Parable of the light under a bushel

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The light under the bushel. Woodcut, Petrarca master 1532

The theme of the parable told by Jesus of Nazareth about light under a bushel or about right hearing is about showing one's own Christian faith and not hiding it from others. It is found in the Gospels in the New Testament of the Bible through the Gospel according to Matthew ( Mt 5,14-15  LUT ), where it connects to the parable of the salt of the earth ; the gospel according to Mark ( Mk 4,21-25  LUT ) as well as through the gospel according to Luke ( Lk 8,16-18  LUT ) handed down.

content

Jesus speaks the parable to his disciples and tells them that they are the light of the world. Let their light shine before people so that they may see their good works and praise Heavenly Father. After all, you don't light a light to put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick so that it illuminates everyone in the house.

interpretation

The word Scheffel of the Luther Bible and other older German Bible translations translates a measure of capacity , a modius, and thus a vessel of a certain size, which was common in biblical times . This vessel would obscure or even smother the light. The light stands for one's own belief. The residents of the house represent the people of the world. If you let your light shine, you testify to your faith in front of others and allow them to have access to Christian teachings. So, so to speak, Jesus advises against false modesty with regard to one's own creed.

Extra-biblical parallels

A shortened version of the parable can be found in the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas in Logion 33.

effect

The German idiom “to put one's light under a bushel” is derived from this parable and means not to use one's abilities, even to hide them.

The word "Scheffel" fell out of use in German with the matter. More modern Bible translations therefore use terms such as “vessel” ( uniform translation ), “pot” ( good news Bible ) or “jug” ( Bible in fair language ). The parable experienced an unexpected reception by the critics of the Luther Bible in the revision of 1975 , who, in their opinion, turned too far away from familiar terms in favor of a more modern language. The bushel was replaced by "bucket", which earned the revision the nickname "bucket testament". As a result, the EKD withdrew the Bible in this version after a few years and revised it again.

literature

Web links

Commons : From the light under the bushel  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: put your light under a bushel  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christine Unrath: "Put your light under a bushel." Evangelical Church in the Rhineland
  2. ↑ Rolf-Bernhard Essig: Why do you say: “Don't put your light under a bushel”? swr.de
  3. ↑ Christoph Markschies, Hubert Wolf: Places of Remembrance of Christianity. C. H. Beck, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-406-60500-0 , p. 165 ( limited preview in the Google book search).
  4. ↑ Thomas Gerlach: New Luther Bible - The stag screams again. Taz, November 10, 2013