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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Mark 9:49 - 9:50
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mar_9:49-50
49"For everyone will be salted with fire. 50Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another."
Mar_9:49 "'salted with fire'" Salt was a means of healing, purification, and preservation. It also was used to seal covenants (cf. Num_18:19). It was a very important component of life for desert people. The terms salt and fire are synonymous in this context for purification. Mar_9:49 has many manuscript variations. These were probably due to the uncertainty of (1) how the verse related to Mar_9:48 or (2) what the verse itself meant. Possibly a scribe saw a reference to Lev_2:13 and put it in the margin of the text. Jesus often used salt as an analogy to communicate spiritual truth (cf. Mat_5:13; Luk_14:34-35).
Mar_9:50 This verse, like Mar_9:49, seems to be somewhat unrelated to the previous context. As Mar_9:49 was included because of the term "fire," this verse was included because of the term "salt." It may refer to Mar_9:35. It matters how Christians live!
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