A basic commodity, used for seasoning and preserving food in biblical times.
The importance of salt in the sacrificial system
Leviticus 2:13 See also Exodus 30:34–35 The addition of salt to incense was probably to make it burn more easily and quickly; Ezra 6:6–10, Ezra 7:21–23; Ezekiel 43:22–24
And you shall season each of your grain offerings with salt. You must not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offering; you are to add salt to each of your offerings.
The covenant of salt
Numbers 18:17–19 See also Leviticus 2:13; 2 Chronicles 13:4–5
But you must not redeem the firstborn of an ox, a sheep, or a goat; they are holy. You are to splatter their blood on the altar and burn their fat as a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. And their meat belongs to you, just as the breast and right thigh of the wave offering belong to you. All the holy offerings that the Israelites present to the LORD I give to you and to your sons and daughters as a permanent statute. It is a permanent covenant of salt before the LORD for you and your offspring.”
Believers as the salt of the earth
Matthew 5:13 This teaching reflects the importance of salt as a preservative and seasoning. See also Mark 9:50; Luke 14:34–35
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its savor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
Salt as a symbol of desolation
Zephaniah 2:9 See also Deuteronomy 29:23–25; Job 39:5–6; Psalm 107:33–34; Jeremiah 17:5–8
Therefore, as surely as I live,” declares the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, “surely Moab will be like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah— a place of weeds and salt pits, a perpetual wasteland. The remnant of My people will plunder them; the remainder of My nation will dispossess them.”
Salt sown on arable land to render it worthless
Jeremiah 48:8–9 See also Judges 9:42–45
The destroyer will move against every city, and not one town will escape. The valley will also be ruined, and the high plain will be destroyed, as the LORD has said. Put salt on Moab, for she will be laid waste; her cities will become desolate, with no one to dwell in them.
Lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt
And by the time the sun had risen over the land, Lot had reached Zoar. Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah — from the LORD out of the heavens. Thus He destroyed these cities and the entire plain, including all the inhabitants of the cities and everything that grew on the ground. But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
The Dead Sea an important source of salt
But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt.
Salt water
James 3:9–12 See also Ezekiel 47:7–9
With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, this should not be! Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree grow olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
Salt herbs
They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.
Practical uses of salt
Salt used as a seasoning
Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg? My soul refuses to touch them; they are loathsome food to me.
Salt rubbed on newborn infants
On the day of your birth your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing. You were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths.
Symbolic use of salt
Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Please note, our lord, that the city’s location is good, as you can see. But the water is bad and the land is unfruitful.” “Bring me a new bowl,” he replied, “and put some salt in it.” So they brought it to him, and Elisha went out to the spring, cast the salt into it, and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘I have healed this water. No longer will it cause death or unfruitfulness.’” And the waters there have been healthy to this day, according to the word spoken by Elisha.
Figurative use of salt
Mark 9:49 See also Ezra 4:14 The literal translation of the Hebrew phrase used here is “... we eat the salt of the palace ...”; Colossians 4:6
For everyone will be salted with fire.
Salt in place-names
The Dead Sea
Joshua 12:3 The Dead Sea was known as “the Salt Sea” or “the Sea of the Arabah” in biblical times. See also Genesis 14:3; Numbers 34:3–4, Numbers 34:10–12; Deuteronomy 3:16–17; Joshua 3:15–16, Joshua 15:2–3, Joshua 15:5–6, Joshua 18:19
as well as the Arabah east of the Sea of Chinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea), eastward through Beth-jeshimoth, and southward below the slopes of Pisgah.
The Valley of Salt
2 Samuel 8:13 See also 2 Kings 14:7 parallel 2 Chronicles 25:11; 1 Chronicles 18:12
And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
The City of Salt
Nibshan, the City of Salt, and En-gedi— six cities, along with their villages.
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.