The Salt of the Land and the Light of the World

Sermon on the Mount E8 – Why does Jesus call his followers salt and light? In the Hebrew Bible, salt is a metaphor for God’s long-lasting covenant with Israel, connected to priestly sacrifices, ritual purity, and social bonds. And the Hebrew word for light, or, shares a wordplay with torah, meaning God’s wise instruction. God’s wisdom given in the Torah is a light for Israel that they are called to share with the nations. In this episode, Jon and Tim discuss the meanings of salt and light, showing how Jesus applies these covenant words to his new community of followers.

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Timestamps 

• Chapter 1: The Meaning of Salt and Light in the Bible (0:00-9:29)
• Chapter 2: A Key Hebrew Wordplay Between “Light” and “Instruction” (9:29-11:49)
• Chapter 3: Light and God’s Torah in the Book of Isaiah (11:49-29:21)
• Chapter 4: Salt and Light as Metaphors for the Covenant (29:21-46:29)

Referenced Resources

• Matthew 1-7: Volume 1 (International Critical Commentary) by W.D Davies, Dale C. Allison Jr., and Christopher M. Tuckett 
• The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing: A Theological Commentary by Jonathan T. Pennington
• Check out Tim’s library here.
• You can experience our entire library of resources in the BibleProject app, available for Android and iOS.

Show Music 

• Original Sermon on the Mount music by Richie Kohen
• BibleProject theme song by TENTS

Show Credits

Dan Gummel is the creative producer for today’s show, and Tim Mackie is the lead scholar. Production of today’s episode is by Lindsey Ponder, producer; Cooper Peltz, managing producer; Colin Wilson, producer; and Stephanie Tam, consultant and editor. Tyler Bailey is our audio editor and engineer, and he provided the sound design and mix. JB Witty does our show notes, and Hannah Woo provides the annotations for our app. Special thanks to Jonathan Penngington. Today’s hosts are Jon Collins and Michelle Jones.

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