The literal Hebrew translation goes something more like this:
You are the instruction of the world, but the instruction is cut off by them who are not saved, and nothing else is fit, except to cast them to the street and to trample them.”
Whoa! I don’t know about you, but to me, that doesn’t even sound like the same verse.
The word ‘salt’ to a Jewish person at that time carried with it a whole lot more than it does for us at this time. For us, salt is something we tend to have sitting on the table to flavor our food. Some who can their harvest, know it is used as a preservative, but that is not generally the main use for salt on an every day basis.
For the Jews, it was. Salt was necessary, it wasn’t an option to use at dinner. No salt meant spoiled food. Spoiled food meant throwing it out – no dinner at all. Salt was not meant as a flavoring, it was meant for purification and preservation.
Salt was significant in its use in the Temple. It was used for meal-offerings, showbread, the incense, and was in every single grain offering. Salt was significant as a sign of a covenant.
YHWH/God said his right-rulings, ordnances, and commands were a sign of a covenant. Rabbis had a saying, ‘just like the world can not do without salt, neither can it do without Torah (first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament). ,
Are you getting a better understanding of how significant salt was at the time Jesus is telling these disciples THEY are the salt?
Loose savor – In Hebrew, this word can mean split, destroyed, annihilated.
They are the salt, if they are not the salt, then nothing is preserved, it is spoiled and has to be thrown out.
Luke 14 and Mark 9 record two other instances where Jesus references the same idea about loosing flavor.
Being the salt of the world is a delicate balance because if too much salt is applied, it also has to be thrown out because it can not be taken in. At the same time, just a little salt on a slug can be deadly.
Check out more on Salt:
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