Salt and Light

Salt and light is a metaphor used by Yeshua the Bible.Matthew 5:13-16: "You are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, it is no longer salt and therefore it is good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel basket but on a candlestick; and it gives light to all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father Who is in heaven."Some of the elaborations on the "Salt and Light" metaphors that Matthew recounts are also paralleled in Luke, but in completely different parts of the narrative, which leads scholars to suspect they originate in the Q document, which is essentially thought to be a collection of quotes with little narrative framework. That other metaphors in this part of Matthew appear in the Gospel of Thomas is generally viewed as supporting this, with the Gospel of Thomas normally hypothesised as deriving, more directly, from "Q." Essentially Matthew splits the metaphor of Salt and Light into two – the salt of the earth and the light of the world, the second being somewhat extended by further metaphors used to emphasize it – a city on a hill cannot be hid and you don’t light a candle only to put it under a bowl, while the first is extended by the metaphor that salt which has lost its flavour is cast out. The Gospel of John also mentions the light of the world metaphor, but has Yeshua claim that it is he who is the light of the world, rather than it being the people he is addressing.The exact meaning of the expression salt of the earth is disputed, in part because salt had a wide number of uses in the ancient world. There are several different possibilities for the originally intended meaning of the salt metaphor:

  • Exodus, Ezekiel, and Kings present salt as a purifying agent
  • Leviticus, Numbers, and Chronicles present it as a sign of God’s covenant.
  • The most important use of salt was as a preservative and hence the most common interpretation of the metaphor is as asserting the duty to preserve the purity of the world.
  • In the Rabbinic literature of the period salt was a metaphor for wisdom.
  • Salt was a minor but essential ingredient in fertilizer and so a few scholars such as Gundry believe that earth should be translated as soil (i.e. salt of the soil), and hence the metaphor asserts that the audience should help the world grow and prosper.
  • One interpretation of salt of the earth is that it orders the audience to take part in the world rather than withdraw from it
  • Among the ancient Hebrews salt...was used as a preservative, in seasoning food, and in all animal sacrifices. Lev. 2:13; Ezek. 43:24; Mark 9:49-50. So essential was it to the sacrificial ordinance that it was the symbol of the covenant made between God and His people in connection with that sacred performance. Lev. 2:13; Num. 18:19; 2 Chron. 13:5. [1]
Salt itself, sodium chloride, is extremely stable and cannot lose its flavour, so salt that has lost its flavour cannot ever literally refer to actual salt. The most common explanation for this is that salt in the era was quite impure, not only due to extraction methods, but also due to unscrupulous merchants mixing it with other substances. Hill has proposed that the metaphor is quite aware of salt not being able to lose its flavour and hence being salt of the earth implies that the audience, once having heard the message, will never lose their influence or importance. The words translated lost its flavour actually translate from the Greek as became foolish, but the Aramaic for both phrases is the same, and English language translators universally accept that the verse is talking about flavour rather than intelligence. Some scholars do however feel that this may be wordplay related to the Rabbinic use of salt as a metaphor for intelligence.As for the metaphors expanding on you are the light of the world, Schweizer considers that the city on a hill metaphor may be a reference to Mount Zion at the start of Isaiah 2, though scholars are divided on whether this is a specific reference to the idea of a New Jerusalem, or simply an obvious metaphor in relation to not hiding. According to Hill, the candle under a bowl metaphor could be a satirical swipe at the Jewish practice of hiding the Hanukkah lamp to protect it from desecration. Both Matthew and Luke resolve this metaphor by stating that the candle should be put on a stand, but while Matthew states that the lamp shines on all who are in the house, implying conversion from within the community, Luke has the lamp shining for those who come into the house, implying new people joining it. Isaiah talks about the light in verses 42:6, 49:6, and 60:3.