Mark 9:50

Mar_9:50

Salt is good.

Have salt in yourselves

This is only another form of exhorting Christians to have strength of character as Christians. But since a strong character, in the spiritual as in the natural man, is apt to come into collision with others equally strong, our Lord cautions His disciples against any breach of the law of love. Staunch they must be in their adherence to principle; but they may not be quarrelsome. Have peace one with another.

1. The salt of self-denial.

2. The salt of energy.

3. The salt of truthfulness. (Dean Goulburn.)

Salt

I. Look at what is here so expressively symbolized. Salt is necessary to sacrifice.

1. Christ is the symbol of the covenant of everlasting mercy, but of everlasting mercy as the basis of a sinners new life.

2. Salt symbolizes not only Gods covenant of mercy with man, but mans covenant with God. The life of the animal was devoted and offered with salt to signify-not only the Divine fact of atonement, but the human fact of self-surrender: and the worshipper said, I have given the life of the animal to Thee to signify that henceforth my own life is forever Thine.

3. Salt is also the principle of counteractive grace-Have salt in yourselves.

4. Salt signifies the preventive, corrective, life-nourishing power of the Christian society in the world-Ye are the salt of the earth.

5. Salt is also the principle of peace. It destroys the unbenevolent passions.

II. The Saviours lesson concerning the deterioration of the salt.

1. The possibility of deterioration-If the salt have lost its savour.

2. Christ marks here three things as characteristic of men in this state.

(1) They are useless,.

(2) They are contemptible.

(3) They are rejected with disdain. (Preachers Monthly.)

True, yet tender-Tender, yet true

The two principal terms are salt and peace.

I. The meaning of each. Salt as a metaphor applied to human character in the New Testament, signifies in general the grace of God sanctifying the whole nature, and in particular the sterner virtues-faithfulness, boldness, righteousness, truth, purity. The term indicates holiness on its harder side; and holiness has a hard side, for it must needs be strong. In this use of the analogy the preserving power of salt is the predominating idea. Salt appears here as the stern, sharp antagonist of all corruption. Christians baptized into the Spirit of Christ act as salt in a tainted world. In union with the virtue that preserves, there is a pungency that pains. You may observe, however, that salt does not irritate whole skin. Apply it to an open sore, and the patient winces; but a healthy member of a living body does not shrink from its touch. A similar distinction obtains in the moral region. Stringent faithfulness in the conduct of his neighbour will not offend a just man: but those who do not give justice do not like to get it. Purity in contact with impurity makes the impure miserable. Peace. Surely it is not necessary to explain what this word means. You may comprehend it without the aid of critical analysis. It is like the shining sun or the sweet breath of early summer; it is its own expositor. Wherever it is, it makes its presence and its nature known. As the traveller who has missed his way thinks more of the light, and understands it better, while he is groping in the dark than he did in the blaze of noon; so those best understand and value peace who suffer the horrors of war. You know the worth of it when you know the want of it. The greatest peace is, peace with the Greatest; the greatest peace is, peace with God. The Mediator who makes it is the greatest Peacemaker. Peace-including all the characteristics of a Christian which make for peace-is holiness on its softer side; and holiness has a soft side, that it may win the world.

II. The reciprocal relation between salt in ourselves and peace with one another. To a certain extent these two are opposites; peace maintained with your neighbour is antagonist to the vigour of salt in yourselves. Accordingly error appears in two opposite directions. One man has so much salt in himself that he cannot maintain peace with his neighbours; another man is so soft and peaceable towards all that he manifests scarcely any of the faithfulness which is indicated by salt. It is instructive to examine the limits and extent of this antagonism. Faithfulness does sometimes disturb peace; and peace is sometimes obtained at the expense of faithfulness. It is not inherent in the nature, but is introduced by sin. When Christ has made an end of sin the contradiction will disappear from the new world. In heaven all are peaceful and yet pure; pure and yet peaceful. There the salt does not disturb, because there is no corruption; peace does not degenerate into indifference, for there is no vile appetite to be indulged. Meanwhile, that which comes as a curse is, under the arrangements of Providence, converted into a blessing. As toil to keep down thorns and thistles is a useful exercise for physical health, the effort to maintain faithfulness without breaking peace keeps the spirit healthful and fits for heaven. Every effort made by the disciple of Christ to soften his own faithfulness and invigorate his own tenderness goes to increase the treasures which he shall enjoy at Gods right hand. Watch on the right side, and on the left.

1. On the side of peace. There cannot be too much gentle peace making in the character and conduct of a man. But if the folds of our peace are so large, and thick, and warm, as to overlay and smother our faithfulness, the peacemakers are not blest by God, and are not blessings to the world.

2. On the side of truth and faithfulness. There cannot be too much of faithfulness in the character of a Christian; but even faithfulness to truth may become hurtful, if it is dissociated from the gentleness of Christ. Similar antagonisms in the system of nature constitute at once the exercise and the evidence of the Creators skill. Results are frequently obtained through the union of antagonist forces neutralizing each other. A familiar example is supplied by the centripetal and centrifugal forces, which insure the stability of the solar system. Take another case, equally instructive, though not so obvious. In the structure of a bird, with a view to the discharge of its functions, two qualities, in a great measure reciprocally antagonistic, must be united; these are strength and lightness. As a general rule, strength is incompatible with lightness, and lightness incompatible with strength. You cannot increase the one without proportionally diminishing the other. The body of the bird must float in the air, therefore it must be proportionally lighter than quadrupeds or fishes; but the creature must sustain itself for long periods in the atmosphere, and perform journeys of vast length, therefore its members must be strong. The structure of a bird, accordingly, exhibits a marvellous contrivance for the combination of the utmost possible lightness. Everyone is familiar with the structure of the feathers that compose the wing. The quill barrel gives you an example of a minimum of material so disposed as to produce a maximum of strength. The bones of birds are formed on the same plan. They are greater in circumference than the corresponding bones of other animals, but they are hollower in the heart. In iron castings we repeat the process which we have learned from nature. This union of antagonists for the production of a common beneficent result is like the labour of a Christian life. Let the timid and retiring nature stir up his soul to a greater measure of truthful courage, without letting any of his gentleness go. Let the vine of his tenderness cling to an oak of stern faithfulness; it will thus bear more fruit than if it were allowed to trail on the ground. The arms that impart strength to the chair only hurt the occupant if they lack the cushion that ought to cover them. For strength, there should be an iron hand in the velvet glove; but for softness, a velvet glove should be on the iron hand when it grasps the flesh of a brother. Self-love, like a huge lump of iron concealed under the deck right below the ships compass, draws the magnet aside; thus the life takes a wrong direction, and the soul is shipwrecked. Self-love draws the life now to the right and now to the left; the errors lie not all on one side. One man, soft from selfishness, basely sacrifices truth and duty for ease; another, hard from selfishness, bristles all over with sharp points, like thorns that tear the flesh of the passenger, and when he has kindled discord among brethren, calls his own bad temper faithfulness to truth. There is no limit to the aberration of a human judgment under the bias of self-interest. It will not scruple to dispute the distinction between black and white, if it can thereby hope to gain its selfish end. Oh, how precious are these words of our Lord, Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation. It is easier to explore the sources of the Nile, than to discover the true motives whence our own actions spring; and easier to turn the Nile from his track, than to turn the volume of thoughts and purposes which issue from a human heart and constitute the body of a human life. We cheat ourselves and our neighbours as to the character of our motives and the meaning of our acts. Some people mistake acid for salt; their own passions for godly zeal. Jehu drives furiously forward to purify the administration of the kingdom; but it is a cruel, selfish ambition that spurs him on. When such a man scatters a shower of acid from his tongue, and sees that his neighbours are hurt by the biting drops, he points to their contortions, and exclaims, See how pungent my salt is! The true savour is in my salt; for see how these people smart under its sting! Ah, the acid, in common with salt, makes a tender place smart in a brother; but it possesses not in common with salt, the faculty of warding off corruption. Itself corrupts and undermines; it corrodes and destroys all that it drops upon. Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God. (W. Arnot.)

Saltless salt

In the Valley of Salt, which is about four hours from Aleppo, there is a kind of dry crust of salt, which sounds, when the horses go upon it, like frozen snow when it is walked upon. Along on one side of the valley, viz., that towards Gibul, there is a small precipice about two mens lengths, occasioned by the continual taking away the salt; and in this you may see how the veins of it lie. I broke a piece of it, of which the part that was exposed to the rain, sun, and air, though it had the sparks and particles of salt, yet it had perfectly lost its savour. The inner part, which was connected with the rock, retained its savour, as I found by proof. (Maundrell.)

Seasoning characters

Whatever may be the case with literal salt, Christ is referring to spiritual salt, which undoubtedly, in so far as it consists of a phase of character, may be metamorphosed into its negative or contradictory. Such metamorphic changes of character are possible in two directions; They may be realized upwardly, in bad beings becoming good; or downwardly, in good beings becoming bad. Hatred may be transformed into love, or love into hatred. In either case there is conversion from contrary to contrary. (J. Morison, D. D.)

Salt is good

Every Christian requires as a sacrifice the salt of fire; the salt of fiery trial, the salt of searching, fiery self-restraint, refusing sin, breaking off from evil, cutting off the right hand, plucking out the right eye, preferring the fire of self-denial on earth to the terrible fire reserved for impenitent sinners in hell. Such salt, such searching, pungent, self-purifying salt is good; but, if it have lost its saltness, wherewith will ye season it? If those who are bound in covenant with God to refrain from sin, and offer themselves holy sacrifices to Him, yield instead of resisting, there is no acceptableness in them, God will not receive them; shunning the earthly fires of self-government and self-denial, there is nothing for them to look forward to but that awful hell fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels. This seems to be the true and just method of paraphrasing our Lords words about salt, with their context, as they occur in the ninth chapter of St. Mark. (G. Moberly, D. C. L.)

The victory of holiness

Do they not show that to be a Christian, a Christian such as God approves and will accept, there needs heroism? Yes, not less than a true heroism of spirit, maintaining a visible or secret strife against evil, and conquering it, even to the loss of hand, foot, or eye, even to the destruction of friendship, if so be, the loss of love, the relinquishment even of life. Does it not show that this heroism of spirit, this clear, bright, searching salt of hearts, is required of all? (G. Moberly, D. C. L.)

A bargain of salt

I. That an inward seasoning with religion and efface is such a thing as all the disciples of Christ Jesus must endeavour for.

1. Teaching disciples, ministers must be well seasoned within with the power of godliness.

(1) A teacher who is himself well seasoned is the most fit to season others. There is ever most life in that mans teaching who teaches from experience.

(2) An unseasoned minister cannot choose but break forth into some outward scandal. His inward rottenness cannot possibly be so smothered or tempered, but it will make his course to be unsavoury.

2. The same is to be endeavoured for by every Christian, that is, every Christian must labour so as to have a name and a show of godliness without, so that he feels the power of godliness within.

(1) Until this holy salt has fretted out the evil from the heart the Lord can have no pleasure therein; until this is done a man does not know what true religion means; there can be no constancy in religion where this wants. It is not possible for a man to hold out his profession unless he is well seasoned.

(2) These duties, required of each Christian, admonishing, confuting, etc., can never be practised aright but by a man who is able and willing to do them out of personal feeling. That which is in itself unsavoury can never make another thing to be sweet. (Samuel Hieron.)

The salting process in the soul

For thine own particular, learn of the housewife; if there be anything in the house needs seasoning, she falls to work with the salt forthwith. Look into thyself, see what corrupt affections there be in thee, what careless desires, what inordinate motions, what crookedness of will, what barrenness of spiritual grace, a thousand to one if the salt were good which thou broughtest home, it will do thee service for the bringing of those corrupt humours to a better temper; chiefly take note of this. I am not ashamed to use this household kitchen similitude still. She that powdereth meat to keep it sweet, look what places are most bloody and moisty; there she ever puts in most salt, such parts are most apt to putrify. So do thou, consider with thyself what is thy chiefest sin, thy most prevailing fault, thy most strong corruption, that which thou mayest call by Davids phrase, My wickedness; thou shalt soon know it by the strength of the affection to it, and thy unwillingness to forego it. Oh, clap in, put on store of salt there; rub it in hard. If thou hast heard of any judgment, or reproof, thrust it on close, it may be it may smart a little; it is no matter, better so than ever ache, this will soak out the rank humours, and make thee become a sweet lump before the Lord. It is a fault many times, men sprinkle a little salt of doctrine upon themselves here and there superficially, they consider not what be their master, their bloody, their reigning sins, they search not within and without to see where salt needs especially, and so they become loathsome through the lack of an effectual powdering. Neither is this all required in the use of this salt for ones own particular, but there is also a more general and an universal use to be made thereof. What day is there in the family, wherein there is no use of common salt? Truth is, there is neither day in the life of a Christian, nor action in that day, wherein this spiritual salt can justly be thought superfluous. Every sacrifice must be salted with salt, it was a rule of the ancient law. (Samuel Hieron.)

Home salting

Good it were if masters of families would think themselves bound to carry home some of this salt, and bestow it on those that are of their household charge. (Samuel Hieron.)

That amongst the disciples of Christ there must be mutual peace

Our God is the God of Peace. Our Saviour is the Prince of Peace. The gospel which is preached amongst us, is the gospel of peace. The substance of it is glad tidings of peace. Our calling is in peace. They which are the Lords are called the sons of peace; so we ought all to endeavour to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace; and to live in peace. Christians must follow peace with all men; and if it be possible have peace with all men; and therefore among themselves they must seek it, and ensue it much more. I must open this as the former doctrine by distinguishing upon Christs disciples. Some are preachers of peace, some are professors of peace. Let me show you how this doctrine reacheth unto both.

The teachers of peace must have peace one towards another

Their agreement, their peace, their consent, is a great motive to the people to entertain their doctrine. Hereupon was that use of Pauls, to prefix the names of others with his own, as Paul and our brother Sostenes; Paul and our brother Timotheus; Paul and all the brethren that are with me; Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus. The ease stands in the building of the spiritual body, as it did in the typical body, in fighting the Lords battle, by those whose office it is to fight the good fight of faith, as in the fighting for Israel against Ammon. The agreement of the builders will advance the building both with speed and beauty; the joint proceeding of the leaders will undoubtedly prevail against the common enemy. Solomons temple was builded without noise; neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was in building; a type, I doubt not, of the stillness in respect of freedom from mutual contentions which ought to be amongst pastors. Again, the want of this agreement and peace will be a great prejudice to the growth of the truth. The means used in Gods wisdom to hinder Babels building was a strife of tongues among the builders; so when those which are the builders of the spiritual House of God, the Church, are rent asunder in affection, the work cannot go forward as it should. The shepherds being divided, the sheep must needs be scattered. This to prove that the teachers of peace must have peace one towards another. God hath sent us praedicare, not praeliari, to work and not to wrangle; while we strive the devil works for himself: atheism, popery, do advantage themselves by our dissentions. There must be mutual peace among the professors of peace, the places which I first named in the beginning of the doctrine do enjoin it. This is the mark by which they are known. By this shall all men know that ye be my disciples, if ye have love one to another. To love one another, and to have peace one towards another, are all one. Be wise and learn how to judge and what to think in this point of ministerial consent and peace, that you may not easily stumble through mistaking. Here, therefore, in order, I pray heartily observe these particulars. First, that consent and agreement of teachers is no certain mark of truth in that wherein they consent; Aaron and all the other Levites consented to the making of the golden calf, four hundred prophets joined together to persuade good success to Ahab, yet that was false which they persuaded. Our Saviour was condemned by a common consent of elders and priests. Secondly, that it is possible for some dissention to fall out sometimes even amongst the best men. A controversy betwixt Peter and Paul, betwixt Peter and the other Apostles and brethren at Jerusalem. The difference between Paul and Barnabas was very eager. Dissentions in Corinth. Great and vehement quarrels betwixt Austen and Hierome, Cyril and Theodoret, Chrysostom and Theophilact, as histories and their own writings testify. It is so; first, by the cunning of the devil, who, to stop the course of the gospel, laboureth to sow the seeds of dissention. Secondly, by reason of the remainders of corruption which are in all; there is much ignorance and self-love even in the best, and these things cause differences, while men either see not the truth. That among professors and preachers of religion there is, or may be, a three-fold consent. First, in one faith and doctrine; namely, a consent of judgment. Secondly, in affection. Thirdly, in speech; namely, when their teaching and manner of holding and defending of points of doctrines is the same. (Samuel Hieron.)

One essential

Salt is good, but if the salt have lost its saltness wherewith will ye season it? In every good thing there is one supreme essential, besides much that is of minor importance. Let that one element be lacking, and all the rest is a mockery. If sugar be not sweet, if fruit have no flavour, if meat be without nutriment, what folly to give it commendation for any other quality! If a man lack manliness, if a woman lack womanliness, if a child lack childlikeness, praise for any other characteristic is little else than censure or a sneer. What is home without affection? What is friendship without mutual confidence? What is character without sincerity? What is salt without saltness? If you are a disciple of Christ the real question is, How much of Christian discipleship is there in you? Everything else-all your popularity, all your supposed usefulness, all your zeal in good works-is something outside of the only that is really worth taking into account in an estimate of your worth as a disciple of Christ.

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mark

‘SALT IN YOURSELVES’

Mar 9:50.

In the context ‘salt’ is employed to express the preserving, purifying, divine energy which is otherwise spoken of as ‘fire.’ The two emblems produce the same result. They both salt-that is, they cleanse and keep. And if in the one we recognise the quick energy of the Divine Spirit as the central idea, no less are we to see the same typified under a slightly different aspect in the other. The fire transforms into its own substance and burns away all the grosser particles. The salt arrests corruption, keeps off destruction, and diffuses its sanative influence through all the particles of the substance with which it comes in contact. And in both metaphors it is the operation of God’s cleansing Spirit, in its most general form, that is set forth, including all the manifold ways by which God deals with us to purge us from our iniquity, to free us from the death which treads close on the heels of wrongdoing, the decomposition and dissolution which surely follow on corruption.

This the disciples are exhorted to have in themselves that they may be at peace one with another. Perhaps we shall best discover the whole force of this saying by dealing-

I. With the symbol itself and the ideas derived from it.

The salt cleanses, arrests corruption which impends over the dead masses, sweetens and purifies, and so preserves from decay and dissolution. It works by contact, and within the mass. It thus stands as an emblem of the cleansing which God brings, both in respect {a} to that on which it operates, {b} to the purpose of its application, and {c} to the manner in which it produces its effects.

{a} That on which it operates.

There is implied here a view of human nature, not flattering but true. It is compared with a dead thing, in which the causes that bring about corruption are already at work, with the sure issue of destruction. This in its individual application comes to the assertion of sinful tendency and actual sin as having its seat and root in all our souls, so that the present condition is corruption, and the future issue is destruction. The consequent ideas are that any power which is to cleanse must come from without, not from within; that purity is not to be won by our own efforts, and that there is no disposition in human nature to make these efforts. There is no recuperative power in human nature. True, there may be outward reformation of habits, etc., but, if we grasp the thought that the taproot of sin is selfishness, this impotence becomes clearer, and it is seen that sin affects all our being, and that therefore the healing must come from beyond us.

{b} The purpose-namely, cleansing.

In salt we may include the whole divine energy; the Word, the Christ, the Spirit. So the intention of the Gospel is mainly to make clean. Preservation is a consequence of that.

{c} The manner of its application.

Inward, penetrating, by contact; but mainly the great peculiarity of Christian ethics is that the inner life is dealt with first, the will and the heart, and afterwards the outward conduct.

II. The part which we have to take in this cleansing process.

‘Have salt’ is a command; and this implies that while all the cleansing energy comes from God, the working of it on our souls depends on ourselves.

{a} Its original reception depends on our faith.

The ‘salt’ is here, but our contact with it is established by our acceptance of it. There is no magical cleansing; but it must be received within if we would share in its operation.

{b} Its continuous energy is not secured without our effort.

Let us just recall the principle already referred to, that the ‘salt’ implies the whole cleansing divine energies, and ask what are these? The Bible variously speaks of men as being cleansed by the ‘blood of Christ,’ by the ‘truth,’ by the ‘Spirit.’ Now, it is not difficult to bring all these into one focus, viz., that the Spirit of God cleanses us by bringing the truth concerning Christ to bear on our understandings and hearts.

We are sanctified in proportion as we are coming under the influence of Christian truth, which, believed by our understandings and our hearts, supplies motives to our wills which lead us to holiness by copying the example of Christ.

Hence the main principle is that the cleansing energy operates on us in proportion as we are influenced by the truths of the Gospel.

Again, it works in proportion as we seek for, and submit to, the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit.

In proportion as we are living in communion with Christ.

In proportion as we seek to deny ourselves and put away those evil things which ‘quench the Spirit.’

This great grace, then, is not ours without our own effort. No original endowment is enough to keep us right. There must be the daily contact with, and constant renewing of the Holy Ghost. Hence arises a solemn appeal to all Christians.

Note the independence of the Christian character.

‘In yourselves.’ ‘The water that I shall give him shall be in him a fountain,’ etc. Not, therefore, derived from the world, nor at second-hand from other men, but you have access to it for yourselves. See that you use the gift. ‘Hold fast that which thou hast,’ for there are enemies to withstand-carelessness, slothfulness, and self-confidence, etc.

III. The relation to one another of those who possess this energy.

In proportion as Christians have salt in themselves, they will be at peace with one another. Remember that all sin is selfishness; therefore if we are cleansed from it, that which leads to war, alienation, and coldness will be removed. Even in this world there will be an anticipatory picture of the perfect peace which will abound when all are holy. Even now this great hope should make our mutual Christian relations very sweet and helpful.

Thus emerges the great principle that the foundation of the only real love among men must be laid in holiness of heart and life. Where the Spirit of God is working on a heart, there the seeds of evil passions are stricken out. The causes of enmity and disturbance are being removed. Men quarrel with each other because their pride is offended, or because their passionate desires after earthly things are crossed by a successful rival, or because they deem themselves not sufficiently respected by others. The root of all strife is self-love. It is the root of all sin. The cleansing which takes away the root removes in the same proportion the strife which grows from it. We should not be so ready to stand on our rights if we remembered how we come to have any hopes at all. We should not be so ready to take offence if we thought more of Him who is not soon angry. All the train of alienations, suspicions, earthly passions, which exist in our minds and are sure to issue in quarrels or bad blood, will be put down if we have ‘salt in ourselves.’

This makes a very solemn appeal to Christian men. The Church is the garden where this peace should flourish. The disgrace of the Church is its envyings, jealousies, ill-natured scandal, idle gossip, love of preeminence, willingness to impute the worst possible motives to one another, sharp eyes for our brother’s failings and none for our own. I am not pleading for any mawkish sentimentality, but for a manly peacefulness which comes from holiness. The holiest natures are always the most generous.

What a contrast the Church ought to present to the prevailing tone in the world! Does it? Why not? Because we do not possess the ‘salt.’ The dove flees from the cawing of rooks and the squabbling of kites and hawks.

The same principle applies to all our human affections. Our loves of all sorts are safe only when they are pure. Contrast the society based on common possession of the one Spirit with the companionships which repose on sin, or only on custom or neighbourhood. In all these there are possibilities of moral peril.

The same principle intensified gives us a picture of heaven and of hell. In the one are the ‘solemn troops and sweet societies’; in the other, no peace, no confidence, no bonds, only isolation, because sin which is selfishness lies at the foundation of the awful condition.

Friends, without that salt our souls are dead and rotting. Here is the great cure. Make it your own. So purified, you will be preserved, but, on the other hand, unchecked sin leads to quick destruction.

The dead, putrefying carcass-what a picture of a soul abandoned to evil and fit only for Gehenna!

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 9:50. Καλὸν, good) Salt. For all other foods are seasoned by it.—ἐὰν δὲ τὸ ἅλας, but if the salt) In this passage the disciples themselves are called “the salt,” inasmuch as being imbued [endued] with the salt themselves, and salting the world.—ἄναλον, saltless [insipid]) so as to have no pungency. Pride [referring to Mar 9:33-34, the dispute about who should be greatest] most especially makes men saltless [savourless].—αὐτὸ, itself [the very salt]) having lost its primary quality.—ἔχετε, have ye) To have ‘fire,’ is not within human ability: therefore it is not said, have fire. But he who is imbued with the fire is desired to have salt.—ἐν ἑαυτοῖς, in yourselves) In antithesis to, among one another, ἐν ἀλλήλοις. The former duty is in regard to ourselves; the second, towards others.—ἅλας) The singular, or else the plural from ἅλς. The salt is that of self-mortification, whereby pride is destroyed.—καὶ εἰρηνευετε, and have peace) or else, ye shall have: comp. Mar 9:34: viz. by removing a puffed up spirit, which is the source of quarrels [Mar 9:33-34].

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar_9:50. Καλὸν … ἀρτύσετε] a maxim of experience drawn from common life, in which τὸ ἅλας is to be taken literally. Then follows with ἔχετε κ.τ.λ. the application, in which the spiritual meaning of the salt (wisdom, see on Mar_9:49, and Buxtorf, Lex. Talm. p. 1208) emerges. The connection with what precedes is: In order to experience in yourselves on the establishment of the kingdom the truth: πᾶσα θυσία ἁλὶ ἁλισθήσεται, ye mustseeing that salt, which in itself is so excellent a thing, when it has become insipid, can in no wise be restoredpreserve in your hearts the salt of true wisdom[131] and withal be peaceful one with another. Against both the disciples had sinned by their dispute about precedence (Mar_9:34), from which the entire discourse of Jesus, Mar_9:35 ff., had started, and to which He now again at the close points back. This contest about precedence had been foolish (opposed to the ἅλας) and unpeaceful.

ἐὰν δὲ τὸ ἅλας ἄναλον κ.τ.λ.] Comp. on Mat_5:13.

ΑὐΤῸ ἈΡΤΎΣΕΤΕ] wherewith shall ye restore it? so that it shall again be provided with saline efficacy (comp. on Col_4:6).

ἔχετε] emphatically placed first: keep, preserve, which is not done, if the analogue of the ἄναλον γίνεσθαι sets in with you.

ἘΝ ἙΑΥΤΟῖς] in yourselves, correlative to the subsequent ἐν ἀλλήλοις (reciprocally). Comp. Bengel: prius officium respectu nostri, alterum erga alios.

ἍΛΑ (see the critical remarks) from Ὁ ἍΛς. See Lobeck, Paralip. p. 93.

καὶ εἰρην. ἐν ἀλλ.] The annexing of this exhortation was also suggested by the conception of the salt, since the salt was symbol of a covenant. Hence the course of thought: Andwhereof ye are likewise reminded by the symbolic significance of saltlive in peace one with another.

[131] Comp. Ignat. ad Magnes. 10 : ἁλίσθητε ἐν αὐτῳ (Χριστῷ), ἵνα μὴ διαφθαρῇ τις ἐν ὑμῖν.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 9:50 sets forth the other great truth: salting in the form of self-discipline indispensable . καλὸν τὸ ἅλας , an excellent thing is salt; a most seasonable truth just then. What follows seems less so, as it stands in Mk.’s text. As spoken by Jesus, if we may assume that it was spoken on this occasion, it might come in quite naturally. The three thoughts in this verse: salt good, care must be taken that it lose not its virtue, have salt in yourselves, may be merely themes packed together in a single sentence, on which Jesus discoursed at length. ἄναλον , ἄπ . λεγ . in N. T., used in later Greek; μωρανθῇ in Mt. and Lk. ἔχετε ἐν ἑαυτοῖς ἅλα , have salt in yourselves. In the two former clauses disciples are thought of, as in Mat 5:13 , as themselves salt for the world. Here they are viewed as the subject of the salting process. They must be salted in order to be salt to the world, their ulterior vocation. Meantime a more immediate effect of their being salted is pointed out in the closing words. εἰρηνεύετε ἐν ἀλλήλοις : be at peace with one another; which they were not. The cause of dispeace was ambition. The salting would consist in getting rid of that evil spirit at whatever cost. εἰρηνεύετε : a Pauline word, remarks Holtz. (H. C.). True, but why not also a word of Jesus? certainly very apposite to the occasion.

Note . Salting of disciples imports suffering pain, but is not to be confounded with the cross-bearing of faithful disciples (Mar 8:34 ). The former is the discipline of self-denial necessary to make a man a follower of Christ worthy of the name. The latter is the tribulation that comes on all who follow closely in the footsteps of Christ. The one is needful to make us holy, the other overtakes us when and because we are holy.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 50. If the salt have lost his saltness] See Clarke on Mt 5:13.

Have salt in yourselves] See that ye have at all times the preserving principle of Divine grace in your hearts, and give that proof of it which will satisfy your own minds, and convince or silence the world: live in brotherly kindness and peace with each other: thus shall all men see that you are free from ambition, (see Mr 9:34), and that you are my disciples indeed. That it is possible for the salt to lose its savour, and yet retain its appearance in the most perfect manner, see proved on the note on Mt 5:13.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(50) Salt is good.—See Note on Mat_5:13. There, however, the primary reference of the words is to the visible community of believers, the Church of Christ, as preserving the world from corruption. Here the words speak primarily of the inward grace, of which the salt is the symbol, and which alone makes the Church what it ought to be, as “the salt of the earth.”

Have salt in yourselves.—The words that follow, “have peace in yourselves,” seem to refer to the contention in Mar_9:33, with which this portion of our Lord’s teaching had begun. The purity from selfish aims, which was symbolised by the “salt,” was the chief or only preservative of peace.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

50. Salt is good] in its kind and its effect, as preserving from corruption.

have lost] “It was the belief of the Jews that salt would by exposure to the air lose its virtue (Mat_5:13) and become saltless. The same fact is implied in the expressions of Pliny sal iners, sal tabescere, and Maundrell asserts that he found the surface of a salt rock in this condition.”

his saltness] Observe his here, where we should now use its. This is frequently the case in the Bible, and indeed the word its does not occur at all in the English Version of 1611.

Have salt in yourselves] In the common life of Orientals, salt was a sign of sacred covenant engagements and obligations (Lev_2:13; 2Ch_13:5). To eat salt together, meant to make peace, and enter into covenant with each other. Hence the connection here between the disciples having salt in themselves and being at peace one with another, which our Lord further enforced during this “brief period of tranquillity and seclusion” by speaking of the duty not only of avoiding all grounds of offence, but also of cultivating a spirit of gentleness and forgiveness (Mat_18:15-20), which He illustrated by the Parable of the Lost Sheep (Mat_18:12-14), and the Debtor who owed Ten Thousand Talents (Mat_18:21-35).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

50 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.

Ver. 50. Salt is good] Nature hath prudently mingled salt with all things, that they may not easily putrefy. Greges enim pecorum urinam salsissimam effundere videmus, et in omnes stirpes salem infusum. John Bodin. Theat. Naturoe.

Have salt in yourselves] Habete in vobis sal. A cuius admonemur tribus literis (ut curlose observat quidam), Sapere, Agere, Loqui. The conjuring of salt among the Papists is intolerably blasphemous; it is thus: I conjure thee, O salt, by the living God, &c., that thou mayest be made a conjured salt to the salvation of them that believe. And that unto all such as receive thee, thou mayest be health of soul and body; and that from out of the place wherein thou shalt be sprinkled, may fly away and depart all fantasy, wickedness, or craftiness of the devil’s subtlety, and every foul spirit. By salt here we may understand mortification and holy discretion, or sincerity of doctrine and discipline, whereby the saints are seasoned and preserved from the putrefaction of sin and error; from the plague of emulation and dissension, as those good souls (Miconins and his colleagues) who could say with comfort, Cucurrimus, certavimus, laboravimus, pugnavimus, vicimus, et viximus semper coniunctissime, &c. We have run together, striven, laboured, fought, overcome, and lived always together in much peace and concord.

And have peace one with another] By mortification, season, tame, and purge your own hearts of those lusts that war in your members, Jas 4:1, and prove offensive to others, Mar 9:43, so shall you be at peace one with another. Stomach worms are killed with salt.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

We met with the former part of this verse:

See Poole on "Mat 5:13". In that text he compared his disciples, whether preachers or others, to salt, because by their doctrine, and holy life and example, they as it were kept the world sweet. I do not see why we should not so understand him speaking here, understanding by salt, persons salted, seasoned with the knowledge of the doctrine of Christ, and who the fear and love of God. These are good. But if any appearing such, apostatize, or be lazy and inactive, what are they good for? Or what shall season them?

Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another. Here salt is taken in a little different sense. In the former sense themselves were the salt, here they are commanded to keep salt in themselves. They could not have been salt to season others, if themselves had not first been salted with gracious habits of knowledge, faith, love, fear of God: now saith our Saviour, Keep this salt in yourselves, let not this holy fire die from the altar, take heed of losing your savour.

And have peace one with another. It is one thing in the nature of salt to unite and knit the parts of the body salted together, so as the upholding of a union and peace one with another will declare that you have salt in yourselves. By this (saith the apostle) we know we are translated from death to life, if we love the brethren. In order to which men must avoid envy, and emulation, and contests for superiority, &c.; a contest of which nature gave the first occasion of these discourses.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

50. Salt is good — Whether it be a natural or a spiritual element, it is a good creation of God. As the natural substance is excellent, so it is the rightful symbol of spiritual excellence. If the salt have lost his saltness — See notes on Mat_5:13. Have salt in yourselves — Let the emblem of active, sharp purity, symbolised by salt, be in you. There is something of sharpness in the reformatory spirit, which is felt to be acrid and unpleasant by those who need the benefit of it. Nevertheless this does not excuse us from the possession of the element. And have peace — Let your purity, and your purifying element, with all its sharpness, be characterized by the spirit of love. So in the East salt is the emblem of fidelity and friendship. To eat salt with a man and then be his enemy is the height of treachery.

The same salt which is an element of purity, is also an emblem of peace and perpetuity.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Salt is good; that is, it is useful and beneficial. This is true of the literal salt. Its wholesome antiseptic properties are universally recognized. But our Lord has before his mind in this whole passage the spiritual meaning. He is thinking of the salt of Divine grace, of the salt of a spirit informed and influenced by the Holy Spirit. He had already told his disciples that they were "the salt of the earth." Not, indeed, that they could deliver the earth from corruption that was beyond their power. But when Christ had delivered it by his mighty sacrifice and the gift of his Spirit, it was their business, as it is the duty of all Christians, to keep it in a healthy state; so that by their wisdom and purity, their holy lives and holy teaching, they might season the whole world. But if the salt have lost its saltness (ea alav analon genhtai), wherewith will ye season it? This insipid, tasteless condition of salt is familiar to travelers in the East Examples are to be found of largo masses of salt which "has lost its savor." Our Lord here applies this in a spiritual sense to his disciples. "If ye, my disciples, who are the salt of the earth, if ye lose the true properties of salt; if your Christianity loses its heart, its quickening, stimulating influence; so that on account of the love of the world, or the fear of man, or through lust or ambition, you fall away from the heavenly doctrine and life; who shall restore you to your former spiritual health and vigor? With what can salt itself be seasoned when its own chemical energies are lost?" Our Lord plays upon this figure of salt, and cautions his disciples, lest by any means they should lose the qualities of this mystic salt. Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace one with another. This sentence fitly winds up the whole. Have the salt of wisdom and purity, and of a Christian life, namely, humility, charity, contempt of the world, and especially peace. Do not be idly contending about place or position, as not long ago you were disputing (ver. 33). Our Lord foresaw that this kind of contention, these rivalries, and these ambitious aims, would prove a great scandal and a great hindrance to the progress of his Church in the future ages of the world. But he also knew that if his disciples in every ago would endeavor to "keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace," their influence would be irresistible, and they would draw all men to them and to himself, the great Centre of attraction, and "the confidence of all the ends of the earth". (Psa_65:5)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Such salt is good indeed; highly beneficial to the world, in respect of which I have termed you the salt of the earth. But if the salt which should season others, have lost its own saltness, wherewith will ye season it? - Beware of this; see that ye retain your savour; and as a proof of it, have peace one with another. More largely this obscure text might be paraphrased thus:- As every burnt offering was salted with salt, in order to its being cast into the fire of the altar, so every one who will not part with his hand or eye, shall fall a sacrifice to Divine justice, and be cast into hell fire, which will not consume, but preserve him from a cessation of being. And on the other hand, every one, who, denying himself and taking up his cross, offers up himself as a living sacrifice to God, shall be seasoned with grace, which like salt will make him savoury, and preserve him from destruction forever. As salt is good for preserving meats, and making them savoury, so it is good that ye be seasoned with grace, for the purifying your hearts and lives, and for spreading the savour of my knowledge, both in your own souls, and wherever ye go. But as salt if it loses its saltness is fit for nothing, so ye, if ye lose your faith and love, are fit for nothing but to be utterly destroyed. See therefore that grace abide in you, and that ye no more contend, Who shall be greatest. Matt. v, 13; Luke xiv, 34.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Our blessed Saviour here compares Christians in general, and his ministers in particular, unto salt, for a double reason.

First, Because it is the nature of salt to preserve things from corruption and putrefaction, and to render them savoury and pleasant. Thus are the ministers of Christ to labour and endeavour by the purity of their doctrine, to sweeten putrifying sinners, that they may become savoury unto god and man, and be kept from being flyblown with errors and false doctrines.

Secondly, Because salt has an acrimony, a piercing power in it, which subdues the whole lump, and turns it into its own nature. Such a piercing power is there in the ministry of the word, that it subdues the whole man to the obedience of itself; Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another; that is, let all persons, especially ministers, retain a seasoning virtue in themselves, that they may sweeten and season others, even all that they converse with; and as salt has an uniting power, and knits the parts of the body salted together, so the upholding of union and peace one with another, will declare that ye have salt in yourselves.

Learn hence, That it is the duty of all Christians, but especially of the ministers of the gospel, to maintan brotherly concord and agreement among themselves, both as an argument of their sincerity, and an ornament to their profession.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

50. Have salt in yourselves. The spirit of self-sacrifice, and thus you will “have peace with one another.”

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

50. καλὸν τὸ ἅλας. A fine thing is the salt. Here τὸ ἅλας is passing in meaning from the Divine to the human; in the next clause it is wholly human. Nihil utilius sale et sole (Plin. H.N. XXXI. ix. 45. 102). In LXX. and N.T., τὸ ἅλας is the common form, with τὸ ἅλα (cf. γάλα) as v. l. in good MSS. In class. Grk ὁ ἅλς prevails.

ἄναλον. Here only in N.T. and LXX. Apostles without the spirit of devotion and self-sacrifice, selfish Apostles who wrangle for the first place, are as worthless as savourless salt. We have a similar saying in the Testaments (Levi xiv. 4); “What will all the nations do, if ye are darkened in ungodliness?”

ἀρτύσετε. The verb means “prepare,” and especially “prepare and flavour food” (Col 4:6).

ἐν ἑαυτοῖς. See on Mar 13:9.

εἰρηνεύετε. see on 2Co 13:11. In LXX. it is freq. Elsewhere only in Paul. The fruits of the Spirit are ἀγάπη, χαρά, εἰρήνη (Gal 5:22). Cf. 1Co 3:3.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

50.] The connexion of this (elsewhere said in other references, Mat 5:13: Luk 14:34) is now plain. If this fire which is to purify and act as a preserving salt to you, have, from the nullity and vapidity of the grace of the covenant in you, no such power,—it can only consume—the salt has lost its savour—the covenant is void—you will be cast out, as it is elsewhere added, and the fire will be no longer the fire of purification, but of wrath eternal.

I will just add that the interpretation of the sacrifice as the condemned—and the fire and salt as eternal fire,—except in the case of the salt having lost its savour, is contrary to the whole symbolism of Scripture, and to the exhortation with which this verse ends: ‘Have this grace of God—this Spirit of adoption—this pledge of the covenant, in yourselves;—and,’ with reference to the strife out of which the discourse sprung,—‘have peace with one another.’

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Have lost its saltness [αναλον γενηται] . Lit., may have become saltless. Compare on Mt 5:13.

Will ye season [αρτυσετε] . Lit., will ye restore. Compare Col 4:5.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.