Matthew 2:8

2:8 He ¹  sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and look carefully for the child. When you find him, inform me so that I can go and worship him as well.”

Matthew 5:13

Salt and Light

5:13 “You are the salt ²  of the earth. But if salt loses its flavor, ³  how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people.

Matthew 12:29

12:29 How ⁴  else can someone enter a strong man’s ⁵  house and steal his property, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can thoroughly plunder the house. ⁶ 

Matthew 15:31

15:31 As a result, the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they praised the God of Israel.

Matthew 18:12

18:12 What do you think? If someone ⁷  owns a hundred ⁸  sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go look for the one that went astray? ⁹ 

Matthew 21:2

21:2 telling them, “Go to the village ahead of you. ¹⁰  Right away you will find a donkey tied there, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me.

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¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

² sn Salt was used as seasoning or fertilizer (BDAG 41 s.v. ἅλας a), or as a preservative. If salt ceased to be useful, it was thrown away. With this illustration Jesus warned about a disciple who ceased to follow him.

³ sn The difficulty of this saying is understanding how salt could lose its flavor since its chemical properties cannot change. It is thus often assumed that Jesus was referring to chemically impure salt, perhaps a natural salt which, when exposed to the elements, had all the genuine salt leached out, leaving only the sediment or impurities behind. Others have suggested that the background of the saying is the use of salt blocks by Arab bakers to line the floor of their ovens; under the intense heat these blocks would eventually crystallize and undergo a change in chemical composition, finally being thrown out as unserviceable. A saying in the Talmud (b. Bekhorot 8b) attributed to R. Joshua ben Chananja (ca. a.d. 90), when asked the question “When salt loses its flavor, how can it be made salty again?” is said to have replied, “By salting it with the afterbirth of a mule.” He was then asked, “Then does the mule (being sterile) bear young?” to which he replied: “Can salt lose its flavor?” The point appears to be that both are impossible. The saying, while admittedly late, suggests that culturally the loss of flavor by salt was regarded as an impossibility. Genuine salt can never lose its flavor. In this case the saying by Jesus here may be similar to Matt 19:24, where it is likewise impossible for the camel to go through the eye of a sewing needle.

⁴ tn Grk “Or how can.”

⁵ sn The strong man here pictures Satan.

⁶ sn Some see the imagery here as similar to Eph 4:7-10, although no opponents are explicitly named in that passage. Jesus has the victory over Satan. Jesus’ acts of healing mean that the war is being won and the kingdom is coming.

⁷ tn Grk “a certain man.” The Greek word ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in a somewhat generic sense.

⁸ sn This individual with a hundred sheep is a shepherd of modest means, as flocks often had up to two hundred head of sheep.

⁹ sn Look for the one that went astray. The parable pictures God’s pursuit of the sinner. On the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, see John 10:1-18.

¹⁰ tn Grk “the village lying before you” (BDAG 530 s.v. κατέναντι 2.b).