Salt and Light 4664852 224147738 2008-07-07T15:13:04Z 64.140.205.120 /* Cultural references */ {{Otheruses4|the metaphor|the television network|Salt + Light Television}} '''Salt and light''' is a metaphor used by [[Jesus]] in the [[Bible]]. Some of the elaborations on the "Salt and Light" metaphors that Matthew recounts are also paralleled in [[Gospel of Luke|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 emphasise 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 Jesus 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]], [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]], and [[Book of Kings|Kings]] present salt as a purifying agent *[[Leviticus]], [[Book of Numbers|Numbers]], and [[Book of Chronicles|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 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 [[Book of Isaiah|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. [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]] talks about ''the light'' in verses 42:6, 49:6, and 60:3. ===Cultural references=== "Salt of the earth" has become a common English expression, although the modern usage of the phrase is somewhat separate from its scriptural origins, and today it refers to someone who is humble and lacking pretension. Due to its fame it has occurred a number of times in art and popular culture, but as Siebald notes usually these are based on the secular understanding of the term. It has been the title of [[Salt of the Earth|an important 1954 film]], a [[John Godber]] play, a song on [[The Rolling Stones]]' ''[[Beggars Banquet]]'', and a non-fiction work by [[Uys Krige]]. Both [[Algernon Swinburne]] and [[D. H. Lawrence]] wrote poems by this name. The phrase is featured in the 2004 [[Green Day]] song ''[[She's a Rebel]]'' from their album ''[[American Idiot]]''. In [[Middle English]] literature the expression had a different meaning somewhat closer to the scripture, mostly being used to refer to the [[clergy]], as for example appearing in "[[The Summoner's Tale]]" and ''[[Piers Plowman]]''. The ''city on a hill'' metaphor is most famous for forming the basis of [[John Winthrop]]'s ''[[City upon a Hill]]'' sermon outlining his vision of the new American colonies as a beacon to the rest of the world, in which sense the phrase was used by both [[President of the United States|President]]s [[John F. Kennedy]] and [[Ronald Reagan]]. However the ''candle under a bowl'' metaphor has become even more influential: *[[Charlemagne]] cited it as the reason for building a series of schools and universities across his empire *It inspired the popular [[Victorian era]] [[hymn]] ''[[Jesus Bids us Shine]]'' *It inspired the still popular song ''[[This Little Light of Mine]]''. *The verse appears in [[James Fenimore Cooper]]'s ''[[The Pioneers]]'' *The verse appears in [[Thomas Hardy]]'s ''[[Far from the Madding Crowd]]'' *In [[James Joyce]]'s ''[[A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man]]'' a character is described as ''shining quietly under a bushel of Wicklow bran''. *It inspired the worship song by Jami Smith "Salt and Light". ===References=== *[[William F. Albright|Albright, W.F.]] and C.S. Mann. "Matthew." ''[[The Anchor Bible Series]].'' New York: Doubleday & Company, 1971. ISBN 0-385-08658-X. *Clarke, Howard W. ''The Gospel of Matthew and its Readers: A Historical Introduction to the First Gospel.'' Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-253-34235-X. *France, R.T. ''The Gospel According to Matthew: an Introduction and Commentary.'' Leicester: Inter-Varsity, 1985. ISBN 0-8028-0063-7. *[[Robert H. Gundry|Gundry, Robert H.]] ''Matthew a Commentary on his Literary and Theological Art.'' Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982. ISBN 0-8028-3549-X. *Hill, David. ''The Gospel of Matthew''. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981. ISBN 0-8028-1886-2. *"Light Under a Bushel." ''A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature.'' [[David Lyle Jeffrey]], general editor. Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans, 1992. ISBN 0-8028-3634-8. *[[Eduard Schweizer|Schweizer, Eduard]]. ''The Good News According to Matthew.'' Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1975. ISBN 0-8042-0251-6. *[[Manfred Siebald|Siebald, Manfred]]. "Salt of the Earth." ''A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature.'' David Lyle Jeffrey, general editor. Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans, 1992. ISBN 0-8028-3634-8. ==External links== *[http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=94&letter=S&search=Salt#375 Jewish Encyclopedia: Salt] *[http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=412&letter=L&search=Light Jewish Encyclopedia: Light] *[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13403b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Salt] *[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09244b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Light] [[Category:Metaphors]] [[Category:Biblical phrases]] [[he:מלח הארץ]] [[zh:盐和光]]