Luke 14:34

Salt [is] good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?

Salt {G217} is good {G2570}: but {G1161} if {G1437} the salt {G217} have lost his savour {G3471}, wherewith {G1722}{G5101} shall it be seasoned {G741}?

Salt is excellent. But if even the salt becomes tasteless, what can be used to season it?

Salt is good, but if the salt loses its savor, with what will it be seasoned?

Salt therefore is good: but if even the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be seasoned?

Commentary

Luke 14:34 presents a powerful metaphor from Jesus, concluding a significant teaching on the nature and cost of discipleship. This verse emphasizes the essential quality required of those who follow Him.

Context

This statement immediately follows Jesus’ challenging words about counting the cost of being His disciple. He warns against starting to build without finishing and going to war without assessing one's strength (Luke 14:28-33). The parables highlight the need for absolute commitment and forsaking all to truly be His disciple. The "salt" metaphor serves as a final, striking illustration of what happens if that commitment or distinctiveness is lost.

Key Themes

  • The Disciple's Essential Quality: Salt in ancient times was crucial for preservation (meat, fish) and for enhancing flavor. Jesus uses it to represent the distinctive and preserving influence that His followers are meant to have in the world.
  • Loss of Effectiveness: The phrase "if the salt have lost his savour" refers to salt becoming useless. Ancient salt, often impure and mixed with minerals like gypsum, could lose its sodium chloride content due to exposure or leaching, leaving behind a tasteless, worthless residue. This vividly illustrates the danger of a disciple losing their spiritual vitality, moral distinctiveness, or commitment.
  • Irreversibility of Loss: Once salt lost its savor, it could not be re-seasoned or restored to its original purpose. This underscores the serious consequences of spiritual apathy or compromise; a disciple who loses their "saltiness" becomes ineffective for the Kingdom of God.

Linguistic Insight

The Greek word translated "savour" (KJV) or "saltiness" is mōrainō (μωραίνω), which literally means "to become foolish" or "to become insipid." While it implies a loss of flavor, its broader meaning reinforces the idea of becoming useless or foolish from a spiritual perspective, highlighting a profound internal degradation rather than just an external change.

Practical Application

This verse is a powerful call to self-examination and spiritual integrity. For believers today, it means:

  • Maintaining Distinctiveness: We are called to be different from the world, to live by God's standards, and to influence our surroundings positively, not to be conformed to them. This is key to our role as light in the world.
  • Living with Purpose: Our faith should have a tangible impact on our lives and the lives of others, acting as a preserving and enhancing force against moral decay.
  • Guarding Against Compromise: Spiritual apathy, compromise with worldly values, or a lack of genuine commitment can cause a believer to lose their effectiveness and spiritual "savor," rendering them unable to fulfill their God-given purpose.

Just as salt is good when it retains its properties, so too is a disciple good when they remain faithful and impactful for Christ.

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Cross-References

  • Matthew 5:13 (12 votes)

    Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

  • Colossians 4:6 (11 votes)

    Let your speech [be] alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

  • Mark 9:49 (10 votes)

    For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.

  • Mark 9:50 (10 votes)

    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.

  • Hebrews 2:4 (3 votes)

    God also bearing [them] witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?

  • Hebrews 2:8 (3 votes)

    Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing [that is] not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.