Mark 9:50

Salt is good in its kind and its effect, as preserving from corruption.

have lost "It was the belief of the Jews that salt would by exposure to the air lose its virtue (Matthew 5:13) and become saltless. The same fact is implied in the expressions of Pliny sal iners, sal tabescere, and Maundrell asserts that he found the surface of a salt rock in this condition."

his saltness Observe hishere, where we should now use its. This is frequently the case in the Bible, and indeed the word itsdoes not occur at all in the English Version of 1611.

Have salt in yourselves In the common life of Orientals, salt was a sign of sacred covenant engagements and obligations (Leviticus 2:13; 2 Chronicles 13:5). To eat salt together, meant to make peace, and enter into covenant with each other. Hence the connection here between the disciples having salt in themselves and being at peace one with another, which our Lord further enforced during this "brief period of tranquillity and seclusion" by speaking of the duty not only of avoiding all grounds of offence, but also of cultivating a spirit of gentleness and forgiveness (Matthew 18:15-20), which He illustrated by the Parable of the Lost Sheep(Matthew 18:12-14), and the Debtor who owed Ten Thousand Talents(Matthew 18:21-35).