Sharing Knowledge with the Household

"Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house."

Again, Christ continues talking about light as knowledge. Here, he makes it clear that knowledge should be shared, especially within a household. The Greek word for house is oikia, which means both the house itself and the people in it. Then, even more than now, households and families were considered the backbone of civilization.

However, for translators, this verse offers a specific problem. What is translated here as "basket" and in other translations is translated as "bushel" or "measure" is the word modios, which is a Greek word taken from Latin that is used for dry measure. It equals about a peck or say nine liters or a gallon and a half. The assumption is that Matthew used to term to refer to basket of that measure like we refer to "bushel baskets."