Paragraph 5:14–16

5:14a

You are the light of the world: The phrase the light of the world is a metaphor. In this metaphor, Jesus compares his disciples to light. One way that light and the disciples are similar is that both help people in darkness. Light shines for people in darkness and shows them the path. In the same way, believers speak and live God’s truth to people in spiritual darkness and show them the path to God.

Here are some other ways to translate this metaphor:

• Change the metaphor to a simile. For example:

You are like light for the world

• Change the metaphor to a simile and make explicit the way that they are similar. For example:

You show the people of the world the way to God as a light shows them their path

• Explain the meaning in a footnote. Here is a sample footnote:

Jesus compared his disciples to light. A light shines for those in darkness and shows them their path. In the same way, Jesus’ disciples should show the path to God to people in spiritual darkness.

You: As in 5:13a, the pronoun You is plural in Greek.

the world: The term the world refers to “the people of the world.” It means the same thing as “the earth” in 5:13a.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

everyone in the world
-or-
the people in/of the world

5:14b

A city on a hill cannot be hidden: This clause is like a saying or proverb. A city located on a hill is in plain view. No one can hide it or keep people from seeing it.

city: In this context, the word city refers generally to cities, towns, or villages. For example:

town (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

on a hill: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible here translates as hill is the same word translated as “mountain” in 5:1. Since people do not usually build cities on tall mountains, the Berean Standard Bible translates the Greek word as hill.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

located on a hill (NET Bible)
-or-
built on a hill (Good News Translation)
-or-
built on top of a hill (Contemporary English Version)

cannot be hidden: The verb be hidden is passive.

Here are some other ways to translate this verb:

• Use a passive verb. For example:

cannot be hidden (NET Bible)

• Use an active verb. For example:

⌊they/people⌋ cannot hide it

© 2023 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.