The Salt of the Land and the Light of the World

00:00

Sermon on the Mount E8 – Why does Jesus call his followers salt and light? In the Hebrew Bible, salt is a metaphor for God’s long-lasting covenant with Israel, connected to priestly sacrifices, ritual purity, and social bonds. And the Hebrew word for light, or, shares a wordplay with torah, meaning God’s wise instruction. God’s wisdom given in the Torah is a light for Israel that they are called to share with the nations. In this episode, Jon and Tim discuss the meanings of salt and light, showing how Jesus applies these covenant words to his new community of followers.View more resources on our website →Timestamps Chapter 1: The Meaning of Salt and Light in the Bible (0:00-9:29)Chapter 2: A Key Hebrew Wordplay Between “Light” and “Instruction” (9:29-11:49)Chapter 3: Light and God’s Torah in the Book of Isaiah (11:49-29:21)Chapter 4: Salt and Light as Metaphors for the Covenant (29:21-46:29)Referenced ResourcesMatthew 1-7: Volume 1 (International Critical Commentary) by W.D Davies, Dale C. Allison Jr., and Christopher M. Tuckett The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing: A Theological Commentary by Jonathan T. PenningtonCheck out Tim’s library here.You can experience our entire library of resources in the BibleProject app, available for Android and iOS.Show Music Original Sermon on the Mount music by Richie KohenBibleProject theme song by TENTSShow CreditsDan Gummel is the creative producer for today’s show, and Tim Mackie is the lead scholar. Production of today’s episode is by Lindsey Ponder, producer; Cooper Peltz, managing producer; Colin Wilson, producer; and Stephanie Tam, consultant and editor. Tyler Bailey is our audio editor and engineer, and he provided the sound design and mix. JB Witty does our show notes, and Hannah Woo provides the annotations for our app. Special thanks to Jonathan Penngington. Today’s hosts are Jon Collins and Michelle Jones.Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

Released on 19 Feb 2024

Share this page...

Coming up next

What Does Jesus Think of Old Testament Laws?

26 Feb 2024

00:47:18

Sermon on the Mount E9 – What did Jesus mean when he said he came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets? In Jesus’ day, the laws from the Torah were over a thousand years old. And the Jewish people under Roman occupation weren’t able to follow all of t...

How Is Anger the Same as Murder?

4 Mar 2024

00:56:24

Sermon on the Mount E10 – In Matthew 5:21-48, Jesus reveals the divine wisdom of Israel’s Old Testament laws through six case studies. In the first case study, he expounds on one of the Ten Commandments, “Do not murder” (Exod. 20:13). After acknowled...

Why Do the Beatitudes Matter for the Overworked and Hopeless? – Sermon on the Mount Q+R 1

11 Mar 2024

01:08:07

Why do we not find the Sermon on the Mount in the gospels of Mark or John? Why is “blessed” not a good translation of the word makarios? And if Jesus says that mourning, powerlessness, and poverty are the key to the good life, should we pursue those...

View all episodes

Request Messages Timeline Exceptions Views62 Route Queries26 Models16 Livewire1 Mails Gate Session

Settings Request history8.3.17231ms3MBGET podcasts/{podcast}/episodes/{episode}

status

200 OK

full_url

https://premier.amperative.site/podcasts/bibleproject/episodes/the-salt-of-the-land-and-the-light-of...

action_name

podcasts.episodes.show

controller_action

App\Http\Controllers\PodcastEpisodesController@show

uri

GET podcasts/{podcast}/episodes/{episode}

scope_bindings

true

controller

App\Http\Controllers\PodcastEpisodesController@show

file

app/Http/Controllers/PodcastEpisodesController.php:22-38

middleware

web

duration

232ms

peak_memory

4MB

response

text/html; charset=UTF-8

request_format

html

request_query

[]

request_request

[]

request_headers

  0 of 0   
array:15 [▼
  "host" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "premier.amperative.site"
  ]
  "connection" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "keep-alive"
  ]
  "pragma" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "no-cache"
  ]
  "cache-control" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "no-cache"
  ]
  "sec-ch-ua" => array:1 [▶
    0 => ""Chromium";v="130", "HeadlessChrome";v="130", "Not?A_Brand";v="99""
  ]
  "sec-ch-ua-mobile" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "?0"
  ]
  "sec-ch-ua-platform" => array:1 [▶
    0 => ""Windows""
  ]
  "upgrade-insecure-requests" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "1"
  ]
  "user-agent" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)"
  ]
  "accept" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,image/avif,image/webp,image/apng,*/*;q=0.8,application/signed-exchange;v=b3;q=0.7"
  ]
  "sec-fetch-site" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "none"
  ]
  "sec-fetch-mode" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "navigate"
  ]
  "sec-fetch-user" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "?1"
  ]
  "sec-fetch-dest" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "document"
  ]
  "accept-encoding" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "gzip, deflate, br, zstd"
  ]
]

request_cookies

[]

response_headers

  0 of 0   
array:3 [▼
  "content-type" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "text/html; charset=UTF-8"
  ]
  "cache-control" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "no-cache, private"
  ]
  "date" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "Thu, 26 Jun 2025 07:17:28 GMT"
  ]
]

session_attributes

  0 of 0   
array:1 [▼
  "_token" => "ybkOloTKJ6WQYinv0mAZw5RvTmUoClFX9U0gF63f"
]

Booting (58.1ms)time
Application (173ms)time
Routing (3.6ms)
1 x Application (74.81%)
173ms
1 x Booting (25.18%)
58.10ms
1 x Routing (1.56%)
3.60ms

62 templates were rendered

1x templates.podcast-episodes.showshow.blade.php#?blade
1x livewire.section-podcast-playersection-podcast-player.blade.php#?blade
1x components.sections.header-playerheader-player.blade.php#?blade
1x components.sections.header-topheader-top.blade.php#?blade
35x components.iconicon.blade.php#?blade
1x components.player.tracktrack.blade.php#?blade
1x components.modals.modal-confirmationmodal-confirmation.blade.php#?blade
3x components.modals.generic-1generic-1.blade.php#?blade
1x components.sharethissharethis.blade.php#?blade
3x components.cards.episodeepisode.blade.php#?blade
1x components.modals.model-show-signupmodel-show-signup.blade.php#?blade
1x components.recommendations.index-bespokeindex-bespoke.blade.php#?blade
1x components.promotional-blockspromotional-blocks.blade.php#?blade
1x components.sections.footerfooter.blade.php#?blade
2x components.form.inputinput.blade.php#?blade
2x components.form.input-groupinput-group.blade.php#?blade
1x components.layouts.mastermaster.blade.php#?blade
1x components.faviconfavicon.blade.php#?blade
1x components.social-metasocial-meta.blade.php#?blade
1x components.modals.searchsearch.blade.php#?blade
1x components.toast-controllertoast-controller.blade.php#?blade
1x components.modals.model-show-thank-youmodel-show-thank-you.blade.php#?blade

uri: GET podcasts/{podcast}/episodes/{episode}
middleware: web
scope_bindings: true
controller: App\Http\Controllers\PodcastEpisodesController@show
as: podcasts.episodes.show
file: app/Http/Controllers/PodcastEpisodesController.php:22-38

26 statements were executed (14 duplicates)Show only duplicates86.09ms

RedirectMiddleware.php#49premier1.27msselect * from `redirects` where `is_regex` = 1 and `redirects`.`deleted_at` is null

Bindings	0: 1
Backtrace	app/Http/Middleware/RedirectMiddleware.php:49 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:180 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:116 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:797 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:776

RedirectMiddleware.php#79premier1.27ms

select * from `redirects` where `is_regex` = 0 and `match` = '/podcasts/bibleproject/episodes/the-salt-of-the-land-and-the-light-of-the-world' and `is_active` = 1 and `redirects`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1

Bindings	0: 0 1: /podcasts/bibleproject/episodes/the-salt-of-the-land-and-the-light-of-the-world 2: 1
Backtrace	app/Http/Middleware/RedirectMiddleware.php:79 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:180 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:116 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:797 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:776

DatabaseSessionHandler.php#97premier800μsselect * from `sessions` where `id` = '7BlM5QEor6g1sH0dlrSsClePwRye7EeTvOdGK2Cl' limit 1

Bindings	0: 7BlM5QEor6g1sH0dlrSsClePwRye7EeTvOdGK2Cl
Backtrace	vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/DatabaseSessionHandler.php:97 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/Store.php:113 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/Store.php:101 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/Store.php:85 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/Middleware/StartSession.php:147

ContentFamilyTrait.php#42premier1.58msselect * from `podcasts` where `slug` = 'bibleproject' and `is_active` = 1 and `podcasts`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1

Bindings	0: bibleproject 1: 1
Backtrace	app/Models/Traits/ContentFamilyTrait.php:42 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/ImplicitRouteBinding.php:61 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:947 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Middleware/SubstituteBindings.php:41 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:180

ContentFamilyTrait.php#59premier36.64ms

select * from `podcast_episodes` where `podcast_episodes`.`podcast_id` = 36 and `podcast_episodes`.`podcast_id` is not null and `slug` = 'the-salt-of-the-land-and-the-light-of-the-world' and `podcast_episodes`.`deleted_at` is null order by `published_at` desc limit 1

Bindings	0: 36 1: the-salt-of-the-land-and-the-light-of-the-world
Backtrace	app/Models/Traits/ContentFamilyTrait.php:59 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/ImplicitRouteBinding.php:56 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:947 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Middleware/SubstituteBindings.php:41 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:180

PromotionalBlockCacheMiddleware.php#24premier2.05ms

select * from `promotional_blocks` where (`display_from` is null or `display_from` < '2025-06-26 08:17:28') and (`display_to` is null or `display_to` > '2025-06-26 08:17:28')

Bindings	0: 2025-06-26 08:17:28 1: 2025-06-26 08:17:28
Backtrace	app/Http/Middleware/PromotionalBlockCacheMiddleware.php:24 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408 app/Http/Middleware/PromotionalBlockCacheMiddleware.php:23 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:180

PodcastEpisodesController.php#24premier2.42msselect exists(select * from `brands` where `brands`.`id` is null and `brands`.`deleted_at` is null) as `exists`

Backtrace

app/Http/Controllers/PodcastEpisodesController.php:24
vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Controller.php:54
vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/ControllerDispatcher.php:43
vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Route.php:259
vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Route.php:205

PodcastEpisode.php#193premier840μs

select exists(select * from `musicables` where `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\Models\PodcastEpisode' and `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 17764 and `musicables`.`musicable_id` is not null) as `exists`

Bindings	0: App\Models\PodcastEpisode 1: 17764
Backtrace	app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:193 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:76 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:31 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:41

PodcastEpisode.php#100premier620μsselect * from `podcasts` where `podcasts`.`id` = 36 and `podcasts`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1

Bindings	0: 36
Backtrace	app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:100 app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:193 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:76 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:31 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36

Podcast.php#215premier1.78ms

select exists(select * from `music_genres` inner join `musicables` on `music_genres`.`id` = `musicables`.`music_genre_id` where `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 36 and `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\Models\Podcast' and `music_genres`.`deleted_at` is null) as `exists`

Bindings	0: 36 1: App\Models\Podcast
Backtrace	app/Models/Podcast.php:215 app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:193 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:76 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:31 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36

SectionPodcastPlayer.php#80premier600μs

select * from `listenable_progress_items` where `listenable_progress_items`.`listenable_type` = 'App\Models\PodcastEpisode' and `listenable_progress_items`.`listenable_id` = 17764 and `listenable_progress_items`.`listenable_id` is not null and `user_id` is null limit 1

Bindings	0: App\Models\PodcastEpisode 1: 17764
Backtrace	app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:80 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:31 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:41 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:93

SectionPodcastPlayer.php#140premier7.87ms

select * from `podcast_episodes` where `podcast_id` = 36 and `published_at` < '2024-02-19 08:00:00' and `podcast_episodes`.`deleted_at` is null order by `published_at` desc limit 1

Bindings	0: 36 1: 2024-02-19 08:00:00
Backtrace	app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:140 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:33 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:41 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:93

SectionPodcastPlayer.php#150premier13.68ms

select * from `podcast_episodes` where `podcast_id` = 36 and `published_at` > '2024-02-19 08:00:00' and `podcast_episodes`.`deleted_at` is null order by `published_at` asc limit 3

Bindings	0: 36 1: 2024-02-19 08:00:00
Backtrace	app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:150 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:34 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:41 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:93

PodcastEpisode.php#193premier1.43ms

select exists(select * from `musicables` where `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\Models\PodcastEpisode' and `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 17764 and `musicables`.`musicable_id` is not null) as `exists`

Bindings	0: App\Models\PodcastEpisode 1: 17764
Backtrace	app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:193 view::livewire.section-podcast-player:4 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:59 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195

Podcast.php#215premier4.83ms

select exists(select * from `music_genres` inner join `musicables` on `music_genres`.`id` = `musicables`.`music_genre_id` where `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 36 and `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\Models\Podcast' and `music_genres`.`deleted_at` is null) as `exists`

Bindings	0: 36 1: App\Models\Podcast
Backtrace	app/Models/Podcast.php:215 app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:193 view::livewire.section-podcast-player:4 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:59

Setting.php#20premier540μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_donation_link' limit 1

Bindings	0: web_donation_link
Backtrace	app/Models/Setting.php:20 app/Helpers/Settings.php:6 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:59 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195

Setting.php#20premier620μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_donation_link' limit 1

Bindings	0: web_donation_link
Backtrace	app/Models/Setting.php:20 app/Helpers/Settings.php:6 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:59 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195

Setting.php#20premier3.87msselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_donation_link' limit 1

Bindings	0: web_donation_link
Backtrace	app/Models/Setting.php:20 app/Helpers/Settings.php:6 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:59 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195

PodcastEpisode.php#193premier460μs

select exists(select * from `musicables` where `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\Models\PodcastEpisode' and `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 17764 and `musicables`.`musicable_id` is not null) as `exists`

Bindings	0: App\Models\PodcastEpisode 1: 17764
Backtrace	app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:193 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:104 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:41 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:93

Podcast.php#215premier530μs

select exists(select * from `music_genres` inner join `musicables` on `music_genres`.`id` = `musicables`.`music_genre_id` where `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 36 and `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\Models\Podcast' and `music_genres`.`deleted_at` is null) as `exists`

Bindings	0: 36 1: App\Models\Podcast
Backtrace	app/Models/Podcast.php:215 app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:193 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:104 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:41

PodcastEpisode.php#100premier480μsselect * from `podcasts` where `podcasts`.`id` = 36 and `podcasts`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1

Bindings	0: 36
Backtrace	app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:100 app/Models/Traits/ThumbnailImage.php:26 app/Models/Traits/ThumbnailImage.php:66 view::livewire.section-podcast-player:168 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84

PodcastEpisode.php#100premier500μsselect * from `podcasts` where `podcasts`.`id` = 36 and `podcasts`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1

Bindings	0: 36
Backtrace	app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:100 app/Models/Traits/ThumbnailImage.php:26 app/Models/Traits/ThumbnailImage.php:66 view::livewire.section-podcast-player:168 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84

PodcastEpisode.php#100premier430μsselect * from `podcasts` where `podcasts`.`id` = 36 and `podcasts`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1

Bindings	0: 36
Backtrace	app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:100 app/Models/Traits/ThumbnailImage.php:26 app/Models/Traits/ThumbnailImage.php:66 view::livewire.section-podcast-player:168 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84

Setting.php#20premier360μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_login_modal_title' limit 1

Bindings	0: web_login_modal_title
Backtrace	app/Models/Setting.php:20 app/Helpers/Settings.php:6 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:110 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/PhpEngine.php:58 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:69

Setting.php#20premier320μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_login_modal_subtitle' limit 1

Bindings	0: web_login_modal_subtitle
Backtrace	app/Models/Setting.php:20 app/Helpers/Settings.php:6 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:110 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/PhpEngine.php:58 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:69

Setting.php#20premier300μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_donation_link' limit 1

Bindings	0: web_donation_link
Backtrace	app/Models/Setting.php:20 app/Helpers/Settings.php:6 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:110 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/PhpEngine.php:58 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:69

App\Models\Setting: 6Setting.php#?
App\Models\Podcast: 5Podcast.php#?
App\Models\PodcastEpisode: 5PodcastEpisode.php#?

section-podcast-player #oZlyCkiB7RD5Ls9HeJym: array:5 [ "data" => array:8 [ "podcast" => App\Models\Podcast {#2057 #connection: "mysql...

_token: ybkOloTKJ6WQYinv0mAZw5RvTmUoClFX9U0gF63f

AutoshowClear Show all

	Date ↕	Method	URL	Data
#1	2025-06-26 08:17:28	GET	/podcasts/bibleproject/episodes/the-salt-of-the-land-and-the-light-of-the-world	62 26 16 1

The Salt of the Land and the Light of the World

Sorry, this content isn’t currently available in your region

Coming up next

What Does Jesus Think of Old Testament Laws?

How Is Anger the Same as Murder?

Why Do the Beatitudes Matter for the Overworked and Hopeless? – Sermon on the Mount Q+R 1

Sign in to your Premier Account

Trending Audio

1 x Application (74.81%)	173ms
1 x Booting (25.18%)	58.10ms
1 x Routing (1.56%)	3.60ms