The Bible in the News: Take It with a Grain of Salt

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Recently, we (more precisely, my wife) purchased some Ezekiel bread, which we (more precisely, I) have enjoyed eating. The same company now makes products based on Genesis 1:29 (“I give you every seed-bearing plant … for food”). Although my initial impulse—to use these items as the basis for a column—has not panned out, the process has made me hungry for nourishment, both physical and spiritual. Although I use salt only sparingly, it is a necessary component of many foods. As such it appears frequently in the Bible, where it is also the name of what we today call the Dead Sea (the Salt Sea), a component in certain sacrificial offerings and a sign of a vibrant land gone bad.

Of all Biblical uses, I was sure that Lot’s wife (a pillar of salt) and Jesus’ “you are the salt of the earth” (part of Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount) would garner the widest coverage in the modern popular press.

There is some debate among Biblical scholars as to the precise meaning when Jesus used the words “you are the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13). Largely ignoring such nuances, writers in the popular press use the expression “salt of the earth” as virtually synonymous with another terrestrial image, “down to earth.”

Careful readers of London’s Daily Mail discover that “the actress known to millions as the aristocratic rose Lady Mary Crawley admitted to being a salt-of-the-earth Essex girl.” If you don’t know Lady Mary, the Dowager Countess, or countless other inhabitants of Downton Abbey (downstairs and upstairs), get thee to PBS posthaste!

In sports, so it seems, there’s nothing better for someone on the field than to be grounded: “Salt-of-the-earth people with solid backgrounds” is how the Los Angeles Angels’ manager (in the Los Angeles Times) describes Mike Trout’s parents. He continues: “Mike has had great mentoring in our clubhouse, but the most important reason he’s so grounded is his parents.” Oh, yes, by the way he was American League Rookie of the Year in 2012.

References to a “pillar of salt,” whether or not explicitly tied to Lot’s wife, are a far more varied lot. Indeed, there are some that I find troublesome, such as this ill-conceived assault on the television series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy: “We’re in a time of turmoil. We must turn ourselves away from the TV, otherwise we’re in danger of ending up like Lot’s wife. And pillars of salt around the lounge room will just be another humorous chore for the Fab Five to clean up” (Melbourne, Australia’s The Age).

On a similar topic is a story from Florida’s Tampa Bay Times. The Hillsborough County Commission (the city of Tampa is in this county) “voted unanimously to overturn its ban on recognizing gay pride events. And not one of the commissioners turned into a pillar of salt.” Perhaps these references result from a common—but imprecise—identification of the “sin” of the Sodomites. No matter! While I consistently and consciously avoid taking any partisan stand in my columns, in my view this is not a matter of politics but of human rights.

Elsewhere, the references are more varied, as are their tone. Something of the negative can, for example, be easily discerned in this comment by a correspondent for The Toronto Star: “It could be that we’re afraid if we look back at history, we’ll all turn like Lot’s wife, into pillars of salt.” Now that’s a sentiment not likely to be popular in humanities programs, to say the least!

I’ll conclude with a reference from the world of food. A writer for the South Wales Echo posits a new theory for the demise of Lot’s wife: “I can tell you it wasn’t the Lord who turned Lot’s missus into a pillar of salt. It was those Marmite sarnies she was always munching.” As best I can tell, this refers to sandwiches made with some kind of spread. On the other hand, I am still mystified as to the exact meaning of what follows in the article: “A Marmite san’widge an’ an arfer daaark was once a staple diet in Gangetown.” And also in Sodom and Gomorrah?

Recently, we (more precisely, my wife) purchased some Ezekiel bread, which we (more precisely, I) have enjoyed eating. The same company now makes products based on Genesis 1:29 (“I give you every seed-bearing plant … for food”). Although my initial impulse—to use these items as the basis for a column—has not panned out, the process has made me hungry for nourishment, both physical and spiritual. Although I use salt only sparingly, it is a necessary component of many foods. As such it appears frequently in the Bible, where it is also the name of what we today call the […]