Salt

Salt hinders flesh from corruption, and makes it keep; and is therefore used sometimes to signify incorruption, eternity, perpetual duration. Thus, in Numb 18:19, "All the heave-offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the Lord, have I given thee, and thy sons, and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever." So again, 2Ch 13:5, " The Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom to David for ever by a covenant of salt." And thus Lot’s wife being changed into a pillar of salt, symbolically shewed, that she was a standing or perpetual monument of the judgment of God against those that mistrust his power and goodness.

Agreeably to this is our Saviour’s discourse, in Mar 9:48-49; he says, that the torments of the wicked shall be like that of those that are gnawn by an immortal worm, which relates to their conscience; and that they shall be tormented also by an unquenchable fire, which relates to their body. He then proceeds, "For every one shall be salted with fire," i.e. every one shall be salted with that very fire which torments him.

This is to prevent an objection, How can their body sub­sist therein? Yes, says he, because that fire shall have a salt therein, which will make their body incorruptible. Then he adds, by way of proof and illustration; "and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt;" that is, the wicked shall be made, in that torment of fire, a sacrifice of ever­lasting holocaust to the Divine justice, God having given an illustration and proof thereof in the typical law, having therein commanded that all sacrifices should be salted which were offered by fire, Lev 2:13; Eze 43:24.

The next words, "Salt is good," &c., may be said to be a kind of digression or explanation, as thus: Though salt may signify the perpetuity of their torments, yet there is a good salt, a symbolical signification thereof to a good pur­pose: for as ye are the salt of the earth, which is to be supplied from Mat 5:13, so ye may save the earth or men to eternal salvation; but ye must take care to preserve its savour, or else as unprofitable ye shall be rejected.

Salt being thus the symbol of perpetuity, is put synony­mous with brimstone, in Deu 29:23, "And the whole land thereof is brimstone and salt, and burning, that it is not sown:" which alludes to the salt lands frequent inAfrica, Arabia, and Persia, which bear nothing growing on them. So in Jdg 9:45, Abimelech having overthrown a city, sowed it with salt to curse it, that it never should be built again. So Psa 107:34, according to the original, "a fruitful land into saltness."

See Eze 47:11; Jer 17:6; Zephan 2:9.

We meet with so many portions of Scripture where this word is used, and in senses so very different from each other, that it merits our more particular attention. The Israelites called it Melach - - and probably from the sovereign properties with which it is endued.

I shall beg to set before the reader some of the Scriptures where we meet with it, in order that we may have a better apprehension of the design of God the Holy Ghost in the use of it. I shall begin with those which speak of its destructive quality. The first account we read of salt is Gen. 14. 3; where mention is made of the Salt Sea in the vale of Siddim; and this is probably what elsewhere is called the Dead Sea, forming the spot where once stood Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities of the plain, which the Lord destroyed byfire, and over which Jordan in the seasons of its overflowing pours itself. It is said even to the present hour to send up such steams of a sulphureous nature, as to kill every bird attempting to fly over it.

The next account of salt is in the instance of Lot’s wife made a pillar of salt. (Gen. xix. 26.) We read in the prophecy of Ezekiel also concerning the miry places, and the marshy places, which were never to be healed, but to be given to salt. (Ezek. xl7: 11.) And the prophets Jeremiah and Zephaniah have much the same expressions concerning the perpetual barrenness of lands given to salt, (Jer. 17. 6. Zeph. 2: 9.) The psalmist saith, (Ps. c7: 34.) that the Lord turneth a fruitful land into saltness, (so the margin renders it) for thewickedness of them that dwell therein.

Those instances may be sufficient, in the view of the Scripture, concerning salt, where its use is marked in a way of destruction. Let us now look into the holy volume again for passages where an opposite quality is described, as resulting from the appointment of it.

The first account we meet with where salt is directed to be used in the way of a blessing is in Leviticus, chap. 2: 13. "And every oblation of thy meat - offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat - offerings; with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt." So again when the prophet Elisha sweetened the waters of Jericho, he did it by casting a cruse of salt into them; and this was done by commission from the Lord, for the prophet added, "Thus saith theLord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren and." (2 Kings 2: 21.) And that salt was considered in the light of a blessing it is said, (2 Chron. 13. 5.) "that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him, and to his sons by a covenant of salt." Hence we find also that Jesus called his disciples the salt of the earth, as if to intimate that his grace in them preserved the earth from universal putrefaction. (Matt. v. 13.) And elsewhere the Lord said, have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another." (Mark ix. 50.) And his servant Paul figuratively recommended the church that their speech should be always with grace seasoned with salt. (Col. 4: 6.) From both those views of salt, according to the holy Scripture, in being appointed as a figure of evil and of good, it becomes a very interesting enquiry to know yet somewhat more particularly the mind of God the Holy Ghost respecting the use of it. And if I do not greatly err, that service in the church concerning thesalt of the oblation, throws a great light upon the whole. We there read that every oblation of the meat - offering was to be seasoned with salt. The salt was never to be wanting; with all offerings the salt was to be offered. And what gives a strong leading feature to the whole was this, that this was called the salt of the covenant of JEHOVAH." (Lev. 2: 13.)

Now if we first consider the property of salt, that it is to save from corruption, we discover that the salt, which was never to be omitted in the offering, was the grand object the Lord had regard to in the whole. It is expressly called the salt of the covenant of thy God." Supposing then that this figuratively sets forth the Lord Jesus Christ, we instantly perceive that such is the importance that his person, blood, and righteousness, should be in and with all our offerings, that there can be no coming to the Father but by him. WhereChrist is not, there is no savour; it is his blood which gives a fragrancy and a perfume to our most holy things, And if Jesus be the salt of the covenant of our God, and with all our offerings he be first and last presented, both the Alpha and Omega, in our view, as he is in the view of God our Father, then is that Scripture blessedly fulfilled which the Lord delivered by the prophet: For in mine holy mountain in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me. There will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your oblations, with all your holy things. I will accept you with your sweet savour; and ye shall know that I am the Lord." (Ezek. xx. 40 - 42.) Observe, your sweet savour! and the Holy Ghost by Paul, calls Christ’s sacrifice a sweet - smelling savour. (Ephes. v. 2.)

There is another consideration in the view of the subject which serves to confirm the doctrine yet farther, namely, the universal use of salt. It is essential to all the purposes of food. It not only ministers to give a taste to the several articles of meat, but to preserve animal life from leprosy, and similar diseases. What is called curing of meat, that is, salting it, hath much signification of a spiritual nature in it. I do not presume to say as much so as to decide upon it, but I venture to believe that the term of "curing of meat by salt"took its rise from the circumstance of the divine cure of our nature by the salt of the covenant. Job saith, "Can that which is unsavory be eaten without salt’?" (Job vi. 6.) Much more may it be said, Can our poor nature be accepted but in Christ? Can our nature be cured and preserved from everlasting corruption but by the Lord Jesus? Once more - - salt is of the Lord’s own providing: it is among the natural productions of the earth. There is indeed a process of art now used for refining salt, and making it minister to variousways of usefulness; but the rock salt in its own pure nature is not of human production nor contrivance; like the earth itself, it is of JEHOVAH’S forming. "The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof." (1 Cor. x. 26.) Such then is Christ, JEHOVAH’S own providing for curing the souls of his people. So that in the salt of the covenant we offer nothing of our own for acceptance, but what God hath first given to us. JEHOVAH is very jealous of his honour. "An altar of earth shall thou make unto me: and if thou wilt make meanaltar of stone, thou shall not build it of hewn stone, for if thou lift up thy tool upon it thou hast polluted it. (Exod. xx. 24, 25.)

Fourthly, if the reader will consult the context concerning this meat - offering with the salt of the covenant, he will find that it was an offering also made by fire unto the Lord. (See Lev. 2: 13 - 16.) Hence the salt of the covenant was not simply to cleanse and render pure for acceptance, but it was to sprinkle the offering made by fire. Hence therefore, when the offering was offered with the salt of the covenant, and the Lord gave token of his acceptance by consuming the sacrifice with fire, this formed a confirmation of the divinefavour. This is beautifully explained, Lev. ix. 24. And there came a fire out from before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat, which when all the people saw they shouted and fell on their faces. Here was both God’s acceptance of the salted offering, and testimony at the same time given that the consumption of the sacrifice became the salvation of the people. The fire that consumed the one would, but for the acceptance of the salted sacrifice, have consumed the other. Well might theredeemed shout for joy while they fell on their faces with the lowest reverence.

Now if the reader will pause over the subject, and by looking back take a retrospective view of the whole, he will perceive that salt in the church of God had a twofold dispensation: and, like Him whom it evidently prefigured, it became "the savor of life unto life, or of death unto death? (2 Cor. 2: 16.) Jesus was set for "the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against." (Luke 2: 34.) Where Jesus is like the salt of the covenant, he will preserve from putrefaction, "That little leaven shall leaventhe whole lump." (1 Cor. v. 6.) Like the tree of Marah, Jesus makes the waters sweet. (Exod. xv. 25.) Like the cruse of salt at Jericho, though salt in its own nature will make sweet water brackish, Jesus will heal the spring, and make it wholesome. In short, where Jesus is there is the salt of the covenant - - "Destroy it not, there is a blessing in it." (Isa. lxv. 8.) On the other hand, "if the gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost." (2 Cor. 4: 3.) Where Christ, the salt of the covenant, is rejected, that land, that people, thatfamily, is given up to perpetual, barenness: it never can be healed. Oh, for grace to know our mercies, and truly to value them! For he that now saves from corruption, will one day be the everlasting condemnation of those that reject him. "For (he saith himself) every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt have lost his saltness, " (if Jesus be not the savour of life unto life) "wherewith will ye season it? (who can then give acceptance to the sinner?) Christ "becomesthe savour of death unto death" - - graciously therefore he adds, have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another." (Mark. ix. 40, 50.) Very largely as I have trespassed on this article, I cannot forbear, by way of confirmation to the whole, to add the relation given by a traveller concerning the usage in the eastern nations of making solemn engagements with salt. He tells us, that one of those people, willing to assure him of the seriousness of his promise to him, and that he would certainly fulfil it, called to aservant to bring him bread and salt; as soon as it was brought, he took a little of the salt between his fingers, and looking very gravely, he put it on a morsel of the bread and ate it, assuring me that now I might rely on his promise. Baron Du Tott. Is it not possible that this might have been a custom received by tradition, however ill understood, and worse applied, of the offering made with salt in the Scripture?

God appointed that salt should be used in all the sacrifices that were offered to him, Lev 2:13. Salt is esteemed the symbol of wisdom and grace, Col 4:6; Mar 9:50: also of perpetuity and incorruption, Num 18:19; 2Ch 13:5. The orientals were accustomed also to ratify their federal engagements by salt. This substance was, among the ancients, the emblem of friendship and fidelity, and therefore used in all their sacrifices and covenants. It was a sacred pledge of hospitality which they never ventured to violate. Numerous instances occur of travellers in Arabia, after being plundered and stripped by the wandering tribes of the desert, claiming the protection of some civilized Arab, who, after receiving them into his tent, and giving them salt, instantly relieves their distress, and never forsakes them till he has placed them in safety. An agreement, thus ratified, is called, in Scripture, “a covenant of salt.” The obligation which this symbol imposes on the mind of an oriental, is well illustrated by the Baron du Tott in the following anecdote: One who was desirous of his acquaintance promised in a short time to return. The baron had already attended him half way down the stair case, when stopping, and turning briskly to one of his domestics, “Bring me directly,” said he, “some bread and salt.” What he requested was brought; when, taking a little salt between his fingers, and putting it with a mysterious air on a bit of breast, he ate it with a devout gravity, assuring du Tott he might now rely on him.

Although salt, in small quantities, may contribute to the communicating, and fertilizing of some kinds of stubborn soil, yet, according to the observations of Pliny, “all places in which salt is found are barren and produce nothing.” The effect of salt, where it abounds, on vegetation, is described by burning, in Deu 29:23, “The whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt of burning.” Thus Volney, speaking of the borders of the Asphaltic lake, or Dead Sea, says, “The true cause of the absence of vegetables and animals is the acrid saltness of its waters, which is infinitely greater than that of the sea. The land surrounding the lake, being equally impregnated with that saltness, refuses to produce plants; the air itself, which is by evaporation loaded with it, and which moreover receives vapours of sulphur and bitumen, cannot suit vegetation; whence that dead appearance which reigns around the lake.” So a salt land, Jer 17:6, is the same as the “parched places of the wilderness,” and is descriptive of barrenness, as saltness also is, Job 39:6; Psa 107:34; Eze 47:11; Zec 2:9. Hence the ancient custom of sowing an enemy’s city, when taken, with salt, in token of perpetual desolation, Judges 4:45; and thus in after times the city of Milan was burned, razed, sown with salt, and ploughed by the exasperated emperor, Frederic Barbarossa. The salt used by the ancients was what we call rock or fossil salt; and also that left by the evaporation of salt lakes. Both these kinds were impure, being mixed with earth, sand, &c, and lost their strength by deliquescence. Maundrell, describing the valley of salt, says, “On the side toward Gibul there is a small precipice, occasioned by the continual taking away of the salt; and in this you may see how the veins of it lie. I broke a piece of it, of which that part that was exposed to the sun, rain, and air, though it had the sparks and particles of salt, yet it had perfectly lost its savour; the inner part, which was connected with the rock, retained its savour, as I found by proof.” Christ reminds his disciples, Mat 5:13, “Ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” This is spoken of the mineral salt as mentioned by Maundrell, a great deal of which was made use of in offerings at the temple; such of it as had become insipid was thrown out to repair the road. The existence of such a salt, and its application to such a use, Schoetgenius has largely proved in his “Horae Hebraicae.” The salt unfit for the land, Luke 16:34, Le Clerc conjectures to be that made of wood ashes, which easily loses its savour, and becomes no longer serviceable.

Effoetos cinerem immundum jactare per agros.

VIRGIL. Georg. v. 81.

“But blush not fattening dung to cast around, Or sordid ashes o’er th’ exhausted ground. WARTON.

Salt was procured by the Hebrews from two sources: first, from rock-salt, obtained from hills of salt which lie about the southern extremity of the Dead Sea; and secondly, from the waters of that sea, which overflowing the banks yearly, and being exhaled by the sun and the heat, left behind a deposit of salt both abundant and good.

From Job 6:6 it is clear that salt was used as a condiment with food. Salt was also mixed with fodder for cattle (Isa 30:24). As offerings, viewed on their earthly side, were a presentation to God of what man found good and pleasant for food, so all meat-offerings were required to be seasoned with salt (Lev 2:13). Salt, therefore, became of great importance to Hebrew worshippers; it was sold accordingly in the temple market, and a large quantity was kept in the Temple itself, in a chamber appropriated to the purpose. The incense, ’perfume,’ was also to have salt as an ingredient (Exo 30:35; marginal reading ’salted’), where it appears to have been symbolical, as well of the divine goodness as of man’s gratitude, on the principle that of every bounty vouchsafed of God, it became man to make an acknowledgment in kind.

As salt thus entered into man’s food, so, to eat salt with any one, was to partake of his fare, to share his hospitality; and hence, by implication, to enjoy his favor, or to be in his confidence. Hence, also, salt became an emblem of fidelity and of intimate friendship. At the present hour the Arabs regard as their friend him who has eaten salt with them, that is, has partaken of their hospitality. The domestic sanctity which thus attached itself to salt was much enhanced in influence by its religious applications, so that it became symbolical of the most sacred and binding of obligations. Accordingly ’a covenant of salt’ was accounted a very solemn bond (Num 18:19; 2Ch 13:5; Lev 2:13): a signification to which force would be given by the preservative quality of salt.

But salt, if used too abundantly, is destructive of vegetation and causes a desert. Hence arose another class of figurative applications. Destroyed cities were sown with salt to intimate that they were devoted to perpetual desolation (Jdg 9:45); salt became a symbol of barrenness (Deu 29:23; Zep 2:9); and ’a salt land’ (Jer 17:6) signifies a sterile and unproductive district (Job 39:6).

We have reserved to the end reference to a singular usage among the Israelites, namely, washing new-born infants in salt water; which was regarded as so essential that those could have hardly any other than an ill fate who were deprived of the rite (Eze 16:4). The practice obviously arose from a regard to the preserving, the domestic, the moral, and the religious uses to which salt was applied, and of which it became the emblem.

Was 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, 2Ki 2:21 ; in the sprinkling of salt over the sacrifices consumed on God’s altar, Lev 2:13 Eze 43:24 Mar 9:49 ; and its use in the sacred incense, Exo 30:35 . So also good men are "the salt of the earth," Mat 5:13 ; and grace, or true wisdom, is the salt of language, Mar 9:50 Col 4:6 . See also Eze 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.\par 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," Num 18:19 2Ch 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," Ezr 4:14 .\par VALLEY OF SALT. This place is memorable for the victories of David, 2Sa 8:13 1Ch 18:12 Psa 60:1-12, and of Amaziah, 2Ki 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, Gen 14:10 Zep 2:9 . See JORDAN and SEA 3.\par

Salt. Indispensable 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 beast, Isa 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. Lev 2:13. They possessed an inexhaustible and ready supply of it on the southern shores of the Dead Sea. See Sea, 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," Lev 2:13; Num 18:19; 2Ch 13:5, as betokening an indissoluble alliance between friends; and again the expression "salted with the salt of the palace." Ezr 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.

An appetizing seasoning of food to man and beast. In the East the vegetable food especially needs salt (Job 6:6; Isa 30:24, margin). An antidote to the effects of heat on animal food. A necessary accompaniment of the various altar offerings, bloody and unbloody (Lev 2:13, "the salt of the covenant of thy God"; Eze 43:24; Mar 9:49-50). It signifies the imperishableness of Jehovah’s love for His people; as an antiseptic salt implies durability, fidelity, purity. The opposite of leaven, the symbol of corruption. Covenants were cemented by feasts and hospitality, the viands of which were seasoned, as all foods, with salt. Hence, "a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord" is an indissoluble covenant (Num 18:19; 2Ch 13:5; Ezr 4:14, margin). An Arab who just before would have robbed and murdered you, once you taste his salt, would die to save you; "faithless to salt" is the Persian term for a traitor.

So Jesus, cf6 "have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another" (Mar 9:50); as no sacrifice to God, and no food to man, is acceptable without salt, so prayers offered without "peace" of heart toward fellow men are savourless; a warning to the disciples who had just been disputing with one another, and judging, fellow men who used Jesus’ name though not following the disciples (Mar 9:33-50). Being "salted with the salt of the (heavenly King’s) palace," and bound to fidelity to Him, and brought into a covenant of salt with Him, they are called on to have a loving, imperishable savour toward one another and to all men. Col 4:6, "let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt," i.e. the savour of fresh spiritual wisdom excluding all "corrupt communication," and tasteless unprofitableness or insipidity (Mat 5:13; Eph 4:29).

Near Colosse was a salt lake, hence the image. The idea in Mar 9:49, cf6 "for every one shall be salted with fire, ,is: the reason why it is better for us to cut off offending members is that the work of every one, believer and unbeliever, shall be tried with fire; to believers "the Refiner’s fire" (Mal 3:3; Mat 3:11), symbolizing God’s searching purity; a consuming fire (Heb 12:29) to His foes, who nevertheless shall be imperishable in their doom (salt symbolizing preservation from decay), but purging out only the dross from His people (1Co 3:13; 1Pe 1:7; 1Pe 4:12). The righteous can withstand the fire, for it is part of their present salting as "a living sacrifice" (Isa 33:14-15; Rom 12:1). Every offending member and offense must be removed, to enable us to withstand that testing fire and be found without dross unto glory and honour.

The southern shore of the Salt Sea supplied, salt abundantly; compare "the valley of salt" (2Sa 8:13) near the mountain of fossil salt, five miles long, the chief source of the salt in the sea. The salt pits (a source of revenue; Josephus Ant. 13:4, section 9) were at the S. of the Dead Sea; the marshes here are coated with salt deposited periodically by the spring rising of the waters which in summer evaporate; and here were the pillars of salt traditionally represented as Lot’s wife (Josephus Ant. 1:11, section 4; Apocr. Wis 10:7). Inferior salt was used for manure (Mat 5:13; Luk 14:35). Too much salt produced barrenness (Deu 29:23; Zep 2:9). "Sowing with salt" doomed symbolically to barrenness a destroyed city and depopulated region (Jdg 9:45; Psa 107:34 margin). Salt as expressing purity was the outward sign Elisha used in healing the waters (2Ki 2:20-21). The Israelites used to rub infants with salt to make the skin dense and firm, and for purification and dedication of them to God (Eze 16:4).

Salt Sea or Dead Sea. Names. This sea is called in the Scriptures the "sea of the plain," R. V. "of the Arabah," Deu 4:49; 2Ki 14:25; the "salt sea," Deu 3:17; Jos 3:16; Jos 12:3; the "east sea," Joe 2:20; Eze 47:18; Zec 14:8; and "the sea," Eze 47:8. It also appears as the "vale of Siddim." Gen 14:3. The title "Dead Sea" is not found in Jewish writers, but was introduced at an early period by the Greek authors. This remarkable sheet of water is of an elongated oval shape; but the regularity of the figure is broken by a large peninsula projecting from the eastern shore near to the southern end, dividing the whole into two reaches which communicate by a somewhat narrow channel. The extreme length is about 46 miles, the greatest breadth above ten miles. The superficial area has been estimated at about 300 square miles; but, as it would seem that the water does not constantly stand at the same level, that carried off by evaporation not always balancing that Drought in by streams, the dimensions of the lake are subject to not inconsiderable variation. A line of drift-wood encircles the lake, branches and limbs of trees, brought down by the Jordan and other torrents, and marking the highest level of the water. There is a salt and stony plain at the northeast corner, but the eastern side has been less explored. The Jordan, also, and various streams east and west empty themselves into it. And, as there is no outlet, the waters are intensely salt. Its specific gravity is therefore higher than that of the ocean, so that persons unable to swim elsewhere cannot sink in this lake. It was once imagined that life could not subsist above it. The waters were said to be almost motionless, and their steam pernicious. Birds and wild fowl are found on it, but no fish in it. The most extraordinary fact in regard to the Dead Sea is that it lies in so deep a cleft among its mountains that its surface is about 1293, or according to Lynch 1316, feet below the level of the Mediterranean. The Jordan flows through a sunken valley, the fall along its course being rapid and considerable, till it reaches its lowest point in this lake. Moreover, the depth of the water of the lake i& very great, 1310 feet at its deepest point towards the northern end; the southern end is shallow. The cities of the plain, which were destroyed by "brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven," were near the Dead Sea. Gen 19:24. The supposition, formerly most common was that these cities were submerged by the waters of the sea at the time of the great catastrophe—a theory which appears to be inconsistent with the geological and physical character of the region. See Sodom.

This well known and valuable condiment is found in abundance near the Dead Sea. In scripture salt is used as symbolical of moral savour and thus of a preservative. Every oblation of the meat offering was to be seasoned with salt. Lev 2:13. The heave offerings given to the priest are called ’a covenant of salt.’ Num 18:19.

Christians are the salt of the earth, but if the salt have lost its savour it is of no use whatever.* Mat 5:13; Mar 9:50; Luk 14:34-35. It is typical of freshness and savour in a Christian, his heart being maintained in the sense of grace, the loss of which nothing else can supply.

The Christian’s speech should be with grace, seasoned with salt (Col 4:6), not characterised by asperity, nor lacking unction, and yet morally wholesome in its character. "Every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt." Mar 9:49. God puts all to the proof , but with the saint it is the dross that is consumed. Every sacrifice being salted with salt refers to the preservation of that which is set apart for God from corruption and impurity.

To ’eat the salt’ of their masters, is used by the Persians and Hindus to imply that they are fed by their employers. This idea is found in Ezr 4:14, where the opposers of the Jews say, "We eat the salt of the palace," as the passage is more literally translated: see margin . With reference to an infant being ’salted,’ Eze 16:4, Galen records that this was done to render the skin tighter and firmer.

* Salt in the East is not pure chloride of sodium, but mostly mixed with vegetable and earthy substances, and has been found at times, after being exposed to the sun and rain, to be quite tasteless, and perfectly useless.

If Salt Loses Its Savor

Mat_5:13; Mar_9:49-50; Luk_14:34-35.

Who Is The Salt Of The Earth

Mat_5:1-13.

SALT (ἅλας).—Salt has been used from very early times to season and preserve food. In Palestine there was always a plentiful supply. The chief sources were (and are) the great rock-salt cliffs known as the Khasm Usdum to the S.W. of the Dead Sea, and the marshes and pools around its shores. The cliffs are from 30 to 60 feet high, and stretch from 6 to 7 miles along the coast. In the Bible this sea is sometimes called the ‘salt sea’ (Gen 14:3, Deu 3:17). Three lbs. of its water are said to yield 1 lb. of solid salts.

In addition to its common use as a condiment or preservative of food, salt from early times had religious and social significance. As a fitting emblem of incorruptness, it was habitually offered along with the sacrifices (cf. Lev 2:13). The preservative qualities of salt probably led to its being regarded as an essential element in the making of any enduring covenant (cf. Lev 2:13, Num 18:19, 2Ch 13:5). As a sacrificial meal was usually celebrated in connexion with the making of a covenant, the salt of the meal naturally became the salt of the covenant. Among Eastern peoples, ‘to eat of his salt’ is a sign of enduring friendship and peace. The Arabs use the phrase ‘there is salt between us’ as expressing the fact that a bond of loyalty is in existence (cf. Ezr 4:14).

In the Gospels, salt is used for the most part metaphorically: (1) As an emblem of preservation from corruption, ‘Ye are the salt of the earth’ (Mat 5:13). The new spiritual life of the disciples was to purify and preserve the life of the world. Jesus solemnly warns them against the danger of losing the power which would enable them to fulfil this function, ‘for if the salt have lost its savour (‘become saltless,’ Mar 9:50), wherewith shall it be salted?’ (Mat 5:13 || Luk 14:34). (2) There is also a suggestion of its significance as a symbol of concord in the counsel, ‘Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace one with another’ (Mar 9:50); for it is given in connexion with disputes or discussions as to which of the disciples should be the greatest (Mar 9:33-37). These disputings may also be regarded as one of the influences which render the salt saltless (ἄναλον). (3) As a symbol of incorruption in connexion with sacrifice. In Mar 9:49 the words πᾶσα θυσία ἁλὶ ἁλισθήσεται are omitted by Tischendorf, WH [Note: H Westcott and Hort’s text.] , and Nestle, following Manuscripts אBL [Note: L Bampton Lecture.] Δ. The words in the text thus adjusted (πᾶς γὰρ πυρὶ ἁλισθήσεται) have been translated ‘for every one shall be salted for the fire’ (Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, ii. 121), and ‘for every one shall be salted with fire’ (Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ). The latter is almost certainly the right translation, since ‘with fire’ (πυρί) takes the place of ‘with salt’ (ἁλί), as indicating the new spiritual element which was to be present in the sacrificial life of the disciples. In the old economy every sacrifice was to be salted with salt, and would not be accepted without it; so in the new economy, the ‘living sacrifice’ of the Christian disciple will not be rightly prepared without the ‘fire’ which alone makes it acceptable. As the old sacrifices were prepared with salt, so the new sacrifices must be prepared with fire. The fire is most probably to be interpreted as the fire of judgment, as in the verse immediately preceding (‘where their worm dieth not and their fire is not quenched,’ Mar 9:48). There is a twofold judgment by fire. It may be Divine and penal (Mar 9:48), or personal and corrective (cf. ‘If we would judge ourselves we should not be judged,’ 1Co 11:31). The previous context interprets the personal, salutary judgment by fire, by which the life is to he prepared as an acceptable sacrifice: ‘If thy hand offend thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched’ (cf. Mar 9:43; Mar 9:47). Swete (St. Mark, ad loc.) interprets the lire of the Christian life as the Holy Spirit, but fire as a symbol of the Spirit is not found in Mark. It may, however, be said that no self-judgment will be complete, or sufficient, unless it is carried through under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Literature.—W. R. Smith, art. ‘Salt,’ Encyc. Brit.^{9 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred]} ; E. Hull, art. ‘Salt,’ Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible ; Beyschlag, NT Theol. i. 180; Wendt, Teaching of Jesus, ii. 62 ff.; Bruce, Training of the Twelve, p. 215, notes; Kelman, Expos. Times, xii. [1900] p. 111; Shalders, Expositor, 1st ser. xi. [1880] p. 79 ff.

John Reid.

By: Emil G. Hirsch, Immanuel Benzinger, Cyrus Adler, M. Seligsohn

—Biblical Data:

A condiment for food. From earliest times salt was indispensable to the Israelites for flavoring food. Having a copious supply in their own country, they could obtain it with little trouble. The Dead or "Salt" Sea (Gen. xiv. 3; Josh. iii. 16) holds in solution not less than 24.57 kg. of salt in 100 kg. of water, and after every flood, upon the evaporation of the water, a coarse-grained salt is left behind in the pools and ditches. Saltpits, in which salt was thus obtained, are mentioned in Zeph. ii. 9 ("mikreh melaḥ") and in I Macc. ii. 35. The hill Jebel Usdum, situated at the southern extremity of the Dead Sea, and having a length of ten miles, is composed almost entirely of rock salt; and from it was probably procured the "Sodom salt" mentioned in the Talmud.

The various ways in which salt was used in Hebrew cookery need not be enumerated here. Although the fact is not explicitly stated in the Old Testament, salt occupied the same place as in modern cookery; it was of course a most important necessary of life (comp. Ecclus. [Sirach] xxxix. 26; comp. Job vi. 6). Eating the salt of a man means, therefore, to derive one's sustenance from him, to take pay from him or to be hired by him (Ezra iv. 14; comp. "salarium" = "salt money," "salary"). Salt is considered pleasant and wholesome for animals also (Isa. xxx. 24); and the ancient Hebrews of course knew that food was preserved by salt. Taricheæ, on the Sea of Gennesaret, indicates by its name that, in later times at least, the preparation of salted fish, a staple article of commerce, was extensively carried on there.

The medical properties of salt also seem to have been known to the Israelites at an early date. Newborn infants were rubbed with it (Ezek. xvi. 4). Though at first this may have been done for religious reasons, as a protection against demons, the significance of the custom was doubtless forgotten at the time of Ezekiel, and probably much earlier. The curative and sanitary properties of salt are probably referred to in the story related in II Kings ii. 19 et seq., according to which Elisha "heals" the poisonous spring near Jericho by throwing salt into it.

This indispensable ingredient of man's food naturally assumed a great importance in the ritual. Just as salt was absolutely necessary at meals, so it was indispensable at the sacrifice, the "food of God" (comp. "leḥem Elohaw," Lev. xxi. 22). The Law expressly says (ib. ii. 13): "Every oblation of thy meal-offering shalt thou season with salt." This prescription referred not only to the meal-offering but also to the burnt offering of animals, as appears from Ezek. xliii. 24 (comp. Josephus, "Ant." iii. 9, § 1). Salt was used also in the preparation of the showbread (comp. LXX. on Lev. xxiv. 7) and of Incense. Great quantities of salt (Ezra vi. 9, vii. 22; comp. "Ant." xii. 3, § 3) were therefore required in the Temple service. The expression "salt of the covenant" in Lev. ii. 13 shows that at the time with which the book deals salt was regarded in a symbolic sense. Originally, however, it is probable that the use of salt at a sacrifice did not arise from this conception, but from the fact that an offering was the meal of God.

The importance of salt in daily life and in the ritual explains its symbolic importance in the ceremony of the covenant. Particularly holy and inviolable obligations were designated as "salt covenants" (ib.; Num. xviii. 19; II Chron. xiii. 5). It must be borne in mind that in ancient times, as today among the Arab nomads, a meal taken in company meant temporary association among the members of the company and that a covenant was accompanied by a sacrificial meal. Consequently, as salt was always used on both occasions, it was probably taken as an especially fitting symbol of the eternal duration of such a covenant. To-day the Arab still says, "There is salt between us" (comp. Wellhausen, "Reste Arabischen Heidentums," 2d ed., pp. 124, 189; Trumbull, "The Covenant of Salt," 1899). The practise of sprinkling salt on the ruins of a doomed city may also refer to the ritual use of salt (Judges ix. 45), expressing its entire dedication to Yhwh (for parallel instances see W. R. Smith, "Rel. of Sem." 2d ed., p. 454).

Be.Symbolic Use.

—In Rabbinical Literature and Jewish Life:

Owing to the fact that salt is referred to in the Bible as symbolizing the covenant between God and Israel (see Biblical Data, above), its importance is particularly pointed out by the Rabbis. They interpret the words "a covenant of salt" (Num. xviii. 19) as meaning that salt was used by God on the occasion in question to signify that it should never be lacking from sacrifices. Thus, although it appears from Lev. ii. 13 that salt was required for meal-offerings only, the Rabbis concluded from a comparison between Num. l.c. and Num. xxv. 13 that, just as none of the sacrifices could be offered without priests, so they could not be offered without salt (Men. 19b-20a). The salt which belonged to the Temple for sacrificial purposes could be used by the priests when they ate their portion of the sacrifices, but not otherwise; this was one of the seven institutions of the bet din (Sheḳ. vii. 6; Maimonides, "Yad," Me'ilah, viii.). As, after the destruction of the Temple, the table set for a meal was considered as an altar, the Rabbis recommended that salt should be put upon it; nor should the blessing be recited without salt. The necessity for the presence of salt is indicated by the fact that when the bread is of inferior quality a man may ask for salt between the recitation of the blessing and the partaking of the bread, while for any other purpose one is not allowed to utter a single word. But when the bread is of good quality, although salt should have been put upon the table, yet, if it is missing, one may not interrupt by asking for it between the blessing and eating (Shulḥan 'Aruk, Oraḥ Ḥayyim, 167, 5; Jacob Zausmer, "Bet Ya'aḳob," No. 168; comp. Ber. 40a). In the time of the Tosafists the placing of salt on the table was dispensed with; the bread being good, the condiment was considered unnecessary. Menahem, however, strictly observed the above-mentioned custom, declaring that when people sit at tablewithout performing any commandment ("miẓwah") Satan accuses them, and only the covenant of salt protects them (Tos. to Ber. l.c.). The custom was revived later, and to-day the hand is regularly dipped into the salt before "ha-moẓeh" (Isserles, in Shulḥan 'Aruk, l.c.).

Ritual Customs.

Salt is considered as the most necessary condiment, and therefore the Rabbis likened the Torah to it; for as the world could not do without salt, neither could it do without the Torah (Soferim xv. 8). A meal without salt is considered no meal (Ber. 44a). Still, salt is one of the three things which must not be used in excess (ib. 55a). It is not considered by the Rabbis as a food; thus when one makes a vow to abstain from food he may eat salt. It may not be used for an 'Erub ('Er. iii. 1).

The Rabbis recognized in salt different properties owing to which it is prominent in the ritual code. The most important one is its decomposing action on the blood; and therefore its use was recommended by the Rabbis for draining the blood from meat. Blood can not be thoroughly extracted from meat unless the latter is well salted (Ḥul. 113a). The laws for salting meat are given in sections 69-78 of the Shulḥan 'Aruk, Yoreh De'ah, some particulars of which may be here mentioned. The layer of salt must be neither too thin, for then it is lacking in strength, nor too thick, for then it does not adhere to the meat; and it must remain on the meat not less than twenty minutes. It has no effect on the blood of meat three days old (as the blood is then considered to have coagulated), unless the meat has been previously rinsed in water (Yoreh De'ah, 69, 3, 6, 12). Salt has no effect on liver on account of the large quantity of blood contained in the latter; still, if the liver has been salted and cooked, it may be eaten (ib. 73, 1; comp. ib. 105, 9-14). In other respects salting is like cooking (Ḥul. 97b); and therefore he who salts vegetables in the field makes them fit for the tithe (Ma'as. iv. 1). Salting food or vegetables is considered one of the principal labors which are forbidden on the Sabbath (Shab. 75b). To dissolve salt in water is also considered work; consequently one may not prepare a quantity of salt water on the Sabbath. Salt may not be pounded in a mortar on that day; but it may be crushed with the handle of a knife (Oraḥ Ḥayyim, 321, 2, 8).

Salt of Sodom.

Salt is mentioned as a remedy for toothache (Shab. vi. 5), and women were accustomed to hold a grain of salt on the tongue in order to prevent unpleasant odors in the mouth (ib.); and on this account the Rabbis similarly recommended that salt be eaten at the conclusion of every meal, as it prevents such odors in the daytime and at night is a preventive of angina. But it must not be eaten from the thumb, for that causes the loss of children; nor from the little finger, for that causes poverty; nor from the index-finger, for that causes murder; but only from the middle finger or the ring-finger (Ber. 40a; Oraḥ Ḥayyim, 179, 6). A kind of salt designated "salt of Sodom" ("melaḥ Sedomit"), which was an ingredient of the spices burned in the Temple (Ker. 6a), was so pungent that if one put the finger from which he ate it on his eye, it might cause blindness. The Rabbis therefore instituted the washing of the hands after the meal (Ḥul. 105b). In one respect salt is considered like hailstones or ice; so that it may complete a Miḳweh and make it fit for a ritual bath (Miḳ. vii. 1). Salt was strewed on the step of the altar to prevent the priest from slipping ('Er. x. 14). A reference to salt as a preservative is made in the proverb: "Shake the salt off meat, and you may throw the latter to dogs" (Niddah 31a); that is to say, without salt meat is good for nothing. "When salt becomes corrupt with what is it salted?" (Bek. 8b). "The salt of money is charity" (Ket. 66b). The term "salted" is applied to a man in the sense of "quick-minded" (Ḳid. 29b).

It has been shown above that during the Middle Ages salt was connected with certain superstitious beliefs; it may be added that these have continued up to the present time. In certain places in Russia the belief is current among Jews that if salt is thrown in a part of a house where it is not likely to be swept away, the inhabitants of that house will become poor. In England and Holland it is commonly believed that the spilling of salt brings ill luck. Salt is particularly considered as a safeguard against the evil eye. This belief existed in Germany in the beginning of the eighteenth century, as is narrated by Schudt ("Jüdische Merckwürdigkeiten," ii. 385), who states that a Jewish woman who visited him advised him to hang salt and bread about his children's necks to preserve them from evil persons. This belief is especially current in Russia, where salt is put into the arba' kanfot and into children's pockets, and is thrown into the four corners of the room. There is also a saying in Russia: "Throw salt on a Gipsy as she or he leaves your house."

Bibliography:

Kohut, Aruch Completum, s.v. ;

Lampronti, Paḥad Yiẓḥaḳ, s.v. ;

Levy, Neuhebr. Wörterb. s.v. .

SALT,—Salt is rightly included by ben-Sira among ‘the chief of all things necessary for the life of man’ (Sir 39:26 RV [Note: Revised Version.] ). The Hebrews of the Southern Kingdom, at least, had access to inexhaustible stores of salt both in the waters of the Dead Sea,—hence named in OT ‘the Salt Sea’ (Deu 3:17 etc.)—whence it could easily be obtained by evaporation, and in the deposits of the Jebel Usdum at its south-western extremity. References to saltpits or saltpans, or to both, are found in Zep 2:9, 1Ma 11:25. One hundred pounds of water from the Dead Sea are said to yield 24¹/2 lbs. of salt, compared with 6 lbs. obtained from the same quantity of water from the Atlantic.

In addition to its daily use as a condiment in the preparation of food (cf. Job 6:6), and its important place in the sacrificial ritual, salt was employed by the Hebrews in an even greater variety of ways than it is among ourselves. New-born infants, for example, were rubbed with salt (Eze 16:4)—a practice in which a religious, rather than a hygienic, motive may be detected. A grain of salt placed in the hollow of a decayed tooth was considered a cure for the universal evil of toothache (Mishna, Shabbath, vi. 5). In other treatises of the Mishna we find frequent references to the use of salt for salting fish, for pickling olives, vegetables, etc. The salting of meat for preservation is referred to in the ‘Epistle of Jeremy’ (Bar 6:28). The modern Jewish custom of laying all meat in salt for the purpose of more thoroughly draining it of the blood was doubtless observed in Bible times. In Palestine, under the Seleucids, salt formed a government monopoly (1Ma 10:29; 1Ma 11:35), as it did in Egypt under the Ptolemys.

As regards the presence of salt in the ritual of sacrifice, the words of Mar 9:40 AV [Note: Authorized Version.] , every sacrifice shall be salted with salt,’ although omitted by RV [Note: Revised Version.] following the best authorities, are nevertheless true to fact. The legislation of the Priests’ Code, at least, expressly ordains: ‘with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt’ (Lev 2:13)—a passage which expressly specifies that the cereal or vegetable offerings (the ‘meal offerings’ of RV [Note: Revised Version.] ) had to be salted as well as the more important and more evident animal or flesh sacrifices (cf. Eze 43:24). A special ‘salt chamber’ is mentioned among the chambers adjoining the Priests’ Court in the description of Herod’s Temple given in the Mishna. The sacred incense, also, had to be ‘seasoned with salt’ (Exo 30:35 RV [Note: Revised Version.] ), as was also the case with the shewbread, according to the better Gr. text of Lev 24:7. The original idea in this extended ritual use of salt was doubtless this—that just as salt was an indispensable accompaniment of man’s dally food, so it could not be absent from the ‘food of God,’ as the sacrifices are termed in Lev 21:6; Lev 21:17.

In the developed priestly legislation, however, there can be little doubt that the presence of salt had a symbolical significance. From its use as a preservative, reflected in our Lord’s figure, ‘Ye are the salt of the earth’ (Mat 5:13), and as an antidote to decay, it is natural that salt should become a symbol of permanence, and even of life as opposed to decay and death. ‘Salt,’ it has been said, ‘seems to stand for life in many a form of primitive speech and in the world’s symbolism’ (Trumbull, Covenant of Salt). From this symbolical standpoint we probably reach the true explanation of the striking expression ‘a convenant of salt’ (Num 18:19, 2Ch 13:5), which denotes a covenant that is inviolable and valid in perpetuity. The presence of salt, therefore, with every sacrifice may have come to symbolize the irrevocable character of J″ [Note: Jahweh.] ’s covenant with Israel (cf. G. B. Gray’s Com. on Num 18:19).

This seems preferable to the usual explanation which connects the expression in question with the well-known code of Arab [Note: Arabic.] hospitality, by which a traveller in the desert, and even an enemy, if he has once partaken of an Arab’s hospitality, has a right to his host’s protection; since this ‘ordinance of salt’ as it is termed, is valid only for a limited period (see Jaussen. Coutumes des Arabes [1908], 87 f.). On the other hand, the obligations which the partaking of one’s hospitality imposes on a guest are emphasized in the words of Ezr 4:14 ‘because we eat the salt of the palace’ (RV [Note: Revised Version.] ).

In marked contrast to the above-mentioned employment of salt as a symbol of life, stands its parallel occurrence as a symbol of barrenness, desolation, or death (Deu 29:23 and elsewhere). By this aspect of the symbolism of salt it has been usual to explain the treatment meted out by Abimelech to the city of Shechem in the early narrative, Jdg 9:45: ‘He beat down the city and sowed it with salt.’ It is more in harmony, however, with the fundamental conception of the han (see Ban) to regard the strewing of the site of the city with salt as symbolizing its complete dedication to J″ [Note: Jahweh.] (see the parallels adduced in EBi [Note: Encyclopædia Biblica.] iv. col. 4249 f.).

A. R. S. Kennedy.

Salt, always used for the seasoning of food and for the preservation of things from corruption, had from very early days a sacred and religious character.The Prophet Eliseus employed it to make palatable the waters of a well (2 Kings 2:19 sqq.). The Orientals used it to cleanse and harden the skin of a newborn child (Ezekiel 16:4); by strewing salt on a piece of land they dedicated it to the gods; in the Jewish Law it was prescribed for the sacrifices and the loaves of proposition (Leviticus 2:13). In Matthew 5:13, salt symbolizes wisdom, though perhaps originally it had an exorcistic signification.Its use in the Church belongs exclusively to the Roman Rite. The Ritual knows two kinds of salt for liturgical purposes, the baptismal salt and the blessed salt.The former, cleansed and sanctified by special exorcisms and prayers, is given to the catechumen before entering church for baptism. According to the fifth canon of the Third Council of Carthage it would seem that salt was administered to the catechumens several times a year. This use of salt is attested by St. Augustine (Conf., I. 1, c. xi) and by John the Deacon. St. Isidore of Seville speaks of it (De off., II, xxi), but in the Spanish Church it was not universal.The other salt is exorcized and blessed in the preparation of holy water for the Asperges before high Mass on Sunday and for the use of the faithful in their homes. The present formula of blessing is taken from the Gregorian Sacramentary (P.L., LXXVIII, 231). Both baptismal salt and blessed salt may be used again without a new benediction.The appendix of the Roman Ritual has a blessing of salt for the use of animals and another in honour of St. Hubert. The Roman Pontifical orders salt to be blessed and mixed in the water (mixed in turn with ashes and wine) for the consecration of a church. This is also from the Gregorian Sacramentary. Again salt (not specially blessed) may be used for purifying the fingers after sacred unctions.-----------------------------------FRANCIS MERSHMAN Transcribed by Charlie Martin The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XIIICopyright © 1912 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, February 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, D.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York

sôlt (מלח, melaḥ; ἄλας, hálas, ἄλς, háls): 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 (Lev 2:13; Ezr 6:9; Ezr 7:22; Eze 43:24; Mar 9:49). In Num 18:19; 2Ch 13:5, a “covenant of salt” is mentioned (compare Mar 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. See COVENANT 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 (2Sa 8:13; 2Ki 14:7; 1Ch 18:12; 2Ch 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 (Eze 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 (2Ki 2:20 f). Abimelech sowed the ruins of Shechem with salt to prevent a new city from arising in its place (Jdg 9:45). Lot’s wife turned to a pillar of salt (Gen 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 (compare Mat 5:13; Mar 9:50). Saltness typified barrenness (Deu 29:23; Jer 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 (Jas 3:11 f).

(ἅëò; also ἅëáò, a form which is rare except in Septuagint and NT; adj. ἁëõêüò)

This condiment of food was in general use among the civilized nations of antiquity. From the religious significance which it had for the primitive mind, and especially its association with sacrificial meals, it became-and still is throughout the East-a symbol of guest-friendship and fidelity; from its purifying and antiseptic properties, an image of the power of good men to preserve the moral soundness of society (Mat_5:13); and front its piquancy, a suggestion of the relish which wit and wisdom give to talk which would otherwise be insipid. St. Paul exhorts the Colossians to let their speech be ‘seasoned with salt’ (ἅëáôé ἠñôõìÝíïò, Col_4:6), and the salt which he had in mind possessed finer properties than the ἅëåò and sal of Greek and Latin writers.

Attic ‘salt’ was Attic wit. Pliny (Historia Naturalis (Pliny) xxxi. 7) says: ‘The higher enjoyments of life could not exist without the use of salt: indeed, so highly necessary is this condiment to mankind, that the pleasures of the mind can be expressed by no better term than the word salt (sales), such being the name given to all effusions of wit.’ The meaning of the word is usually indicated by the context in which it occurs: ‘Sale vero et facetiis Caesar … vicit omnes’ (Cic. de Offic. I. xxxvii. 133); ‘facetiarum quidam lepos quo, tanquam sale, perspergatur omnis oratio’ (Cic. de Orat. i. 34); ‘sal niger,’ i.e. biting wit, sarcasm (Hor. Ep. II. ii. 60).

St. Paul was of course familiar with this classical ‘salt,’ which at its best was intellectual acuteness and sparkling wit, but which easily degenerated into åὐôñáðåëßá (Eph_5:4). There was no lack of it in his university town of Tarsus. But as a Christian he takes the word-like ÷Üñéò, ἀãÜðç and many another term-and gives it a new and better connotation. He eliminates from it the bitterness of sarcasm and adds to it the essential grace of Christianity. Without making it less intellectual, he makes it more spiritual. As a lover of good talk, he is far from deprecating what is stimulating and pungent. He desiderates all the old readiness ‘to answer each one’ (Col_4:6 b), but the answer will no longer be the repartee which seeks a brilliant personal victory; it will be the response of the heart that loves still more than of the mind that glitters. If the new meaning of the metaphor is to be determined by the context in which it is employed-‘walk in wisdom,’ ‘let your speech be always with grace’-salt becomes the symbol of a rare combination of virtues. A spiritual wisdom and Christian grace, at once quickening the gifts of Nature and hallowing the charms of culture, are to replace pagan wit as the savour of that human intercourse which is the feast of reason and the flow of souls.

Literature.-Thayer Grimm’s Gr.-Eng. Lexicon of the NT, Greek-English Lexicon of the NT2, 1890, s.v. ἅëáò; articles ‘Salt’ in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) and Encyclopaedia Biblica ; J. B. Lightfoot, St. Paul’s Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon3, 1879.

James Strahan.

Gen 19:26 (b) This probably represents:

(1) GOD’s power to change a blessing to a curse as when one is taken out of this life and sent into the eternal dark.

(2) Salt is a preservative. The memory of the deed of this woman and her act of rebellion were to be preserved for future generations.

(3) Salt is a permanent chemical. The punishment of this woman was to be permanent.

Lev 2:13 (b) Probably this represents the permanence and durability of CHRIST’s sacrifice for us in all of its aspects. (See also Eze 43:24).

Num 18:19 (b) The covenant which GOD makes with His people in this verse is characterized by purity, permanence, stability and savour. You will note that the offerings must contain salt as a picture or symbol or type of these characteristics in GOD, and His Word.

Deu 29:23 (b) Here is a symbol of GOD’s judgment and curse wherein He prevents the growth of all green things in order to punish the enemy. (See also Jdg 9:45 where Abimelech used it as a curse; see also Eze 47:11; Zep 2:9).

2Ki 2:20 (b) This is no doubt a type of GOD’s healing and preserving power.

Eze 16:4 (b) The story in this chapter reveals that there was no period of preparation in the forming of the nation of Israel. GOD called Abraham, he obeyed and began the nation of Israel immediately. The salting of the baby at birth showed that GOD found in Abraham all that he needed for the beginning of a healthy growth for a healthy nation.

Mat 5:13 (a) This is a type of the believer in the following aspects: Salt (table) is always pure white as the Christian is in GOD’s sight. Every crystal of salt is a perfect cube. It is perfectly square. Each Christian is considered to be "square" toward GOD, toward his fellowman, toward his family, and toward himself. Salt preserves. The Christian by his godly influence and Christian activities has a salutary and beneficent effect upon those with whom he associates. The presence of Christians in the world preserves the world from the corruption of Satan. When the Christians are removed, the corruption progresses rapidly.

Mar 9:49 (b) Here we see a reference to the preserving power of the eternal fire in Gehenna. Instead of destroying the sinner as it punishes him, it will act as a preservative and keep him alive and conscious of his punishment.

Col 4:6 (a) It is symbolical of the character of good language, wherein the thoughts expressed, the words spoken, and the attitude of heart in the conversation bring a sweet influence and a preserving power in the lives of those to whom we speak.

Apart from its obvious use in cooking, salt was widely used in the ancient world to keep perishable foods from decay (Lev 2:13; Job 6:6). Because of salt’s uses and characteristics, the Bible refers to it to illustrate aspects of the lives of Christians. Just as salt gives food a good taste, so the gracious qualities of their new life in Christ should make the speech of Christians wholesome and pleasant (Col 4:6). If they are living as they should, Christians will be a good influence in a world corrupted by sin (Mat 5:13; Mar 9:50).

Because of its use in flavouring and preserving, salt symbolized a close and permanent relationship between people. It had a ceremonial use in making covenants, where it symbolized the unbroken loyalty that the two parties promised to the covenant (Lev 2:13; Num 18:19; 2Ch 13:5; see COVENANT).

Sometimes, however, salt symbolized judgment and desolation. This was because salty land was useless for farming and became a barren waste. Therefore, a conqueror may have sprinkled salt over a destroyed city to symbolize that it was to be left in permanent desolation (Deu 29:23; Jdg 9:45; Jer 17:6; Zep 2:9).

The Israelites obtained their salt mainly from the region around the Dead Sea, which was itself so rich in salt that it was sometimes called the Salt Sea (Gen 14:3; Jos 3:16; Jos 15:5; Jos 18:19). Somewhere to the south-west of the Dead Sea, in the dry region of Israel known as the Negeb, was a place called the Valley of Salt (2Sa 8:13; 2Ki 14:7). (For further details of the Dead Sea and the Negeb see PALESTINE.)