styling them the salt of the earth, meant to preserve men from the corruption of sin, and to make them relish the truths of salvation. He tells them not to suffer their faith or their charity to slacken, in which all their power consists, lest they come to be rejected by God, and despised by man. (Calmet) --- I send you, says Jesus Christ, not to two, ten, or twenty cities, not to one single nation, as the prophets were sent, but to the whole world, a world oppressed with numberless iniquities. It is not the property of salt to restore what is already corrupted, but to preserve from corruption. Therefore the virtue of the merits of Christ delivers us from the corruption of sin; but the care and labour of the apostles preserves us from again returning to it. (St. John Chrysostom, hom. xv.) --- It appears from Luke xiv. 34, that this comparison is taken from agriculture. We observe these properties of salt in the different manures that fertilize the soil, but suffer the salts to evaporate, and all their virtue is lost. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain We have here the practical application of the foregoing…
We have here the practical application of the foregoing principles to those disciples who sat listening to them, and to their successors in all time. Our Lord, though He began by pronouncing certain characters to be blessed--without express reference to any of His hearers--does not close the beatitudes without intimating that such characters were in existence, and that already they were before Him. Accordingly, from characters He comes to persons possessing them, saying, "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you," &c. (Mat 5:11). And now, continuing this mode of direct personal address, He startles those humble, unknown men by pronouncing them the exalted benefactors of their whole species.
Ye are the salt of the earth--to preserve it from corruption, to season its insipidity, to freshen and sweeten it. The value of salt for these purposes is abundantly referred to by classical writers as well as in Scripture; and hence its symbolical significance in the religious offerings as well of those without as of those within the pale of revealed religion. In Scripture, mankind, under the unrestrained workings of their own evil nature, are represented as entirely corrupt. Thus, before the flood (Gen 6:11-12); after the flood (Gen 8:21); in the days of David (Psa 14:2-3); in the days of Isaiah (Isa 1:5-6); and in the days of Paul (Eph 2:1-3; see also Job 14:4; Job 15:15-16; Joh 3:6; compared with Rom 8:8; Tit 3:2-3). The remedy for this, says our Lord here, is the active presence of His disciples among their fellows. The character and principles of Christians, brought into close contact with it, are designed to arrest the festering corruption of humanity and season its insipidity. But how, it may be asked, are Christians to do this office for their fellow men, if their righteousness only exasperate them, and recoil, in every form of persecution, upon themselves? The answer is: That is but the first and partial effect of their Christianity upon the world: though the great proportion would dislike and reject the truth, a small but noble band would receive and hold it fast; and in the struggle that would ensue, one and another even of the opposing party would come over to His ranks, and at length the Gospel would carry all before it.
Read full note →
but if the salt have lost his savour--"become unsavory" or "insipid"; losing its saline or salting property. The meaning is: If that Christianity on which the health of the world depends, does in any age, region, or individual, exist only in name, or if it contain not those saving elements for want of which the world languishes,
wherewith shall it be salted?--How shall the salting qualities be restored it? (Compare Mar 9:50). Whether salt ever does lose its saline property--about which there is a difference of opinion--is a question of no moment here. The point of the case lies in the supposition--that if it should lose it, the consequence would be as here described. So with Christians. The question is not: Can, or do, the saints ever totally lose that grace which makes them a blessing to their fellow men? But, What is to be the issue of that Christianity which is found wanting in those elements which can alone stay the corruption and season the tastelessness of an all--pervading carnality? The restoration or non-restoration of grace, or true living Christianity, to those who have lost it, has, in our judgment, nothing at all to do here. The question is not, If a man lose his grace, how shall that grace be restored to him? but, Since living Christianity is the only "salt of the earth," if men lose that, what else can supply its place? What follows is the appalling answer to this question.
it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out--a figurative expression of indignant exclusion from the kingdom of God (compare Mat 8:12; Mat 22:13; Joh 6:37; Joh 9:34).
and to be trodden under foot of men--expressive of contempt and scorn. It is not the mere want of a certain character, but the want of it in those whose profession and appearance were fitted to beget expectation of finding it.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 3. Duties enjoined upon the blessed ones, Mat_5:13-16.
3. Duties enjoined upon the blessed ones, Mat_5:13-16.
Thus far we have in Matthew benedictions. We have now commands or injunctions. The blessed ones are compared to salt, and to light; as the former, they must purify and preserve; as the latter, they must illuminate.
Read full note →
13. Ye — This must have been addressed especially to the apostles, who doubtless formed the front circle immediately around our Lord. Indeed, Mat_5:12 seems to show that the benedictions were addressed to them. Yet the multitudes, as listeners, were entitled to appropriate their share.
Salt of the earth — The earth, the living world of men, is like a piece of meat, which would putrify, but that the grace and Gospel of God, like salt, arrests the decay, and purifies and preserves it. The apostles, and in their degree all Christians, are the substance and body of that salt. They are the substance to which the saltness inheres. Salt have lost its savour — If the living body to which this gracious saltness inheres doth lose that quality, whereby shall the quality be restored? Wherewith shall it — shall what? — be salted? — The it refers to the solid salt which has lost its saltness or savour. What, alas! shall ever resalt that savourless salt? The Christian is the solid salt, and the grace of God is his saltness; that grace is the very salt of the salt. Now this solid salt is intended to salt the world with; but, alas I who shall salt the salt? This question the Saviour answers by pronouncing it unanswerable. It is thenceforth good for nothing — This shows that it is the savourless salt which needs the salting. And this strong answer shows, too, that in the case supposed, the saltness is not almost, but completely gone. Not a particle of the grace of God remains, or the loser would not be quite good for nothing. Nor is it to be rightly viewed as a mere abstract possibility, which God secures shall never happen, but a practical matter, which may be believed to happen often and ordinarily. Surely the Antinomian dogma that assures the Christian that God secures him from losing divine grace, cannot stand before this warning passage. Trodden under foot of men — The symbol of utter perdition.
Our Lord’s allusion to salt that has lost its savour is not without a foundation in natural fact. Salt does lose its saltness by chemical decomposition. But we are inclined to think (with Schoettgen) that the allusion is to the bituminous salt from Lake Asphaltites, which was strewn over the sacrifices at the temple in order, by its fragrant odour, to neutralize the smell of the burning flesh, and which, when spoiled by exposure to sun and atmosphere, was cast out upon the walks to prevent the feet from slipping. Dr. Thomson (vol. ii, p. 44) says: “Indeed, it is a well-known fact that the salt of this country, when in contact with the ground, or exposed to rain and sun, does become insipid and useless. From the manner in which it is gathered, much earth and other impurities are necessarily collected with it. Not a little of it is so impure that it cannot be used at all and such salt soon effloresces and turns to dust, not to fruitful soil, however. It is not only good for nothing itself, but it actually destroys all fertility wherever it is thrown; and this is the reason why it is cast into the street. There is a sort of verbal verisimilitude in the manner in which our Lord alludes to the act: ‘it is… cast out’ and ‘trodden under foot;’ so troublesome is this corrupted salt, that it is carefully swept up, carried forth, and thrown into the street. There is no place about the house, yard, or garden, where it can be tolerated. No man will allow it to be thrown on to his field, and the only place for it is in the street, and there it is cast, to be trodden under foot of men.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain (2) Their responsibility, Mat_5:13-16.
(2) Their responsibility, Mat_5:13-16.
13. Ye are the salt of the earth] Here the disciples and primarily the Apostles are addressed. Those who fulfil the condition of discipleship have a responsibility laid upon them.
Read full note →
have lost his savour] i. e. become tasteless. Salt is essential to all organized life, it is also the great preservative from corruption. If these virtues pass from it, it is worse than useless. It cannot even be thrown on the fields, it must be cast into the street to be trodden under foot. (See a very interesting illustration of this in Land and Book, pp. 381, 382.) So to the apostles who hold the highest and most necessary places in the kingdom of God, there is no middle course, either they must be the salt of the earth, be its very life, or fall utterly. If not Peter, then Judas.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (13) Ye are the salt of the earth.—The words…
(13) Ye are the salt of the earth.—The words are spoken to the disciples in their ideal character, as the germ of a new Israel, called to a prophetic work, preserving the earth from moral putrescence and decay. The general reference to this antiseptic action of salt is (as in Col_4:6, and possibly in the symbolic act of Elisha, 2Ki_2:21) enough to give an adequate meaning to the words, but the special reference to the sacrificial use of salt in Mar_9:49 (see Note there) makes it probable enough that there was some allusion to that thought also here.
If the salt have lost his savour.—The salt commonly used by the Jews of old, as now, came from Jebel-Usdum, on the shores of the Dead Sea, and was known as the Salt of Sodom. Maundrell, the Eastern traveller (circ. A.D. 1690), reports that he found lumps of rock-salt there which had become partially flavourless, but I am not aware that this has been confirmed by recent travellers. Common salt, as is well known, will melt if exposed to moisture, but does not lose its saltness. The question is more curious than important, and does not affect the ideal case represented in our Lord’s words.
Read full note →
Wherewith shall it be salted?—The words imply a relative if not an absolute impossibility. If gifts, graces, blessings, a high calling, and a high work fail, what remains? The parable finds its interpretation in Heb_6:1-6.
To be trodden under foot of men.—The Talmud shows (Schottgen in loc.) that the salt which had become unfit for sacrificial use in the store-house was sprinkled in wet weather upon the slopes and steps of the temple to prevent the feet of the priests from slipping, and we may accordingly see in our Lord’s words a possible reference to this practice.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Ye are the salt, etc.. (cf. a similar saying…
Ye are the salt, etc.. (cf. a similar saying in Mar_9:50 Luk_14:34, Luk_14:35) Weiss thinks that St. Luke gives it in its original context; that St. Matthew is right in interpreting it as of special reference to the disciples; and that St. Mark applies it the most freely. It may, indeed, be that its position here is only the result of the inspired guidance of the evangelist; but, on the whole, it seems more probable that so natural a figure was used more than once by our Lord, and that he really spoke these words in his sermon on the mount, as well as on the later occasion indicated by St. Luke. Ye; i.e. the mayhtai of ver. 1. Are, in fact (este); therefore recognize the responsibility. The salt of the earth. It has been disputed whether allusion is here made to the preservative properties of salt or to the flavour it imparts; i.e. whether Christ is thinking of his disciples as preserving the world from decay, or as giving it a good flavour to the Divine taste. Surely a useless question; forgetful of the fact that spiritual realities are being dealt with, and that it is therefore impossible for the one effect to be really separated from the other. Our Lord is thinking of the moral tone which his disciples are to give to humanity. The connexion with vers. 11, 12 is Persecution must be borne unless you are to lose your moral tone, which is to be to the earth what salt is to its surroundings, preserving from corruption and fitting for (in your case Divine) appreciation. What cariv is to be to the Christian logov , (Col_4:6) that the Christian himself is to be to the world. If... have lost its savour (mwranyh); so elsewhere in Luk_14:34 only. Salt that has lost its distinctive qualities is here said to lack its proper mind or sense. Salt without sharpness is like an anyrwpov alogov ; for man is a zwon logikon . On the fact of salt losing its virtue, cf. Thomson ("Land and the Book," p. 382: 1887), "It is a well-known fact that the salt of this country i.e. Palestine when in contact with the ground, or exposed to rain and sun, does become insipid and useless. From the manner in which it is gathered vide infra, much earth and other impurities are necessarily collected with it. Not a little of it is so impure that it cannot be used at all; and such salt soon effloresces and turns to dust not to fruitful soil, however. It is not only good for nothing itself, but it actually destroys all fertility wherever it is thrown.... No man will allow it to be thrown on to his field, and the only place for it is the street; and there it is cast, to be trodden under foot of men." It should be observed that the salt used in Palestine is not manufactured by boiling clean salt water, nor quarried from mines, but is obtained from marshes along the seashore, as in Cyprus, or from salt lakes in the interior, which dry up in summer, as the one in the desert north of Palmyra, and the great Lake of Jebbul, south-east of Aleppo. Further, rock-salt is found in abundance at the south end of the Dead Sea (cf. Thomson, loc. cit). Wherewith shall it be salted? i.e. not if you will not act as salt, wherewith shall the earth be salted? (apparently Luther and Erasmus); but what quality can take the place of moral tone to produce in you the same result? You are as salt. If you lose your distinctive qualities, where, can you find that which answers to them? It is thenceforth good for nothing. Our Lord here lays stress, not on want of fitness (euyeton , Luke), but on want of inherent power. "It is only useful for that purpose to which one applies what is absolutely useless" (Weiss-Meyer).
Vers. 13, 14. Salt and light.
Read full note →
Christ regards his people as the salt of the earth and as the light of the world. In both characters they have a mission to others. The Church exists for the sake of the world. She has a large vocation; the whole earth is the field of her work, and there she is to labour not for her own ends, but to benefit mankind. How grievous is the perversion of those who exactly reverse the position of Christ, and behave as though the world only existed for the benefit of the Church!
I THE SALT.
1. Its function. The salt is to preserve that on which it is sprinkled from corrupting.
(1) The world is in danger of sinking into corruption. Society is threatened with disintegration by the mutual opposition of conflicting classes. Domestic life is corroded by immorality and intemperance. "Naturalism" defiles art. Frivolous amusements tend to become unwholesome. Therefore a preserving and purifying agent is needed.
(2) The world is worth preserving. Otherwise why salt it? Christ does not desire the destruction of civilization, but its preservation. Christianity is not nihilism. Politics, commerce, art, literature, are all worth keeping from corruption.
1. Its action. Salt is antiseptic. The Church is expected to be of the same character; not merely to be pure, but to purify. This is not confined to definite crusades against evil. The mere presence of good men and women in the world tends to keep it sound and healthy, by the silent influence of example. The old heathen world was rotting in vice when the Christians appeared and infused a new life of purity into society. We cannot calculate the advantage to the whole world of the presence in it to-day of pure-minded, earnest, unselfish, good men and women. A few such, like a little salt, have an immense influence in preserving a great mass of society.
2. Its failure. The salt may lose its savour. It may not have become corrupt. Yet as a negative thing it is then useless, and only fit to be cast away as so much dust. If the grace of God, if the spirit of" Christ, if the Divine life, vanish from the Church, the corporation may still exist, but its mission will have ceased. For the sake of the world the spiritual vigour of the Church must be preserved. It will not do to be too conciliatory to society. The Church is salt, not sugar.
II LIGHT.
1. Its nature. Light banishes night. It reveals our danger, shows our path, cheers our hearts, and refreshes our health. All these things are expected of Christian influence on the world.
2. Its position. A city on a hill; a lamp on its stand. Christians are not to be ashamed of their confession. It is the duty of the Church to be prominent, not for her own sake for her own prestige but to spread light on others.
3. Its radiance. The light streams out by means of good works. The world cares little for our words, but it has a sharp eye for our works. We want a new gospel for the present age, one written on the lives of Christians, that the world may see the reality of what we preach.
4. Its object, The glory of God. If this last point had not been added, it might have seemed as though the self-glorification were allowable. But our works are not to our own credit, because, if they are good, all the goodness in them comes from the grace of God. Therefore we glorify God in bearing fruit, by so living that his life shines out through our conduct. W.F.A.
Vers. 13-16. The startling salutation.
The announcements of the Beatitudes were necessarily startling in their matter, even when considered as delivered simply generally, whether the world or any in it hear or forbear. They breathed a spirit and plainly laid down views with which those of the world were so utterly at variance. The estrangement was almost absolute, and amounted to the rigour of alienation. Notice, then, in these words
I THE ASSISTANCE THEY OFFER TO THE DISCIPLES TOWARDS REALIZING THEIR OWN RELATION IN PARTICULAR TO THESE BEATITUDES. If they are to be, in truth, disciples of Christ, it is necessary that they at least get a firm grip upon the principles underlying the Beatitudes. And it is a great assistance to this how many significant analogies we know! to have their own position, i.e. that awaiting them, placed so as to confront them at once. Great theoretic surprises are often converted most beneficently into startling personal and practical surprises. The theoretic surprise would end in nothing but vague dissipation of mind; the personal surprise startles into thought, duty, enterprise. And of such nature surely were these two descriptions of themselves addressed so unexpectedly to the disciples, viz. "Ye are the salt of the earth... ye are the light of the world." The value of the bracing effect of them cannot be overestimated.
II THE ASSISTANCE THEY GAVE TO THE DISCIPLES TOWARDS COMPREHENDING THEIR OWN CALL. Of oral lessons, these must have been among the first; and in the nature of energizing, refreshing salutations to minds and lives that had never dreamed of what was in store for either the one or the other. Now must have dated the birth within them of some more adequate sense of the dread responsibility of that call. This awakening was not by the path of despairing, overawing, crushing convictions, but by the very contrary:
(1) by the challenge of great truths;
(2) by the incitements of grace, peace, honour, dignity, so soon as once they. took the true idea of dignity, what it is;
(3) the almost unfailing stirrings of consciousness of great, active work before them. How could they sleep, how could thought be dead, how heart or hand be slow, after the voice of such a salutation had gained entrance to their power to hear?
III THE CROWNING ASSISTANCE THEY GAVE IN THE TWO FIGURES THEY USE. They are such very strong figures. They can"t fall on listless ears. They can"t fail of making their due impression. They well utter out their unambiguous significance to those disciples. They are of world-wide interpretationsalt" for and of the earth, light" for heaven and the whole procession of things created. The absolute plainness and boldness of these figures enhance immensely their likely usefulness, and go no little way to disarm them of one possible danger, viz. the danger, had they been more covert in their manner, of feeding self-importance, self-assertion, and vanity in those newly called disciples. St. Augustine well says, "Not he that suffers persecution is trodden underfoot of men, but he who through fear of persecution falls away.
IV THE DISTINCT REFERENCE TO THE CARDINAL FACT THAT GOD WAS TO BE GLORIFIED IN ALL. The "light" of these men is to be the light of those who are "light in the Lord." Their light is to shine; it is not to be hidden; it is not to be obscure. Their light is to be the light and lustre that assuredly belong to "good works." These "good works" are to be now "seen of men," and in one certain sense they are to be done. so that and in order that men may see them; but the end is to rest not there, and the glory is not to be reflected back on the disciples. The end is that "men may glorify" the Father, of whom the grace and power and light come that make "good works," and who himself is "all Light," and the "Giver of all light. B.
Vers. 13-16. Sermon on the mount: 2. Influence of Christians: salt and light.
Our Lord assured his disciples that very bad treatment in this life might only be the prelude to eternal happiness. He is in the position of a general who is launching his men on an enterprise which will try them to the utmost. So he not only affirms that they will be rewarded, but reminds them how much depends on them. If you faint, what hope is there for the world? He speaks of their relation to the world under two figures salt and light.
I Salt was often used as a symbol of anything, like itself, pungent. Wit was so called, and in Christian times a gracious tone in conversation; in each case because of their power of redeeming from insipidity. But salt is used to preserve from corruption; and though the figure which represents society as tending to rot and dissolve is a strong one, any one who knows the facts knows how thoroughly appropriate it was. Nor can it be said to be inapplicable to society or family life now, though Christianity has acted so far like salt that corruption is not so flagrantly obtrusive. But the point chiefly emphasized is that they were the salt. They were not to expect to get good so much as to do good. It is their calling to counterwork the corruption that is in the world. All those things that tend to the lowering of spiritual life are the objects on which they are to act, and if instead of this they yield to them, it is because the salt has lost its savour. If the very persons who are appointed and equipped to carry with them a health-giving influence are themselves prostrated by the evil infection, if disinfectants carry disease-germs, what shall avail us? "If the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is good for nothing," says our Lord, "but to be cast out, and trodden under foot of men." This also is a strong, severe figure. Plainly we are intended to infer that nothing is more contemptible than a Christian who does nothing to stay corruption. He is a soldier who wears the uniform of his regiment, but leaves the fighting to others; a physician who declines to visit the sick. It is of the very essence of the Christian that he makes some impression on the world. The terms of Christ"s call are, "I have chosen you, and placed you, that you might bring forth fruit." Observe that this figure applies especially to beginnings of evil, and to our treatment of the young. Salt can prevent corruption; it cannot cure it. Consider to what the smallest germ of sin in a child may grow; to what extent our life may become corrupt if we neglect to keep the salt of Christian principle.
II Another danger threatens the disciples of Christ. While some will give up Christian principle altogether when they find how seriously it brings them into antagonism with the world, others will try to hide it. They will continue Christians, but secretly. It is this timorous evasion of opportunities of confessing Christ that he aims at in the figure, "Ye are the light of the world." In this figure several things are implied, as:
(1) that Christians are set for the illuminating of the world;
(2) that what illuminates must itself be visible;
(3) that it is as natural to genuine Christian principle to become visible as it is for light to shine.
1. Christians are set for the illuminating of the world. Our Lord kindled thefew men who accepted him as the Light of the world, and they in turn kindled others. He has trusted himself with his followers. He has left it to us to maintain the knowledge of him on the earth, and to hand on the light which all men need. Christians were not to retire and hide themselves, satisfied if they could keep their own souls alive. They were to enter into all the innocent relationships and engagements of life, and so use them as to show their light. All our connections with the world are candlesticks, from which the light may advantageously shine. Persecution itself is one. "Truth, like a torch, the more it"s shook it shines." The parental relation is another candlestick. Natural talent may set a man on such an eminence that his light is shed over the land; but all men have some stand from which they can shine, if it is in them to shine. Not the candlestick makes so much difference as the light you put in it. Does any say, "How can I shine a dull, torpid mass?" Yet not so torpid probably as never to try to influence your fellows in some way. And the dullest body may be a good reflector of light shed. on it. The Christian"s is not a self-kindled light.
2. The lesson more directly taught is, that whatever illuminates must itself be visible. If your conduct is to teach a better way to men, your conduct must be seen. Therefore are works here emphasized. Men cannot see your fine ideas, your noble purposes, your holy aspirations. Your thoughts about Christ, your faith in him, your tenderness of heart towards him, are as the oil in the lighthouse lamp. If no light is shown, shipwrecks will not be prevented. So it will not avail to prevent moral wrecks that you have felt anxious, devised ways of aiding, if you have done nothing. The man who is content to save his own soul, and is afraid to interfere with the wickedness around him, is not even saving his own soul. To the light hid under a bushel, or under a bed, one of two things will happen it will either go out altogether, choked for want of air, or it will burn through its covering and find surprising expression for itself. For:
3. It is of the essence of Christian character to shine, to become visible. There is a kind of Christianity which burns high or low according to the company it is in. But the fact that it can be thus artificially manipulated, like a gas-jet, shows it is an artificial, and not a genuine, Christianity. If you are a Christian you have a law which covers your whole life, and a new spirit within you. Can a man have new fresh blood in his veins and that not show itself"? Just as little can a man have the joy of Christ"s love and the reviving energy of his Spirit in his heart, and these not be seen in his demeanour. This witnessing for Christ is not an optional matter. "The good tree will show the good fruit. It cannot go on bearing the old bad fruit out of modesty or a pretended shrinking from ostentation; it must reveal the righteousness of God within by the righteousness of God without, else it is a mockery." The practical object our Lord has in view is declared in the words, "Let your light thus shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." How does this agree with the injunction to hide your good works not to let your right hand know what your left hand does? In this way. We are to avoid the two extremes of ostentation and timorous shrinking in our conduct; to abandon all affectation, all false delicacy, all pretended modesty and real fear, and live out with simplicity and fearlessness the Christian principle we know and accept. Observe that when our Lord specifies "good works" he does not exclude good words. Often it is a good work to speak the word wanted. And though it is often one of the most difficult of duties, it is certain that we are guilty if we neglect this mode of confessing Christ before men. To be backward in this is a sign that our own light is burning low. D.
Vers. 13-16. Christian influence.
It was not to the outside multitude, but to his own disciples, that Jesus addressed these words. To these, more immediately, the whole sermon was preached (see vers. 1, 2). We have to consider Christians
I AS THE SALT OF THE EARTH.
1. God"s instruments for its purification.
(1) Salt is a symbol of purity. It is opposed to leaven, which, by its fermenting properties, hastens corruption; and is a symbol of impurity. (cf. Lev_2:13 1Co_5:8) Christians are distinguished as "saints.
(2) Christians are purifiers. By holy example. By zealous efforts. By fervent prayers.
2. They impart relish to life.
(1) There is no relish to meat comparable to salt. (cf. Job_6:6 Ezr_4:14) Hence "salary.
(2) Christian influence is civilizing. Life where Christian influences are least felt is all but intolerable. Amongst the criminal classes. Amongst savage men.
(3) Christian influence is regenerating. (cf. Mar_9:49, 50 Col_4:6 Eph_4:29) Regeneration is the higher civilization.
3. They preserve the world from destruction.
(1) Salt has the property of preserving animal substance from decomposition. The people of the covenant are the people of the salt. (see Num_18:19)
(2) Sin is disintegrating. It destroyed the world in the deluge of water. It will provoke the deluge of fire. It is the destruction of nations.
(3) The respite of the wicked is in the prayer of the righteous. For ten righteous" sake God would have spared Sodom. (see also Eze_14:14, Eze_14:20)
4. In preserving they are preserved.
(1) Salt may lose its savour. Maundrell, in describing the Valley of Salt, says, "I broke a piece of that part which was exposed to the rain, sun, and air. Though it had the sparks and particles of salt, yet it had perfectly lost its savour. The inner part which was connected to the rock retained its savour, as I found by proof" ("Travels," 5th edit., last page). So may the Christian lose his true life by yielding to evil influences. (see Heb_6:4-6)
(2) Salt without savour is useless as the timber of the vine. "Good for nothing." Obstruction to good by giving, false views of religion.
(3) Fit subjects for contempt. "Cast out," viz. from the Church. If not from the visible, certainly from the spiritual. Trampled.
(4) Let loiterers be admonished.
II AS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.
1. They shine through union with Christ.
(1) Christ is the true "Light of the world". (see Joh_8:12) Light was the first creation and emblem of the Word. In his "Loges state" he appeared in light. When the Word was made flesh the glory was there, but veiled. (see Joh_1:14)
(2) Christians, like planets, shine by reflection. (cf. Eph_5:8; see also Php_2:15) The moon, which also shines by reflection, is the figure of the Church the community of saints.
(3) The Church enlightens the moral night of the world.
2. They shine in union with the Church.
(1) This is suggested in the similes. The city on the hill probably alludes to Jerusalem, an emblem of the Church. The candlestick is a like simile. (Rev_1:20)
(2) The light of Christian profession is most influential there. "Cannot be hid." Shines for the benefit of "all that are in the house" The family. The Church. The world.
(3) Eccentric religionists are here rebuked.
3. They shine in good works.
(1) Righteous works. Justice in judgment. Justice in dealings.
(2) Beneficent works. For the bodies of men. For the souls of men. Kindness to inferior animals.
(3) Consistent works. The eye of the world is keen to discern inconsistencies in professors of religion. Nobody notices the mud on the back of a sweep; but an ink-spot on a lady"s muslin is matter for animadversion.
4. They shine in noble motives.
(1) Not for self-glorification. "Works" are to be seen, not self. They are to be "seen," not heard.
(2) For the glory of the Father in heaven. Unostentatious goodness is fit matter for praise to God. (see Gal_1:24) It is a motive for piety. Beautiful examples are powerful influences.
5. They live in their shining.
(1) The light under a bushel will go out. The contained oxygen will be soon consumed. On the lamp-stand it will live.
(2) Bushels will conceal and extinguish the light of life. Apathy: foolish virgins. Cowardice: Peter and the maid. Worldliness. Covetousness. Vanity. J.A.M.
Vers. 13-16. The influence of sanctified characters.
The righteousness which Christ commends will exert in the world a most gracious moral influence. It will season, as the salt does; it will illuminate and quicken, as the light does. "Salt seasons things, causing things to taste savoury, which otherwise would be no way pleasant, or wholesome, or good for the body." "Our Lord applies to his disciples the stronger word "light," i.e. essential light, rather than any which signifies merely a light-bearer. They are not only to reflect or transmit this light, but to become themselves "lights." The believer is not a mere reflector, in himself dead and dark, receiving and emitting rays; he is a new seat and centre of spiritual life." As Christ was pleased to use the two figures of the "salt" and the "light" as illustrative of sanctified character, we may consider the suggestions which the two figures have in common.
I BOTH "SALT" AND "LIGHT" ARE SILENTLY WORKING FORCES. Neither makes any noise. The one works away at the arresting of corrupting processes, the other works away at the quickening and invigorating of life, but neither seeks to draw any attention to itself, or has any open boasting to make. And the silent forces are usually the mightiest. This is an essential peculiarity of Christian character. It has no voice. It cannot brag. It works, it exerts its influence, but it says nothing about it. Illustrate the power of Florence Nightingale in the Crimean hospitals, or of Mrs. Fry in the English prisons. Truly wonderful is the sanctifying power of silent goodness.
II BOTH "SALT" AND "LIGHT" ARE INTERIOR-WORKING FORCES. This is, at first sight, more evidently true of "salt" than of "light." You must put salt into things, and hide it in them. But the light cannot do its full work until it can get inside things. Its surface-work is its least work. It is warmth in things. It is quickening in things. And so the influences of Christian character work within men, in thought, and motive, and feeling, and resolve. The good have their spheres of influence in the souls of their fellows. They feel a power they may not confess they feel.
III BOTH "SALT" AND "LIGHT" ARE PERSISTENTLY WORKING FORCES. They keep on as long as there is sphere for their activity. This is the most important element of power in established Christian character. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John A. Broadus 1886 · Public Domain Mat 5:13-16.
Mat 5:13-16.
Influence And Responsibility Of The Subjects Of Messiah’s Reign
Read full note →
The influence and consequent responsibility of Christ’s disciples (see Analysis in the Introduction to this discourse) are here exhibited by means of two figures, salt and light. The general thought is that they have a great work to do, and persecution (Mat 5:10-12) must not cause them to neglect it. Several of the characteristics just ascribed to them, as meek, peacemakers, persecuted for righteousness’ sake, pertain to their relation to others, and qualify for useful exertions and influence.
Mat 5:13. As salt preserves things from corruption and decay, so it is the office of Christians to preserve the mass of mankind from utter moral corruption and ruin. Some bring in also the idea of salt as seasoning—that Christians are to save life from being stale and flat—but this seems strained, and little in harmony with the general tone of the discourse Others say (Grimm) that salt of the earth must mean some saline fertilizing material, but this is forbidden by the next clause.—There is no propriety in restricting the saying to ministers, as is done by some Fathers, by Romanists in general, and by Calvin, Gill, and others. Jesus meant the ’disciples’ (Mat 5:1) as distinguished from the world in general, but not particularly the Twelve; certainly Matthew cannot have so Understood, as he has not yet mentioned the Twelve; and nobody thinks the Beatitudes were addressed to the Twelve more than other disciples (notice the ’you’ in Mat 5:11, Mat 5:12.). A minister’s calling gives him special influence, but so will another disciple’s wealth, social or official position, talents, attainments, etc.—Notice (Mey.) how the expressions used for mankind correspond to the images; the salt of the earth, the mass of mankind to be penetrated and preserved; the light of the world, the expanse over which it is to shine. Ye is expressed in the Greek and so is emphatic (in Mat 5:14 also). You, the often poor, persecuted (Mat 5:10-12), are of great importance to the world, end must fulfil your duty to it. Are. Already true of the disciples addressed, and a permanent fact as to Christ’s disciples in general.
But this high office of Christians is by no means to become an occasion for spiritual pride; rather does our Lord proceed to show the evils of failing to exert the salutary influence in question. Have lost his—rather its—savour, become tasteless. For ’its’ instead of the old neuter possessive ’his,’ see on "Mat 24:32". The same idea is expressed in Mar 9:50, by ’lost his saltness.’[1] Until lately there was hardly satisfactory evidence (Schottgen) that this ever actually happens, and commentators generally held the expression to be a mere supposition. But Maundrell’s statement (about A. D. 1690) that he found south of the Dead Sea masses of salt that had become tasteless, is now supported by Thomson: "It is a well-known fact that the salt of this country [Palestine], when in contact with the ground, or exposed to rain and sun, does become insipid and useless. From the manner in which it is gathered, much earth and other impurities are necessarily collected with it. Not a little of it is so impure that it cannot be used at all; and such salt soon effloresces and turns to dust-not to fruitful soil, however. It is not only good for nothing itself, but it actually destroys all fertility wherever it is thrown; and this is the reason why it is cast into the street." "The sweeping out of the spoiled salt and casting it into the street, are actions familiar to all men." See more fully in vol. ii., p. 361-3. The case supposed is thus seen to be one of actual and frequent occurrence. The application is obvious. Christians must perform their function, must really serve as salt to mankind, or they will be worthless and contemptible, and that irrecoverably. Some, (Luther, etc.), understand wherewith[2] shall it be salted, impersonally, with what shall salting then be done; but this is unsuitable to the connection, for it would require the next words to declare that there is no substitute for salt. In the similar expression of Mark (Mar 9:50) it is clearly personal; ’wherewith will you season—or, salt—it?’ Maldonatus: "There is no salt for salt." Luke (Luk 14:34) gives the same image as used in a different connection. Good for nothing, literally, has no force or efficacy. Those who employ our Lord’s image here in support of the idea that the regenerate may wholly "lose their religion," ought to observe that it would also teach that they can never recover it. In this case, as in others, a view of the mournful effects which would follow utter apostasy, is employed as one means of preserving from it. Our Lord’s design is not negative but positive, to arouse his disciples to watchful diligence and persevering devotion. Many of the Jews who professed to be very religious, were orthodox and scrupulous without real piety, and the subjects of the reign must not be so.
[1] Matthew’s word (same in Luk 14:34) means primarily to make foolish, (Compare Mat 5:22) and is so used in Rom 1:22, 1Co 1:20. A witty saying which loses the salt of wit becomes silly, and so by a reaction in the figure salt is said to be made foolish by losing its saltness. A Greek writer (Wet.) speaks of roots that are foolish, (e.i., insipid) to the taster. So the Latin fatuus was sometimes used.
[2] ’Wherewith’ is literally’in what,’ the action being conceived in such eases as located in that which is the material, means, etc., of performing it. Such uses of ’in’ are found rarely in English, oftener in classical Greek, and quite frequently in Hebrew and Hebraized Greek. Compare on Mat 3:11.
Mat 5:14. The same idea is here presented by a second image, which has a natural relation to the former. Pliny (Wet.): "To all bodies there is nothing more useful than salt and sun." Ye, emphatic, as in Mat 5:13. Jesus elsewhere declares that he himself is the Light of the world. (Joh 8:12, Joh 9:5, Joh 12:35, 1Jn 1:7 ff.) We of course understand that the light which his people emit is really derived from him. (Eph 5:8) In Php 2:15 they are compared to the heavenly luminaries; in Joh 5:35 the Baptist is called, literally, the burning and shining lamp’—which Jesus had probably said before he spoke the Sermon on the Mount. Here Christians are the light of the world, the source of spiritual light to it, as the sun (Joh 11:9) is of natural light. They are the light by means of which the world, the mass of mankind, may see the things of religion, may see the truth about God and his service. Compare Wisdom 4:26. "The multitude of the wise is the salvation of the world." Ep. to Diognetus, 6, "What soul is in body, this are Christians in the world." —Anything that gives light will be observed, and Christians, as being the light of the world, cannot escape observation if they would. But this thought is presented more forcibly by changing the figure. A city that is set on a hill—or mountain—cannot be hid, being thus seen distinctly, on all sides, and from a distance. Cities thus situated were not uncommon in Galilee—as in most other hilly countries in ancient times—and Jesus may perhaps have pointed to one while speaking; but it is idle to conjecture which one. The houses were often built (as they are now) of a very white limestone, which would make the city more distinctly visible. The thought plainly is, that Christians occupy of necessity a conspicuous position, and must be seen. To make it mean "the church," on Mount Zion (Stier, Keil, etc.), is utterly unnatural. There is still probably some reference to the persecutions spoken of in Mat 5:11 f., which might make the faint-hearted desire to withdraw from observation.
Mat 5:15. And Christians should not wish to avoid being observed, even if they could. Such was not the divine design in making them sources of light. Neither do men—literally they, impersonal as in Mat 5:11. A—the—bushel, i. e., the one kept in the house. The Greek word (borrowed from Latin, as it was natural that Roman measures should become common in the provinces) denotes a measure containing about a peck; but it is better for us to retain the familiar term, the exact dimensions being of no importance to the idea, which is simply that of concealment, and is elsewhere expressed by putting the lamp under the bed. (Mar 4:21) ’Candle ’and’ candlestick’ are misleading, the thing meant being a lamp and a lamp-stand. Giveth light—or shines. The Greek word is the same as in the succeeding verse. Here, as often, the common version has obscured the connection by unnecessarily varying the terms. The fault began here with Tyndale, and was adopted by all his early successors except Rheims.—In Luk 8:16 and Luk 11:33 we find the same saying (slightly varied) used on other occasions and with a different application.
Mat 5:16.Let your light so shine. As the lamp which is not hidden but set on the stand shines for all that are in the house, so let your light shine before men, that (in order that)[1] they may see, etc. The position of the words in the Greek (in which ’so’ is the first word), shows the emphasis to be on ’so’ and ’shine,’ and ’so’ signifies in the way suggested by the image of the preceding sentence. The incorrect position of ’so’ in Com. Ver. (from Tyndale) encourages the erroneous idea that it means in such a way that (as the result) men may see, etc. Before. Not simply ’for men,’ for their benefit, as in the preceding clause, but ’before men,’ in their presence. That they may see..... and glorify. There is no propriety in saying that this is merely equivalent to ’that seeing.... they may glorify.’ The passage teaches us to desire and design that men may see, because thus the higher object will be secured, their glorifying God. (Compare on Mat 6:1, Mat 6:3, Mat 6:4.) Ostentation of good works, which Jesus afterwards (Mat 6:1) so severely condemns, would be like flaunting the lamp at the door, instead of simply setting it on its appropriate stand. The shining of the light consists in good works. (Compare Tit 3:8) In order thus to shine, the works must not merely be morally good (agatha as Rom 13:3), but also morally beautiful, (kala here and in 1Pe 2:12), attracting the admiring attention of others. (Achelis.) He does not say ’may glorify you,’ for the good works of God’s children are all due to him, and hence the beholders ought not to praise them, but, to glorify their Father. (Compare Mat 9:8; 1Pe 2:12) For the phrase Father... in heaven, see on "Mat 6:9". Alexander. "Thus the Saviour winds up this division of his great discourse, by leading his disciples through the homeliest and most familiar every-day analogies of common life, to the sublime and final end of all existence."
[1] Probably no one would now claim that hopos anywhere denotes mere result or effect,as Com. Ver. makes it, the meaning being purpose or design. Another important example is in Luk 16:26.
Homiletical And Practical
Mat 5:13. Those whom "society" despises (Mat 5:11) may yet be indispensable to its highest welfare. Contempt and reviling must not prevent them from striving to exert a wholesome religious influence. But if professed Christians be useless, then are they really despicable. Trampled on, (a) undeservedly, (Mat 5:11) (b) deservedly.—Henry: (Mat 5:13) "Let God be glorified in the shame and rejection of those by whom he has been reproached, and who have made themselves fit for nothing but to be trampled upon."
Mat 5:14. Christians a light to the world.
I. What may they show? (1) That Christianity is true. (2) That Christian piety is practicable. (3) That a life of piety is desirable.
II. How may they show it? (1) By what they say—in public—private. (2) By what they do, good works. (Mat 5:16.)
Mat 5:14-16. Piety shining. (1) A Christian cannot escape observation if he would—a city on a hill. (2) A Christian should not wish to hide his piety—the lamp under the bushel. (3) A Christian should show piety in natural and appropriate ways—the lamp on the lamp-stand. Christian should let his piety shine with no selfish aim, but for the good of man and the glory of God.
Mat 5:15. Chrys.: "Nothing makes a man so illustrious as the manifestation of virtue; for he shines as if clad with sunbeams." Clem. Alex. (Wet.) gives a tradition that Matthias the apostle used to say that if a pious man’s neighbour sin, he himself has sinned; for if he had ordered his life aright the neighbour would have been restrained by his example.
Mat 5:16. "Wrong and right ways of exhibiting good works."—Talmud Jer. (Wünsche): "It is not enough to be innocent before God, one must show his innocence before men also. "If Christians do evil works, men will be pretty sure to see them, and to speak against God and his cause. (Rom 2:24 Eze 36:20) Rousseau (Griffith): "Ah! what an argument against the unbeliever is the life of the Christian! No, man is not thus of himself; something more than human is reigning here." Chrys.: "Or if there should eves be some who speak evil of thee, search into their conscience and thou shalt see them applauding and admiring thee." Stier: "The good word without the good walk is of no avail." —Men will not be saved by abstract truth, but by truth embodied, (1) in a personal Saviour; (2) in saved persons.
No Christian has a right to be regardless of his reputation, for not himself alone is concerned. He may imagine it matters little for him what men may think, since God knows his heart; but in so far as men do him injustice, they fail to render that glory to God which his good works ought to secure; and so, out of regard for the cause with which he is identified, he should not suffer himself to be misunderstood or misrepresented, where it can be avoided.—This passage, Mat 5:13-16, should lead the Christian reader at once to tremble at his responsibility and to rejoice at his privilege. How much harm we do by our inconsistencies how much good we may do, the least influential among us, by simply being what we profess to be. Tyree ("The Living Epistle"): "Of all modes of inculcating Christianity, exemplifying it is the best. The best commentary on the Bible the world has ever seen is a holy life. The most eloquent sermon in behalf of the gospel that the world has ever heard is a uniform, active piety. The best version of the written truth that has ever been made is a consistent religious example. The Christian whose light thus shines not only correctly renders, but beautifies the sacred text..... While the truth is being read from the Bible, and proclaimed from the pulpit, let all the members of our churches second and enforce that truth by the silent eloquence of holy lives, and the world’s conversion will move forward at home and abroad, with primitive speed."
John A. Broadus, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (American Baptist Publication Society, 1886) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Salt of the earth.
Mat_5:13
Salt of the earth.
Read full note →
The elect of God
I. Here is Christs sublime definition of the Christian life, and of those who compose His Church. The Church exists for the worlds sake more than for its own. Christs disciples are to be saviours of others.
II. Is not this the doctrine of election as our Saviour understood it? Gods people are chosen, not for their own comfort, but to show men the beauty of the Divine life, and to raise them to the same level.
III. It is quality more than quantity that does Gods work in the world. All history and progress are at bottom the life-story of the chosen few.
IV. It should be one great object of our prayer and effort to keep up the moral and spiritual standard of the elect few. (J. G. Greenhough, M. A.)
The purification of society
1. The disciples of Jesus Christ should seek to prevent the corruption of literature.
2. They should seek to prevent the corruption of public amusements.
3. They should seek to prevent the corruption of parochial and political life.
4. They should seek to prevent the corruption of commercial life. (G. W. McCree.)
The great calling of the disciples of Christ
1. Salt is intended to nourish: it is an article of food. The godly must nourish the earth spiritually.
2. Salt is intended to preserve.
3. Salt has also a consuming power. There is something sharp, biting, and aggressive in it. Laid on a wound it is painful. The Christian often pains men to heal them. (T. Christlieb, D. D.)
Salt without savour
These words must have seemed ridiculously presumptuous when they were first spoken.
I. The high task of Christs disciples as here set forth. This metaphor involves two things: a grave judgment as to the actual state of society, and a lofty claim as to what Christs followers can do for it. It is corrupt; you do not salt a living thing. It is the power and obligation of the good to arrest corruption by their own purity. The example of Christian men is not only repressive, it ought to tempt forth all that is purest in the people with whom they come into contact. Salt does its work by being brought into close contact with the thing which it is to work upon. It does its work silently, inconspicuously, gradually.
II. The grave possibility of the salt losing its savour. It is evident that there is the obliteration of the distinction between the salt and the mass into which it is inserted. Is there any difference between your ideal of happiness and the irreligious one?
III. The solemn question, Is there a possibility of resalting the saltless salt, of restoring the lost savour? These words not to be pushed to the extreme.
IV. The certain end of the saltless salt. You cannot put it upon the soil; there is no fertilizing virtue in it. You cannot even fling it into the rubbish heap; it will do mischief there. Pitch it out into the road; it will stop a cranny somewhere between the stones when once it is well trodden down by mens heels. That is all it is fit for. God has no use for it; man has no use for it. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
I. The world as constituting the particular sphere of the Christians influence. Moral state of the world at large, and that portion in particular where our influence is most felt. How insensible are we of it, etc.
II. Illustrate and apply this interesting and important truth. Explain the metaphor. All true believers in Jesus are denominated the salt of the earth, because all that is Divine and holy and precious exists in them, and in them only. The moral influence of the Christian, as it is exerted, applies to the Church in its collective capacity.
III. The decay of the inner life, as manifested in the impaired vigour of Christian influence, figuratively set forth by the salt that hath lost its savour, and its consequent unprofitableness. The salt may again be salted-the inner life may be revived. (Dr. O. Winslow.)
Christians called salt
The ideal of an active and efficient Christian character. It is like salt. How?
I. In its constituent elements. As salt is made up of chlorine and sodium chemically united, so a Christian character is composed of faith and works in union.
(a) As chlorine gas is a deadly poison by itself, so faith without works killeth.
(b) As the metal sodium is destitute alone of the saving quality of salt, so works without faith are destitute of merit to save the soul.
(c) As the chemical union of the two elements forms a third substance, with a new and useful quality, so faith and works, when united, give life and efficiency to Christian character.
II. In its effects.
(a) As salt prevents corruption and decay in animal and vegetable matter, so Christian character is the antidote of vice in the individual and in society.
(b) As salt promotes digestion, and thus prevents deadly disease, so Christian character enables the soul to digest and profit by the various dispensations of Providence.
(c) As salt renders palatable otherwise distasteful food, so a Christian character sweetens lifes disappointments, and changes its crosses into crowns. (P. S. Davis.)
There are three ideas suggested by the representation in the text.
I. The first is insipidity, or tastelessness.
(1) This is the case, truly, where the savour of the gospel does not prevail.
(2) There you will find no
(3) moral beauty, no
(4) fruits of benevolence and mercy.
(5) How insipid the dear delights even of the family, the sanctuary, and the sequestered recesses of the closet, if there be no manifestations of His love, or indications of His presence, to the spiritual and regenerate heart.
II. The second idea is folly and ignorance,
1. True religion is wisdom.
2. Wickedness is folly.
3. Wicked men are as unwise as they are offensive to God.
4. True piety is an evidence of a well-seasoned and enlightened mind.
III. The third idea is tendency to decay.
(1) Mortality is the law of nature.
(2) All hasten to corruption. The figure denotes
(3) moral corruption.
(4) When health has left the physical frame, we say it is diseased;
(5) when life has fled, we say it is dead.
(6) We use the same figure and language to describe the dreadful disorders of the immortal soul.
(7) When the principle of love to God does not govern all its faculties, we say they are under a moral distemper.
(8) If the Divine Spirit breathes not the breath, of life into it, we say it is dead in trespasses and sins. (J. E. Good.)
Salt used in the baptismal service
The Latin Church, m its materialistic fashion, employs actual salt in the baptismal service. The priest puts it into the mouth of the person, adult or infant, who is baptized. It is an unauthorized ceremony; but it is a sort of traditional witness to the obligation lying on all Christians to have in themselves that which salt might symbolize. (Dr. D. Fraser.)
Salt and sunlight
A Roman proverb couples sunlight and salt together as the two things which keep the world alive and sweet. Homer calls it Divine; Plato the substance clear to the gods; Pythagoras spoke of it as the emblem of righteousness, and our common phraseology, following the Greek and Latin writers, has chosen it as the symbol of wit and wisdom, of all that gives grace to speech, refinement to thought, pungency to writing, and individuality to character. The idea, then, which the metaphor on the Saviours lips suggests is that His disciples are the noble and indispensable element in the world; they sweeten, purify, and enrich its work, its thoughts, its social intercourse, its joys, its laws and literature. They save it from corruption, decomposition, and moral death. The great sea of life, like the sea which washes our shores, would become putrid without it. (J. G. Greenhough, M. A.)
Influence working from the few to the many
Do you remember Arnold of Rugbys famous sixth form? He brought the boys who composed that first class into closer intercourse with himself, and gave them his choicest teachings, that he might make them models of honour, purity, sobriety, and godliness; strong with the sense of duty, dignified by the thought of their responsibility, so that they might give a healthy tone to the whole school, and that from them might flow a continual stream of purifying, elevating influence. If I have confidence in my sixth form, said Arnold, I would not exchange my place for the loftiest position in the world. They were the salt of the school, as Christs disciples are to be the salt of the earth.
Saltless salt
Maundrell, who visited the lake at Jebbful, tells us that he found salt there which had entirely lost his savour, and the same abounds among the debris at Usdum, and in other localities of rock-salt at the south end of the:Dead Sea. It is a well-known fact that the salt of this country, if left long in contact with the ground, does become insipid and tasteless. From the manner in which it is gathered, much earth and other impurities are necessarily collected with it. Not a little of it is so impure that it cannot be used at all, and such Bali soon effloresces and turns to dust-not to fruitful soil, however. It is not only good for nothing, but it actually destroys all fertility wherever it is thrown; and this is the reason why it is cast into the street, to be trodden under the foot of men. (W. M. Thomson, D. D.)
Common salt
Common salt, the chloride of sodium, is an extremely abundant substance in nature. It is found in almost inexhaustible deposits as rock-salt in various parts of the world: from such deposits arise brine springs, which are strongly impregnated with salt; and the water of the ocean, aa well as that of various inland seas, hold it in solution in inconceivable amount. From these various sources salt is prepared for use as an indispensable condiment in human food, and as a raw material in several most important and extensive chemical manufactures. In the United Kingdom great deposits of rock-salt occur in the new red sandstone strata in Cheshire and Worcester … The total amount of salt produced in the United Kingdom, during 1876, was 2,273,256 tons, of which 154,538 tons were in the form of rock-salt. In the same year, 854,538 tons, of a value of £529,547, were exported; British India, the United States, and Russia, being the countries to which it was sent. (Globe Encyclopaedia.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 13. Ye are the salt of the earth. Salt…
13. Ye are the salt of the earth. Salt preserves from corruption. The disciples of Christ preserve the world from general corruption. Whatever becomes utterly corrupted is doomed to be destroyed. But if the salt have lost its savour. Salt is worthless if it has lost its qualities. It preserves no longer. It is fit only to be cast out and trodden under foot. So, too, if those who are the salt of the earth cease to communicate saving power, they are fit only to be cast out, and Christ will cast such out of his mouth (see Rev. 3:16).
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [XLII. C. Influence…
J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [XLII. C. Influence and Duties].
XLII. THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. (A Mountain Plateau not far from Capernaum.) Subdivision C. INFLUENCE AND DUTIES OF MESSIAH'S SUBJECTS. aMATT. V. 13-16.
Read full note →
a13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and be trodden under foot of men. [Salt has been used from time immemorial as an agent in the preservation of meats. The multitudes which heard Jesus were familiar with its use in curing fish. "The pickled fish of Galilee were known throughout the Roman world" (G. A. Smith). It is worthy of note that the salt of Palestine gathered from the marshes is not pure. Because of the foreign substances in it, it loses its savor and becomes insipid and useless, when exposed to the sun and air, or when permitted for any considerable time to come in contact with the ground; but pure salt does not lose its savor. The verse teaches that God's people keep the world from putrefaction and corruption. There was not salt enough in the antediluvian world to save it from the flood, in Sodom to save it from fire, nor in Canaan to preserve its people from destruction. It also teaches--as does experience--that a disciple may lose those qualities which make him salt.] 14 Ye are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. [As light dispels darkness and enables a man to see his way, so the Christian, by his teaching and example, removes ignorance and prejudice, and discloses the way of life. The church, reflecting the light of Christ, is of necessity a conspicuous body, so that neither its blemishes nor its beauty can be concealed. For air and for [234] protection cities were frequently built upon hills. Jerusalem and Samaria were both hill cities.] 15 Neither do i men light a candle, and put it under a bushel [a common measure, found in every Jewish house, and containing about a peck], but on the stand; and it shineth unto all that are in the house. [Lamps were then crude affairs without chimneys, in which, for the most part, olive oil was burned. Candles were not then known. The word candle, where used in the King James version, is a mistranslation.] 16 Even so let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. [The light of the Christian is to shine not ostentatiously, but naturally and unavoidably. It is to shine not only in his teaching or profession, but in such works and actions as unprejudiced men must acknowledge to be real excellencies. Moreover, it must so shine that it shall not win praise for itself, but for him who kindled it. Men do not praise the street lamps which protect them from robbery and assault, but they praise the municipal administration which furnishes the lamps.]
[FFG 234-235]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Chief Functions of the Disciples in the World.
The Chief Functions of the Disciples in the World.
The Lord continues to address His disciples directly:
Read full note →
v. 13. Ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men.
Having experienced the sanctifying power of the Word and Spirit of Jesus, the disciples are a salt. Note the four main qualities of salt: It is white and pure, it prevents rapid decay, it preserves nutriment and flavor, it renders the food palatable and healthy. The Christians are the salt of the earth; their business is to prevent its decay and putrefaction, to use every effort that the moral rottenness of the children of the world does not become excessive and render every class and age of society putrid by its infection, 1Co 15:33. This is not an easy task. But "our defiance, when things go badly, and when the world and the devil give us evil looks, and are as angry as they wish, is this, that He says to us: Ye are the salt of the earth. Where this word shines into the heart that it puts its trust in that and glories without doubting that we are God’s salt, then let everyone be thoroughly angry that will not laugh. I can and may put more defiance and boasting upon a single word of His than they upon their might, swords, and guns. " If this salt now loses its flavor, it becomes insipid. This is true only of salt that undergoes a chemical process, either by being exposed to rain or by being stored for some length of time, as travelers from the Holy Land report. The figure of Christ is thus particularly apt. Insipid, saltless salt is really a contradiction in itself, and Christians that have lost their distinctive properties have ceased to influence their surroundings for good, have also lost their discipleship. As savorless salt has no value whatever and is treated as refuse; as a certain species of bituminous salt found in Judea which very rapidly became flat and tasteless was spread out in a court of the Temple to prevent slipping in wet weather, so the Christians that have ceased to apply themselves to their business of acting as a moral power in the world, will partake of the judgment of the world. Luther probably is right in saying: "Therefore I have always admonished, as Christ also does here, that salt remain salt and not become insipid, that is, that the chief article of faith be urged. For if that ceases, then not one piece can remain, and everything is lost; there is neither faith nor understanding, and no one can teach or counsel properly anymore."
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Jesus begins to teach about how his disciples are like salt and light.
Read full note →
You are the salt of the earth
Possible meanings are 1) just as salt makes food good, disciples of Jesus influence the people of the world so that they will be good. AT: "You are like salt for the people of the world" or 2) just as salt preserves food, disciples of Jesus keep people from becoming totally corrupt. AT: "As salt is for food, you are for the world" (See: Metaphor)
if the salt has lost its taste
Possible meanings are 1) "if the salt has lost its power to do things that salt does" or 2) "if the salt has lost its flavor." (See: Metaphor)
how can it be made salty again?
"how can it be made useful again?" Jesus uses a question to teach the disciples. AT: "there is no way for it to become useful again." (See: Rhetorical Question and Metaphor)
except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet
This can be stated in active form. AT: "except for people to throw it out into the road and walk on it" (See: Active or Passive)
You are the light of the world
This means Jesus' followers bring the message of God's truth to all the people who do not know God. AT: "You are like a light for the people of the world" (See: Metaphor)
A city set on a hill cannot be hidden
At night when it is dark, people can see the city lights shining. This can be stated in active form. AT: "During the night, no one can hide the lights that shine from a city on a hill" or "Everyone sees the lights of a city on a hill" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information and Active or Passive)
translationWords
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 5:13-16 The disciples’ good deeds will have profoundly positive…
5:13-16 The disciples’ good deeds will have profoundly positive effects on the world around them, to the glory of God. With this comes a warning from Jesus: Do nothing that might jeopardize that positive influence.
5:13 Salt was used for cleansing and preservation from decay (Ezek 16:4), in forming covenants (Lev 2:13; Num 18:19; see study note on 2 Chr 13:5), and as flavor (Job 6:6; Mark 9:50). • Salt that lost its flavor became useless, insipid, or dull (see Mark 9:50; Luke 14:34).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.