Matthew 5:13-20
The teaching of Christ: salt and light
5:13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled under foot.
5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid.
5:15 People do not light a lamp put it under the bushel basket; rather they put it on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.
5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
5:18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.
5:19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
5:20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
[13]῾Υμεῖς ἐστε τὸ ἅλας τῆς γῆς· ἐὰν δὲ τὸ ἅλας μωρανθῇ, ἐν τίνι ἁλισθήσεται; εἰς οὐδὲν ἰσχύει ἔτι εἰ μὴ βληθῆναι ἔξω καὶ καταπατεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων.
[14]῾Υμεῖς ἐστε τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου. οὐ δύναται πόλις κρυβῆναι ἐπάνω ὄρους κειμένη·
[15] οὐδὲ καίουσι λύχνον καὶ τιθέασι αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τὸν μόδιον, ἀλλ᾿ ἐπὶ τὴν λυχνίαν, καὶ λάμπει πᾶσι τοῖς ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ.
[16] οὕτω λαμψάτω τὸ φῶς ὑμῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὅπως ἴδωσιν ὑμῶν τὰ καλὰ ἔργα καὶ δοξάσωσι τὸν πατέρα ὑμῶν τὸν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς.
[17] Μὴ νομίσητε ὅτι ἦλθον καταλῦσαι τὸν νόμον ἢ τοὺς προφήτας· οὐκ ἦλθον καταλῦσαι, ἀλλὰ πληρῶσαι.
[18] ἀμὴν γὰρ λέγω ὑμῖν, ἕως ἂν παρέλθῃ ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ, ἰῶτα ἓν ἢ μία κεραία οὐ μὴ παρέλθῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου ἕως ἂν πάντα γένηται.
[19] ὃς ἐὰν οὖν λύσῃ μίαν τῶν ἐντολῶν τούτων τῶν ἐλαχίστων καὶ διδάξῃ οὕτω τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, ἐλάχιστος κληθήσεται ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν· ὃς δ᾿ ἂν ποιήσῃ καὶ διδάξῃ, οὗτος μέγας κληθήσεται ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν.
[20] λέγω γὰρ ὑμῖν ὅτι ἐὰν μὴ περισσεύσῃ ἡ δικαιοσύνη ὑμῶν πλεῖον τῶν γραμματέων καὶ Φαρισαίων, οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθητε εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν.
Comments
[13] ῾Υμεῖς ἐστε τὸ ἅλας τῆς γῆς:῾Υμεῖς at the beginning of the statement is emphatic; the verb ἐστε (‘you [plural] are’) would have sufficed, but Jesus wants his hearers to know that they are the ‘salt’. The accentuation of the phrase ῾Υμεῖς ἐστε indicates that ἐστε is really ἐστὲ (‘you are’), but, being an enclitic, has lost its accent and ‘leans’ on the subject ῾Υμεῖς. (If the verb were an imperative, its accent would fall on the penultima.) This sentence is precisely parallel in syntax and emphasis to the opening of v. 14, ῾Υμεῖς ἐστε τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου.
τὸ ἅλας: ‘salt’ (already in Homer) to which the English word is related, cf. Latin sal and English salary. By the late 7th c. BC, to share salt at the table was proverbial for being bound by ties of hospitality and honour (Archilochus fr. 172 W), whence the ancient proverb ‘Do not offend the salt and the table’ (Zenobius). It was considered essential for civilisation, as Pliny the Elder noted in Natural History 31.88-89: ‘By Hercules, then, life can not be lived humanely without salt—it is such an essential substance that its name is transferred to powerful mental pleasures too. All the charm and the greatest humor of life along with rest from work are called salts (sales)—it rests on this more than any other.’
ἐὰν δὲ τὸ ἅλας μωρανθῇ: lit., ‘if the salt goes silly’. Μωραίνω, ‘be silly’; ‘make silly, foolish’ (cl. Gk). The meaning here is metaphorical, ‘turns insipid’.
ἁλισθήσεται: ἁλίζω, ‘to apply salt’, ‘to salt’ (cl. Gk: LSJ s.v., I; LXX: Muraoka); fut. pass., as here, ‘shall be rubbed’ (Lev 2:13, άλὶ ἁλισθήσεται). The punning rhetorical question, ἐν τίνι ἁλισθήσεται; lit. means ‘on/in what will the salt be rubbed?’ If it goes off, there will be no need to use it.
[15] ὑπὸ τὸν μόδιον: μόδιος, from the Latin modius, orig. a dry measure; ‘bushel’ (EDNT s.v.). Numerous Latin terms entered koine Greek.
[18] οὐ μὴ παρέλθῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου: in koine, the double negatives οὐ μὴ + 2nd or 3rd pers. subj. aor. often states a strong negation in the future (‘in NO way/ by NO means will it pass away from the law’); the same emphatic negation occurs in v. 20, οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθητε εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν (‘NEVER will you enter the kingdom of heaven’).
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 