Matthew 5:13
“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.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Context
Following the Beatitudes, Jesus turns to describe the influence His disciples are to have in the world. This is the first of two vivid metaphors -- salt and light -- defining their mission.
What Does Matthew 5:13 Mean?
When Jesus calls His followers "the salt of the earth," He means they are to preserve, purify, and bring out the good in the world around them. In the ancient world salt was precious -- used to preserve food from decay and to season and flavor it. By this image Jesus tells His disciples that their presence is meant to have a real, beneficial effect on the world, holding back corruption and adding what is good.
But the verse carries a sharp warning. Salt that loses its savor -- its distinctive saltiness -- becomes useless, fit only to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. The point is unmistakable: disciples who lose the very qualities that set them apart forfeit their usefulness. A follower of Jesus who becomes indistinguishable from the surrounding culture no longer accomplishes the purpose for which they exist. Notice that Jesus says "ye are" -- this is an identity already given, not merely a goal to strive toward. The challenge is to live out what we already are. Salt does its work by being different from what surrounds it; remove the difference and you remove the usefulness. So the call is to retain our distinctiveness -- our integrity, our witness, our saltiness -- and to season the world rather than blend invisibly into it.
In the Original Language
The Greek halas, "salt," recalls its uses as preservative and seasoning. "Lost his savour" renders moraino, literally "become foolish" or tasteless -- salt no longer fulfilling its purpose.
Cross References
“Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.”
- Mark 9:50
“Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”
- Colossians 4:6
“Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?”
- Luke 14:34
Application
Resist blending invisibly into the culture around you; live with the distinctive integrity and witness that lets you preserve and flavor the world as Jesus intends.