Topical Encyclopedia
Salt is a significant substance in the Bible, symbolizing various spiritual and covenantal themes. It is mentioned numerous times throughout the Scriptures, serving both practical and symbolic purposes.
Covenantal SymbolismSalt is often associated with covenants in the Bible. In the ancient Near East, salt was a symbol of enduring agreements due to its preservative qualities. This symbolism is evident in the "covenant of salt" mentioned in the Old Testament. In
Numbers 18:19, God declares to Aaron, "All the holy offerings that the Israelites give to the LORD I give to you and your sons and daughters as a perpetual share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the LORD for you and your offspring." Similarly,
2 Chronicles 13:5 refers to the Davidic covenant as a "covenant of salt," emphasizing its perpetual and unbreakable nature.
Purification and SacrificeSalt was also used in the context of purification and sacrifice. In
Leviticus 2:13, God commands, "You are to season each of your grain offerings with salt. You must not omit from your grain offering the salt of the covenant of your God; you are to add salt to each of your offerings." This instruction highlights the importance of salt in maintaining the purity and acceptability of offerings to God. Salt's preservative and purifying properties made it an essential element in the sacrificial system.
Metaphorical UsageIn the New Testament, Jesus uses salt metaphorically to describe the role and influence of His followers. In
Matthew 5:13, He states, "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its savor, with what will it be salted? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men." Here, salt represents the preserving and flavor-enhancing influence Christians are to have in the world. The warning about salt losing its savor underscores the importance of maintaining one's spiritual vitality and witness.
Judgment and DesolationSalt is also associated with judgment and desolation. In the account of Lot's wife, she is turned into a pillar of salt as a consequence of looking back at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (
Genesis 19:26). This event serves as a stark reminder of the consequences of disobedience and longing for a sinful past. Additionally, in
Deuteronomy 29:23, the land of Sodom and Gomorrah is described as "a burning waste of salt and sulfur—nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it," illustrating the totality of God's judgment.
Healing and RestorationConversely, salt is also seen in contexts of healing and restoration. In
2 Kings 2:20-22, the prophet Elisha uses salt to purify the waters of Jericho, saying, "This is what the LORD says: 'I have healed this water. No longer will it cause death or unfruitfulness.'" The use of salt here symbolizes God's power to cleanse and restore, transforming what was once harmful into a source of life.
ConclusionThroughout the Bible, salt serves as a multifaceted symbol, representing covenant faithfulness, purification, judgment, and restoration. Its presence in both Old and New Testament narratives underscores its enduring spiritual significance.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
SaltIndispensable as salt is to ourselves, it was even more so to the Hebrews, being to them not only an appetizing condiment in the food both of man, (Job 11:6) and beset, (Isaiah 30:24) see margin, and a valuable antidote to the effects of the heat of the climate on animal food, but also entering largely into the religious services of the Jews as an accompaniment to the various offerings presented on the altar. (Leviticus 2:13) They possessed an inexhaustible and ready supply of it on the southern shores of the Dead Sea. [SEA, THE SALT, THE SALT] There is one mountain here called Jebel Usdum, seven miles long and several hundred feet high, which is composed almost entirely of salt. The Jews appear to have distinguished between rock-salt and that which was gained by evaporation as the Talmudists particularize one species (probably the latter) as the "salt of Sodom." The salt-pits formed an important source of revenue to the rulers of the country, and Antiochus conferred a valuable boon on Jerusalem by presenting the city with 375 bushels of salt for the temple service. As one of the most essential articles of diet, salt symbolized hospitality; as an antiseptic, durability, fidelity and purity. Hence the expression "covenant of salt," (Leviticus 2:13;Numbers 18:19;2 Chronicles 13:5) as betokening an indissoluble alliance between friends; and again the expression "salted with the salt of the palace." (Ezra 4:14) not necessarily meaning that they had "maintenance from the palace," as Authorized Version has it, but that they were bound by sacred obligations fidelity to the king. So in the present day, "to eat bread and salt together" is an expression for a league of mutual amity. It was probably with a view to keep this idea prominently before the minds of the Jews that the use of salt was enjoined on the Israelites in their offerings to God.
ATS Bible Dictionary
SaltWas procured by the Jews from the Dead Sea, wither from the immense hill or ridge of pure rock salt at its southwest extremity, or from that deposited on the shore by the natural evaporation. The Arabs obtain it in large cakes, two or three inches thick, and sell it in considerable quantities throughout Syria. It well-known preservative qualities, and its importance as a seasoning for food,Job 6:6, are implied in most of the passages where it is mentioned in Scripture: as in the miraculous healing of a fountain,2 Kings 2:21; in the sprinkling of salt over the sacrifices consumed on God's altar, Le 2:13Ezekiel 43:24Mark 9:49; and its use in the sacred incense,Exodus 30:35. So also good men are "the salt of the earth,"Matthew 5:13; and grace, or true wisdom, is the salt of language,Mark 9:50Colossians 4:6. See alsoEzekiel 16:4. To sow a land with salt, signifies its utter barrenness and desolation; a condition often illustrated in the Bible by allusions to the region of Sodom and Gomorrah, with its soil impregnated with salt, or covered with acrid and slimy pools, De 29.33; Job 39...9; Ezekiel 47...11; Zep 2...9.
Salt is also the symbol of perpetuity and incorruption. Thus they said of a covenant, "It is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord,"Numbers 18:192 Chronicles 13:5. It is also the symbol of hospitality; and of the fidelity due from servants, friends, guests, and officers, to those who maintain them or who receive them at their tables. The governors of the provinces beyond the Euphrates, writing to the king Artaxerxes, tell him, "Because we have maintenance from the king's palace,"Ezra 4:14.
VALLEY OF SALT. This place is memorable for the victories of David,2 Samuel 8:131 Chronicles 18:12Psalm 60:1-12, and of Amaziah,2 Kings 14:7, over the Edomites. There can be little doubt that the name designates the broad deep valley El-Ghor, prolonged some eight miles south of the Dead Sea to the chalky cliffs called Akrabbim. Like all this region, it bears the marks of volcanic action, and has an air of extreme desolation. It is occasionally overflowed by the bitter waters of that sea, which rise to the height of fifteen feet. The driftwood on the margin of the valley, which indicates this rise of the water, is so impregnated with salt that it will not burn; and on the northwest side of the valley lies a mountain of salt. Parts of this plain are white with salt; others are swampy, or marked by sluggish streams or standing pools of brackish water. The southern part is covered in part with tamarisks and coarse shrubbery. Some travellers have found here quicksand pits in which camels and horses have been swallowed up and lost,Genesis 14:10Zephaniah 2:9. SeeJORDAN andSEA3
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Used to season food (
Job 6:6), and mixed with the fodder of cattle (
Isaiah 30:24, "clean;" in marg. of R.V. "salted"). All meat-offerings were seasoned with salt (
Leviticus 2:13). To eat salt with one is to partake of his hospitality, to derive subsistence from him; and hence he who did so was bound to look after his host's interests (
Ezra 4:14, "We have maintenance from the king's palace;" A.V. marg., "We are salted with the salt of the palace;" R.V., "We eat the salt of the palace").
A "covenant of salt" (Numbers 18:19;2 Chronicles 13:5) was a covenant of perpetual obligation. New-born children were rubbed with salt (Ezek. 16:4). Disciples are likened unto salt, with reference to its cleansing and preserving uses (Matthew 5:13). When Abimelech took the city of Shechem, he sowed the place with salt, that it might always remain a barren soil (Judges 9:45). Sir Lyon Playfair argues, on scientific grounds, that under the generic name of "salt," in certain passages, we are to understand petroleum or its residue asphalt. Thus inGenesis 19:26 he would read "pillar of asphalt;" and inMatthew 5:13, instead of "salt," "petroleum," which loses its essence by exposure, as salt does not, and becomes asphalt, with which pavements were made.
The Jebel Usdum, to the south of the Dead Sea, is a mountain of rock salt about 7 miles long and from 2 to 3 miles wide and some hundreds of feet high.
Salt Sea
(Joshua 3:16). See DEAD SEA.
Salt, The city of
One of the cities of Judah (Joshua 15:62), probably in the Valley of Salt, at the southern end of the Dead Sea.
Salt, Valley of
A place where it is said David smote the Syrians (2 Samuel 8:13). This valley (the' Arabah) is between Judah and Edom on the south of the Dead Sea. Hence some interpreters would insert the words, "and he smote Edom," after the words, "Syrians" in the above text. It is conjectured that while David was leading his army against the Ammonites and Syrians, the Edomites invaded the south of Judah, and that David sent Joab or Abishai against them, who drove them back and finally subdued Edom. (Comp. title toPsalm 60.)
Here also Amaziah "slew of Edom ten thousand men" (2 Kings 14:7; Comp.8:20-22 and2 Chronicles 25:5-11).
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
1. (
n.) The chloride of sodium, a substance used for seasoning food, for the preservation of meat, etc. It is found native in the earth, and is also produced, by evaporation and crystallization, from sea water and other water impregnated with saline particles.
2. (n.) Hence, flavor; taste; savor; smack; seasoning.
3. (n.) Hence, also, piquancy; wit; sense; as, Attic salt.
4. (n.) A dish for salt at table; a saltcellar.
5. (n.) A sailor; -- usually qualified by old.
6. (n.) The neutral compound formed by the union of an acid and a base; thus, sulfuric acid and iron form the salt sulfate of iron or green vitriol.
7. (n.) Fig.: That which preserves from corruption or error; that which purifies; a corrective; an antiseptic; also, an allowance or deduction; as, his statements must be taken with a grain of salt.
8. (n.) Any mineral salt used as an aperient or cathartic, especially Epsom salts, Rochelle salt, or Glauber's salt.
9. (n.) Marshes flooded by the tide.
10. (n.) of or relating to salt; abounding in, or containing, salt; prepared or preserved with, or tasting of, salt; salted; as, salt beef; salt water.
11. (n.) Overflowed with, or growing in, salt water; as, a salt marsh; salt grass.
12. (n.) Fig.: Bitter; sharp; pungent.
13. (n.) Fig.: Salacious; lecherous; lustful.
14. (v. t.) To sprinkle, impregnate, or season with salt; to preserve with salt or in brine; to supply with salt; as, to salt fish, beef, or pork; to salt cattle.
15. (v. t.) To fill with salt between the timbers and planks, as a ship, for the preservation of the timber.
16. (v. i.) To deposit salt as a saline solution; as, the brine begins to salt.
17. (n.) The act of leaping or jumping; a leap.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
COVENANT OF SALTsolt (berith melach; halas, classical Greek hals): As salt was regarded as a necessary ingredient of the daily food, and so of all sacrifices offered to Yahweh (Leviticus 2:13), it became an easy step to the very close connection between salt and covenant-making. When men ate together they became friends. Compare the Arabic expression, "There is salt between us"; "He has eaten of my salt," which means partaking of hospitality which cemented friendship; compare "eat the salt of the palace" (Ezra 4:14). Covenants were generally confirmed by sacrificial meals and salt was always present. Since, too, salt is a preservative, it would easily become symbolic of an enduring covenant. So offerings to Yahweh were to be by a statute forever, "a covenant of salt for ever before Yahweh" (Numbers 18:19). David received his kingdom forever from Yahweh by a "covenant of salt" (2 Chronicles 13:5). In the light of these conceptions the remark of our Lord becomes the more significant: "Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace one with another" (Mark 9:50).
Edward Bagby Pollard
SALT
solt (melach; halas, hals): Common salt is considered by most authorities as an essential ingredient of our food. Most people intentionally season their cooking with more or less salt for the sake of palatability. Others depend upon the small quantities which naturally exist in water and many foods to furnish the necessary amount of salt for the body. Either too much salt or the lack of it creates undesirable disturbance in the animal system. Men and animals alike instinctively seek for this substance to supplement or improve their regular diet. The ancients appreciated the value of salt for seasoning food (Job 6:6). So necessary was it that they dignified it by making it a requisite part of sacrifices (Leviticus 2:13Ezra 6:9;Ezra 7:22Ezekiel 43:24Mark 9:49). InNumbers 18:192 Chronicles 13:5, a "covenant of salt" is mentioned (compareMark 9:49). This custom of pledging friendship or confirming a compact by eating food containing salt is still retained among Arabic-speaking people. The Arabic word for "salt" and for a "compact" or "treaty" is the same. Doughty in his travels in Arabia appealed more than once to the superstitious belief of the Arabs in the "salt covenant," to save his life. Once an Arab has received in his tent even his worst enemy and has eaten salt (food) with him, he is bound to protect his guest as long as he remains.
SeeCOVENANT OF SALT.
The chief source of salt in Palestine is from the extensive deposits near the "sea of salt" (see DEAD SEA), where there are literally mountains and valleys of salt (2 Samuel 8:132 Kings 14:71 Chronicles 18:122 Chronicles 25:11). On the seacoast the inhabitants frequently gather the sea salt. They fill the rock crevices with sea water and leave it for the hot summer sun to evaporate. After evaporation the salt crystals can be collected. As salt-gathering is a government monopoly in Turkey, the government sends men to pollute the salt which is being surreptitiously crystallized, so as to make it unfit for eating. Another extensive supply comes from the salt lakes in the Syrian desert East of Damascus and toward Palmyra. All native salt is more or less bitter, due to the presence of other salts such as magnesium sulphate.
Salt was used not only as a food, but as an antiseptic in medicine. Newborn babes were bathed and salted (Ezekiel 16:4), a custom still prevailing. The Arabs of the desert consider it so necessary, that in the absence of salt they batheir infants in camels' urine. Elisha is said to have healed the waters of Jericho by casting a cruse of salt into the spring (2 Kings 2:20 f). Abimelech sowed the ruins of Shechem with salt to prevent a new city from arising in its place (Judges 9:45). Lot's wife turned to a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26).
Figurative:
Salt is emblematic of loyalty and friendship (see above). A person who has once joined in a "salt covenant" with God and then breaks it is fit only to be cast out (compareMatthew 5:13Mark 9:50). Saltness typified barrenness (Deuteronomy 29:23Jeremiah 17:6). James compares the absurdity of the same mouth giving forth blessings and cursings to the impossibility of a fountain yielding both sweet and salt water (James 3:11 f).
James A. Patch
SALT, CITY OF
(`ir ha-melach; Codex Alexandrinus hai pol(e)is halon): One of the six cities in the wilderness of Judah mentioned between Nibshan and Engedi (Joshua 15:62). The site is very uncertain. The large and important Tell el-Milch (i.e. "the salt hill"), on the route from Hebron to Akaba, is possible.
SALT, PILLAR OF
SeeLOT;SALT; SIDDIM; SLIME.
SALT, VALLEY OF
(ge' ha-melach): The scene of battles, firstly, between David or his lieutenant Abishai and the Edomites (2 Samuel 8:131 Chronicles 18:12Psalm 60, title), and later between Amaziah and these same foes (2 Kings 14:72 Chronicles 25:11). It is tempting to connect this "Valley of Salt" with es Sebkhah, the marshy, salt-impregnated plain which extends from the southern end of the Dead Sea to the foot of the cliffs, but in its present condition it is an almost impossible place for a battle of any sort. The ground is so soft and spongy that a wide detour around the edges has to be made by those wishing to get from one side to the other. It is, too, highly probable that in earlier times the whole of this low-lying area was covered by the waters of the Dead Sea. It is far more natural to identify ge' ha-melach with the Wady el-Milch ("Valley of Salt"), one of the three valleys which unite at Beersheba to form the Wady ec-Ceba`. These valleys, el-Milch and ec-Ceba, together make a natural frontier to Canaan.
E. W. G. Masterman
CITY OF SALT
SeeSALT, CITY OF.
PILLAR OF SALT
SeeSLIME;LOT.
SALT SEA
SeeDEAD SEA.
SALT, COVENANT OF
SeeCOVENANT OF SALT.
SEA, SALT
SeeDEAD SEA.
Greek
233. halizo -- tosalt... to
salt. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: halizo Phonetic Spelling:
(hal-id'-zo) Short Definition: I
salt, sprinkle with
salt, keep fresh and sound
...217. halas and hala --salt
... halas and hala. 218 .salt. Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter Transliteration: halas
and hala Phonetic Spelling: (hal'-as) Short Definition:salt Definition:salt....
251. hals --salt.
... 250, 251. hals. 252 .salt. Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine Transliteration:
hals Phonetic Spelling: (halce) Short Definition:salt Definition:salt....salt....
252. halukos --salt (adjective)
...salt (adjective). Part of Speech: Adjective Transliteration: halukos Phonetic Spelling:
(hal-oo-kos') Short Definition: salty, saltine, bitter Definition: salty...
358. analos -- saltless
... Cognate: 358 (from 1 "without" and 251 , "salt") -- literally, "withoutsalt";
hence, tasteless, bland (used only in Mk 9:50). See 217 ()....
231. halieus -- a fisherman
... fisherman. From hals; a sailor (as engaged on thesalt water), ie (by implication)
a fisher -- fisher(-man). see GREEK hals. (alieis) -- 5 Occurrences....
3882. paralios -- by the sea, the sea coast
... sea coast. From para and hals; beside thesalt (sea), ie Maritime -- sea coast.
see GREEK para. see GREEK hals. (paraliou) -- 1 Occurrence. 3881, 3882....
1099. glukus -- sweet
... sweet, fresh. Of uncertain affinity; sweet (ie Not bitter norsalt) -- sweet, fresh.
(gluku) -- 4 Occurrences. 1098, 1099. glukus. 1100 . Strong's Numbers.
Strong's Hebrew
5898. Ir Hammelach -- "city ofsalt," a place in the Judean desert... Ir Hammelach. 5899 . "city of
salt," a place in the Judean desert. Transliteration:
Ir Hammelach Phonetic Spelling: (eer ham-meh'-lakh) Short Definition:
Salt...4416. melach --salt
... 4415, 4416. melach. 4417 .salt. Transliteration: melach Phonetic Spelling:
(mel-akh') Short Definition:salt. Word Origin (Aramaic...
4417. melach --salt
... 4416, 4417. melach. 4418 .salt. Transliteration: melach Phonetic Spelling:
(meh'-lakh) Short Definition:salt. Word Origin of uncertain...
4414b. malach -- tosalt, season
... 4414a, 4414b. malach. 4415 . tosalt, season. Transliteration: malach
Short Definition:salt. Word Origin denominative verb from...
2548. chamits -- seasoned (withsalt)
... seasoned (withsalt). Transliteration: chamits Phonetic Spelling: (khaw-meets')
Short Definition: salted.... From chamets; seasoned, ieSalt provender -- clean....
4415. melach -- to eatsalt
... 4414b, 4415. melach. 4416 . to eatsalt. Transliteration: melach Phonetic
Spelling: (mel-akh') Short Definition: service. Word Origin...
8528. Tel Melach -- "mound ofsalt," a place in Babylon
... Tel Melach. 8529 . "mound ofsalt," a place in Babylon. Transliteration: Tel Melach
Phonetic Spelling: (tale meh'-lakh) Short Definition: Tel-melah....
4414. malach -- to tear away, dissipate
... to tear away, dissipate. Transliteration: malach Phonetic Spelling: (maw-lakh')
Short Definition:salt.salt, season, temper together, vanish away...
4420. melechah -- saltiness, barrenness
... 4419, 4420. melechah. 4421 . saltiness, barrenness. Transliteration: melechah
Phonetic Spelling: (mel-ay-khaw') Short Definition:salt....
4379. mikreh -- a pit
... Word Origin from karah Definition a pit NASB Word Usage pits (1).salt pit. From
karah; a pit (forsalt) -- (salt-)pit. see HEBREW karah. 4378, 4379....
Library
'Salt in Yourselves'
... 'SALT IN YOURSELVES'. 'Havesalt in yourselves, and have peace one with
another.'"Mark 9:50.... They bothsalt"that is, they cleanse and keep....
Salt Without Savour
... ST. MATTHEW Chaps. I to VIIISALT WITHOUT SAVOUR. 'Ye are thesalt of the earth:
but if thesalt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?...
"Ye are theSalt of the Earth. "
... PHILANTHROPIC SUBJECTS. 768. " "Ye are theSalt of the Earth.". 768. CM Mrs.
Barbauld. "Ye are theSalt of the Earth.". 1Salt of the earth!...
TheSalt and the Light of the World.
... THESALT AND THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 'Ye are thesalt of the earth; but if
thesalt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?...
Self-Denial and Self-Sacrifice Further Illustrated. --Parable of...
... Self-Denial and Self-Sacrifice further illustrated."Parable of the building of the
Tower."Of the Warring King. (Luke, xiv., 28-33.)"The SacrificialSalt....
The Following Books to be had at the Shop of John Bryce, Printer...
... The following BOOKS to be had at the Shop of JOHN BRYCE, Printer and Bookseller,
opposite Gibson's-Wynd,Salt-market. BOOKS IN OCTAVO....
The Sermon on the Mount.
... Subjects. ^A Matthew 5:13-16. ^a 13 Ye are thesalt of the earth: but if the
salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it...
Chapter vi.
... Hence there follows most justly the statement, "Ye are thesalt of the earth;" showing
that those parties are to be judged insipid, who, either in the eager...
The Healing of the Waters
... In response to the plea of the men of Jericho, Elisha said, "Bring me a new cruse,
and putsalt therein." Having received this, "he went forth unto the spring...
The Difficulty and Excellence of virginity; the Study Of
... For as the putrid humours and matter of flesh, and all those things which corrupt
it, are driven out bysalt, in the same manner all the irrational appetites...
Thesaurus
Salt (45 Occurrences)... of RV "salted"). All meat-offerings were seasoned with
salt (Leviticus
2:13). To eat
salt with one is to partake of his hospitality
...Salt-sea (3 Occurrences)
Salt-sea.Salt-pits,Salt-sea. Saltwort . Multi-Version Concordance
Salt-sea (3 Occurrences). Deuteronomy 3:17 The plain...
Salt-wort (1 Occurrence)
Salt-wort. Saltwort,Salt-wort. Salty . Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia
SALT-WORT. solt'-wurt (malluach, a word connected...
Salt-pits (1 Occurrence)
Salt-pits. Saltpits,Salt-pits.Salt-sea . Multi-Version Concordance
Salt-pits (1 Occurrence). Zephaniah 2:9 Therefore...
Saltness (3 Occurrences)
... (n.) The quality or state of beingsalt, or state of beingsalt, or impregnated
withsalt;salt taste; as, the saltiness of sea water....
Salty (4 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary (a.) Somewhatsalt; saltish.... Matthew 5:13 Ye are thesalt
of the land, but if thesalt may lose savour, in what shall it be salted?...
Tasteless (4 Occurrences)
... Tasteless (4 Occurrences). Matthew 5:13 "*You* are thesalt of the earth; but if
salt has become tasteless, in what way can it regain its saltness?...
Salted (6 Occurrences)
... (imp. & pp) ofSalt.... Salted (6 Occurrences). Matthew 5:13 "You are thesalt of the
earth, but if thesalt has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted?...
Lost (85 Occurrences)
... Multi-Version Concordance Lost (85 Occurrences). Matthew 5:13 "You are thesalt
of the earth, but if thesalt has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted?...
Loses (17 Occurrences)
... Multi-Version Concordance Loses (17 Occurrences). Matthew 5:13 Ye are thesalt of
the land, but if thesalt may lose savour, in what shall it be salted?...
Resources
What is a salt covenant? | GotQuestions.orgWhat did Jesus mean when He described His followers as the salt of the earth? | GotQuestions.orgWhat does it mean that believers are to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16)? | GotQuestions.orgSalt: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.comBible Concordance •
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