Salt is good, but if the salt becomes flat and tasteless, with what do you season it?
Parallel translations
- KJV Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?
- BSB Salt is good, but if the salt loses its savor, with what will it be seasoned?
- NKJV “Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?
- NASB “Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned?
- NLT “Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Salt is good, but useless if it loses its saltiness. A disciple who loses true commitment loses his usefulness.
Overview
Salt that has gone flat cannot fulfill its purpose of seasoning and preserving. The image warns that half-hearted disciples become spiritually ineffective. Following the call to count the cost, it urges believers to retain the distinctive savor of genuine devotion to Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Matt 5:13“You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted? It is then good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men.
- Col 4:6Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
- Mark 9:49–50For everyone will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.
- Heb 2:4–8God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders, by various works of power, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 14:34 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.