Paragraph 9:49–50

In these verses, there are three different sayings about salt. Salt had many functions for the Jewish people. Each of these sayings refers to a different use of salt.

(a) (9:49) God commanded his people to put salt on all their sacrifices (Leviticus 2:13). Salt became a symbol of the eternal nature of the covenant between God and his people.

(b) (9:50a) People used salt to keep food from spoiling. They also used it to make food taste better.

(c) (9:50b–d) When people entered into an agreement or covenant, they ate salt (or a meal that included salt) together.

9:49

For: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “For” connects 9:49 to the previous verse. In this context it indicates that 9:49 in some way explains the previous verses. All believers should remove causes of sin because they will all experience suffering of some kind. Some English versions do not translate this conjunction. You should introduce 9:49 in a way that is natural in your language.

You may want to refer back to 9:43–48 in a general way or refer to the general principle taught in those verses. For example:

I say that because
-or-
Remove causes of sin because

everyone will be salted with fire: There is a textual issue here:

(1) Some Greek texts have: “For everyone will be salted with fire.”

(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible, NET Bible, God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, New Century Version, English Standard Version)

(2) Other Greek texts have: “For everyone shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.”

(King James Version, Good News Bible (The Good News Bible appears to follow option (2). However, there is a possibility that it actually follows option (1) and makes explicit its interpretation of those manuscripts.))

It is recommended that you follow option (1).

The expression everyone will be salted with fire is very difficult. Bible scholars have interpreted it in different ways. However, most scholars believe that Jesus’ words figuratively referred to Jewish sacrifices which were always salted (see Leviticus 2:13). Most of these sacrifices were also burned with fire. Fire here is an image of the suffering or hardships that all disciples would experience. This suffering would make them more holy and help them to rely more on God.

In many languages, it will not be easy to translate salted with fire literally. In languages where it can be translated, it may not be easily understood. Another problem is that your culture may use salt and fire figuratively to mean different things than they meant to the Jews. If that is true, you may want to:

• Translate this expression in a way that explains the metaphor. For example:

Just as every sacrifice/food is salted, everyone passes though fires of suffering.
-or-
Everyone will experience suffering/difficulties that will be like going through fire.
-or-
Everyone will be like a sacrifice that is salted and then burned.
-or-
Everyone will be purified by fire as a sacrifice is purified by salt. (Good News Bible)
-or-
Everyone will be purified with/by the fire of suffering.

If you follow one of these models for translation, you may want to include a footnote giving the literal Greek text. For example:

Literally: “For everyone will be salted with fire.”

• Explain this expression in a footnote. For example:

The expression “salted with fire” probably refers figuratively to Jewish sacrifices which were always salted (see Leviticus 2:13). Most of these sacrifices were burned with fire. Fire here is an image of the suffering or hardships that all disciples would experience. These hardships would make them more holy and cause them to rely more on God.

everyone: The word everyone refers to all of Jesus’ followers. You may want to make this clear by saying:

all my followers
-or-
all of you(plur)

will be salted: This is a passive clause. If it is more natural in your language to use an active verb here, you may be able to say:

Just as people salt every sacrifice, so God will cause everyone to pass though fires of suffering.
-or-
Everyone will be like a sacrifice on which a person puts salt and then burns.
-or-
God will purify everyone with fire as a person purifies a sacrifice with salt.
-or-
God will purify everyone with/by the fire of suffering.

with fire: The phrase with fire is emphasized in the Greek. If you have a natural way to emphasize this phrase, you may want to do so. For example:

it is with/by fire that everyone will be salted

fire: Notice that fire in this verse does not have the same meaning as “fire” in 9:48b. This verse means that all followers of Jesus will experience suffering of some kind because they belong to him. This verse does not mean that everyone will experience the fire of hell. Your translation should make the different meaning clear either in text or in a footnote. See the notes and examples above.

© 2008 by SIL International®

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.