salt of the earth

Calque of Ancient Greek τὸ ἅλας τῆς γῆς (tò hálas tês gês) in the Book of Matthew, chapter 5, verse 13.

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

salt of the earth

1. (idiomatic) A person or group of people considered to represent the most decent and admirable parts of humanity.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Matthew 5:13:

     Yee are the ſalt of the earth: But if the ſalt haue loſt his ſauour, wherewith ſhall it bee ſalted: It is thencefoꝛth good foꝛ nothing, but to be caſt out, and to be troden vnder foote of men.

   • 1986 May 15, George Vecsey, “Locals at Second Base”, in The New York Times‎, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2015-05-24:

     Dodger fans, convinced they were the salt of the earth, would swear they could tell a Yankee fan from 20 paces by a lack of humor, or a New York Giant fan by an overbearing quality.

   • 2014 October 20, Barak Ravid, Noa Shpigel, “Body of Missing Israeli Found in Nepal”, in Haaretz‎, archived from the original on 2023-06-05:

     "When someone dies, especially when a life is cut short under tragic circumstances, people always say, 'they were great, they were the salt of the earth,'" said Hagit Hornstein, a friend and colleague of Cherkesky. "But Michal really was perfect. There's no other word to describe her, an angel. I miss her already."

• down-to-earth, earthy

• worth one's salt

• “the salt of the earth”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “salt of the earth”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “salt of the earth”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “(the) salt of the earth” under “salt, n.1.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.