Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 5:14

"Ye are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid." — Matthew 5:14 (ASV)

The light of the world. In its highest or truest sense, this title belongs to Christ, and to him only (John 1:9; John 8:12). The comparison to the “candle” or “lamp” in Matthew 5:15 shows that even here, the disciples are described as shining in the world with a derived brightness, flowing to them from the Fount of Light.

A city that is set on a hill. Assuming the Sermon on the Mount was preached from one of the hills of Galilee near the “horns of Hattin,” our Lord may have pointed toward Safed, a city set 2,650 feet above the sea that commands one of the grandest panoramic views in Palestine. This city is now one of the four holy cities of the Jews and probably existed as a fortress in our Lord’s time (Thomson’s The Land and the Book, p. 273). The imagery, however, might also come from the prophetic visions of the future Zion, which idealized the position of the actual city of Zion (Isaiah 2:2; Micah 4:1). No image could so vividly portray the calling of the Church of Christ as a visible society. For good or for evil, it could not fail to be prominent in the world’s history—a city of refuge for the weary, or a fortress open to the attacks of the invader.