Matthew 3:10

3:10 Even now the ax is laid at ¹  the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

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 5:25

5:25 Reach agreement ⁴  quickly with your accuser while on the way to court, ⁵  or he ⁶  may hand you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the warden, and you will be thrown into prison.

Matthew 5:29

5:29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away! It is better to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into hell. ⁷ 

Matthew 11:23

11:23 And you, Capernaum, ⁸  will you be exalted to heaven? ⁹  No, you will be thrown down to Hades! ¹⁰  For if the miracles done among you had been done in Sodom, it would have continued to this day.

Matthew 18:9

18:9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than to have ¹¹  two eyes and be thrown into fiery hell. ¹² 

---

¹ sn Laid at the root. That is, placed and aimed, ready to begin cutting.

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 “Make friends.”

⁵ tn The words “to court” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

⁶ tn Grk “the accuser.”

⁷ sn On this word here and in the following verse, see the note on the word hell in 5:22.

⁸ sn Capernaum was a town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, 680 ft (204 m) below sea level. It was a major trade and economic center in the North Galilean region.

map For location see Map1-D2; Map2-C3; Map3-B2.

⁹ tn The interrogative particle introducing this question expects a negative reply.

¹⁰ sn In the OT, Hades was known as Sheol. It is the place where the unrighteous will reside (Luke 10:15; 16:23; Rev 20:13-14).

¹¹ tn Grk “than having.”

¹² tn Grk “the Gehenna of fire.”

sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.