Covenant of Salt

Biblical Texts

The language of a covenant of salt appears in three places in the Old Testament.

• Leviticus 2:13: Leviticus commands that salt be added to the grain offering (the "meat offering" of the KJV). Here the salt is called "the salt of the covenant of thy God," and the text adds, "with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt" (see Old Testament sacrifices).
• Numbers 18:19: In Numbers, God gives to Aaron and his descendants, as their portion, the holy things that the children of Israel present as heave offerings (offerings lifted up and presented). The text calls this promise "a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD unto thee and to thy seed with thee," meaning that the portion received by the priests would continue from generation to generation.
• 2 Chronicles 13:5: In 2 Chronicles, Abijah, king of Judah, addresses the army of Jeroboam, king of the northern kingdom of Israel, from Mount Zemaraim. Abijah was the son of Rehoboam. He declares that God "gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt." With these words he argues that the dynasty established by the northern kingdom after the division of the kingdom was illegitimate.

Background

The Hebrew word berit means "covenant," and melach means "salt." Because salt keeps food from spoiling, it is commonly explained as having symbolized permanence and durability in the ancient world. In the ancient Near East, eating salt together is said to have served as a pledge of mutual loyalty.

In Ezra 4:14, Persian officials speak of themselves as those who "eat the salt of the palace" (rendered in the KJV as "we have maintenance from the king's palace"). This expression is frequently cited as an example of the connection between eating salt and loyalty. Ezekiel 43:24 also describes salt being cast upon burnt offerings.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

What the three texts share is the idea of permanence. Both the priestly portion in Numbers and the Davidic dynasty in 2 Chronicles are described as an everlasting covenant of salt. Second Chronicles 13:5 applies the expression to the Davidic covenant, emphasizing the promise that the kingship of David's house would not be cut off. Christian tradition widely holds that this promise of an everlasting kingship was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who came as the Son of David.

The New Testament does not use the expression "covenant of salt." However, the following passages that mention salt are often discussed in connection with this theme:

• Mark 9:49–50: "For every one shall be salted with fire" and "Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another" (see Mark 9:50)
• Matthew 5:13: "Ye are the salt of the earth," from the Sermon on the Mount
• Colossians 4:6: the exhortation that one's speech be "seasoned with salt"

Interpretation and Points of Discussion

Scripture does not explain why the covenant is specifically one of "salt." The explanations of permanence (drawn from preservation), fellowship and loyalty (drawn from eating together), and purity are all interpretations offered by commentators; they are not stated in the biblical text itself.

Some manuscripts of Mark 9:49 add the words "and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt," and on this basis some interpreters read the verse in connection with Leviticus 2:13. Because the text differs among manuscripts, however, interpreters differ on how close that connection is. Explanations that link "the salt of the earth" (Matthew 5:13) directly to the covenant of salt are sometimes heard in sermons, but neither text refers to the other.

Judaism is said to have a custom of dipping bread in salt at the table as a reminder of the altar.

In the Korean Church

In Korean church preaching, the covenant of salt is often cited to illustrate "the unchanging promise of God," particularly in sermons on the Davidic covenant or on 2 Chronicles 13.