Passage

Matthew 5.13-16

Book: Matthew · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"11. Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you."

"13. Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men. 14. Ye are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. 15. Neither do men light a lamp, and put it under the bushel, but on the stand; and it shineth unto all that are in the house. 16. Even so let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."

"17. Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy, but to fulfil. 18. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished." (Matthew 5:11-18, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"11. “Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

"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. 14. You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can’t be hidden. 15. Neither do you light a lamp, and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house. 16. Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."

"17. “Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill. 18. For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished." (Matthew 5:11-18, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"11. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. ^{falsely: Gr. lying} 12. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."

"13. Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 14. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. ^{a bushel: the word in the original signifieth a measure containing about a pint less than a peck} 16. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

"17. Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." (Matthew 5:11-18, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"11. 'Happy are ye whenever they may reproach you, and may persecute, and may say any evil thing against you falsely for my sake, 12. rejoice ye and be glad, because your reward [is] great in the heavens, for thus did they persecute the prophets who were before you."

"13. 'Ye are the salt of the land, but if the salt may lose savour, in what shall it be salted? for nothing is it good henceforth, except to be cast without, and to be trodden down by men. 14. 'Ye are the light of the world, a city set upon a mount is not able to be hid; 15. nor do they light a lamp, and put it under the measure, but on the lamp-stand, and it shineth to all those in the house; 16. so let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and may glorify your Father who [is] in the heavens."

"17. 'Do not suppose that I came to throw down the law or the prophets, I did not come to throw down, but to fulfil; 18. for, verily I say to you, till that the heaven and the earth may pass away, one iota or one tittle may not pass away from the law, till that all may come to pass." (Matthew 5:11-18, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.