Exegesis:

ean de to halas analon genētai ‘if the salt becomes saltless,’ ‘if the salt loses its saltness’: it is explained that the coarse salt from the Dead Sea would dissolve, from excessive dampness or other causes, and leave savorless salt-like crystals as a residue. On the other hand, this may be an instance of oriental hyperbole in which ‘salt losing its salt’ is equivalent to something losing its reason for existence.

en tini auto artusete; ‘how will you season it?,’ ‘with what will you restore its flavor?,’ i.e. restore its saltness, its capacity to season, its distinguishing characteristic as salt.

echete en heautois hala ‘have salt in yourselves’: the majority take echete ‘have’ as imperative; Manson, however, takes it to be indicative, ‘there is salt between you.’ A reasonable explanation of the figure is offered by Lagrange who understands it to mean affability and agreeableness in social relations.

kai eirēneuete en allēlois ‘and be at peace among yourselves,’ ‘and keep peace with one another.’

eirēneuō (only here in Mark) ‘to be at peace.’

Translation:

Good must be understood in the sense of ‘valuable,’ ‘good for something’ or ‘useful’ – not ‘good,’ in the sense of moral or beneficent.

Salt has lost its saltness is translated in Amganad Ifugao as ‘if salt has lost its salt flavor’; in Javanese it is ‘if its being-salty has disappeared.’ One could also say ‘if salt is no longer salty.’ There is, of course, a problem here in that pure sodium chloride cannot lose its saltiness, but as noted above, this passage refers evidently to a highly impure substance from which the sodium chloride could be leached out. Similar kinds of salt are found in many parts of the world, and hence the statement does not seem so “impossible” as it might to those who are acquainted only with more refined products.

How will you season it is in some languages equivalent to ‘how can you put the salt flavor (or ‘taste’) back again’; cf. Javanese ‘what shall then be done so that its flavor is made to return?’

There are two principal meanings conveyed by the word peace: (1) inward attitudes of tranquillity and contentment and (2) lack of strife between persons. The first type of meaning is expressed in such idioms as ‘a song in the body’ (Baoulé), ‘heart coolness’ (Maninka), ‘to sit down in the heart’ (South Bolivian Quechua), and ‘quietness of heart’ (Chol). The second meaning, which is the one occurring in this context, relates to the capacity for unruffled social intercourse and for sympathetic and thoughtful consideration of others (in addition, of course, to the actual absence of strife – whether on a local or national level). In this type of context idioms such as ‘quiet goodness’ (Kekchi) and ‘having your hearts feel oneness for one another’ (Tzeltal) fit quite well, for Jesus is speaking not merely of the absence of strife, but of the positive quality of social adjustment.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .