Matius 5:13

Salt and Light

5:13 “You are the salt ¹  of the earth. But if salt loses its flavor, ²  how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people.

Matius 5:15

5:15 People ³  do not light a lamp and put it under a basket ⁴  but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.

Matius 7:23

7:23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’ ⁵ 

Matius 8:10-11

8:10 When ⁶  Jesus heard this he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “I tell you the truth, ⁷  I have not found such faith in anyone in Israel! 8:11 I tell you, many will come from the east and west to share the banquet ⁸  with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ⁹  in the kingdom of heaven,

Matius 10:18

10:18 And you will be brought before governors and kings ¹⁰  because of me, as a witness to them and the Gentiles.

Matius 17:17

17:17 Jesus answered, ¹¹  “You ¹²  unbelieving ¹³  and perverse generation! How much longer ¹⁴  must I be with you? How much longer must I endure ¹⁵  you? ¹⁶  Bring him here to me.”

Matius 19:9

19:9 Now I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another commits adultery.”

Matius 25:26

25:26 But his master answered, ¹⁷  ‘Evil and lazy slave! So you knew that I harvest where I didn’t sow and gather where I didn’t scatter?

Matius 26:69

Peter’s Denials

26:69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A ¹⁸  slave girl ¹⁹  came to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.”

[5:13]  ¹ sn Salt was used as seasoning or fertilizer (BDAG 41 s.v. ἅλας a), or as a preservative. If salt ceased to be useful, it was thrown away. With this illustration Jesus warned about a disciple who ceased to follow him.

[5:13]  ² sn The difficulty of this saying is understanding how salt could lose its flavor since its chemical properties cannot change. It is thus often assumed that Jesus was referring to chemically impure salt, perhaps a natural salt which, when exposed to the elements, had all the genuine salt leached out, leaving only the sediment or impurities behind. Others have suggested that the background of the saying is the use of salt blocks by Arab bakers to line the floor of their ovens; under the intense heat these blocks would eventually crystallize and undergo a change in chemical composition, finally being thrown out as unserviceable. A saying in the Talmud (b. Bekhorot 8b) attributed to R. Joshua ben Chananja (ca. a.d. 90), when asked the question “When salt loses its flavor, how can it be made salty again?” is said to have replied, “By salting it with the afterbirth of a mule.” He was then asked, “Then does the mule (being sterile) bear young?” to which he replied: “Can salt lose its flavor?” The point appears to be that both are impossible. The saying, while admittedly late, suggests that culturally the loss of flavor by salt was regarded as an impossibility. Genuine salt can never lose its flavor. In this case the saying by Jesus here may be similar to Matt 19:24, where it is likewise impossible for the camel to go through the eye of a sewing needle.

[5:15]  ³ tn Grk “Nor do they light.” The plural in Greek is indefinite, referring to people in general.

[5:15]  ⁴ tn Or “a bowl”; this refers to any container for dry material of about eight liters (two gallons) capacity. It could be translated “basket, box, bowl” (L&N 6.151).

[7:23]  ⁵ tn Grk “workers of lawlessness.”

[8:10]  ⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[8:10]  ⁷ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[8:11]  ⁸ tn Grk “and recline at table,” as 1st century middle eastern meals were not eaten while sitting at a table, but while reclining on one’s side on the floor with the head closest to the low table and the feet farthest away. The word “banquet” has been supplied to clarify for the modern reader the festive nature of the imagery. The banquet imagery is a way to describe the fellowship and celebration of being among the people of God at the end.

[8:11]  sn 1st century middle eastern meals were not eaten while sitting at a table, but while reclining on one’s side on the floor with the head closest to the low table and the feet farthest away.

[8:11]  ⁹ tn Grk “and Isaac and Jacob,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[10:18]  ¹⁰ sn These statements look at persecution both from a Jewish context as the mention of courts and synagogues suggests, and from a Gentile one as the reference to governors and kings suggests. Some fulfillment of Jewish persecution can be seen in Acts.

[17:17]  ¹¹ tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.

[17:17]  ¹² tn Grk “O.” The marker of direct address, ὦ (w), is functionally equivalent to a vocative and is represented in the translation by “you.”

[17:17]  ¹³ tn Or “faithless.”

[17:17]  sn The rebuke for lack of faith has OT roots: Num 14:27; Deut 32:5, 30; Isa 59:8.

[17:17]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “how long.”

[17:17]  ¹⁵ tn Or “put up with.” See Num 11:12; Isa 46:4.

[17:17]  ¹⁶ sn The pronouns you…you are plural, indicating that Jesus is speaking to a group rather than an individual.

[25:26]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “But answering, his master said to him.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.

[26:69]  ¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[26:69]  ¹⁹ tn The Greek term here is παιδίσκη (paidiskh), referring to a slave girl or slave woman.