Salt Sea

Biblical Text

As its name indicates, the Salt Sea is a "sea of salt." It first appears in Genesis 14:3, which records that the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah gathered to fight an allied army "in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea." Genesis 14:10 adds that "the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits" (pits of bitumen, or asphalt).

After this, the Salt Sea appears mainly as a place name marking territorial boundaries.

• Boundary of Canaan: In Numbers 34:3, 12 it marks the southern and eastern boundaries of the land of Canaan.
• Boundary of the tribes east of the Jordan: In Deuteronomy 3:17 it is called "the sea of the plain, even the salt sea."
• Crossing the Jordan: Joshua 3:16 records that when Israel crossed the Jordan River, the waters "that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea," were cut off.
• 2 Kings 14:25: It appears under the name "the sea of the plain."

In Ezekiel 47 and Zechariah 14:8 it is referred to as the "east sea" (Ezekiel 47:18; the KJV renders it "the former sea" in Zechariah 14:8). The name "Dead Sea" does not occur in the Bible.

Background

The Salt Sea is a lake into which the waters of the Jordan River flow but from which there is no outlet. As the water evaporates, salt accumulates, making the lake far saltier than seawater. As a result, almost no fish can live in it, which later gave rise to the name "Dead Sea." The lake's surface lies more than 400 meters (about 1,300 feet) below sea level, and it is known as the lowest point on the earth's surface. In recent years its water level has been steadily dropping.

Several sites connected with the Bible lie along its shores.

• En-gedi: The place where David hid while fleeing from Saul.
• The land to the east: The territory of Moab.
• The land to the south: The territory of Edom.
• Qumran: Located on the northwestern shore; in the twentieth century the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in caves there.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

The Salt Sea takes on its most striking significance in the vision of Ezekiel 47. Water flowing out from the temple runs eastward and reaches this sea, whose waters are healed; fish become abundant, and fishermen spread their nets (Ezekiel 47:8–10). Even so, "the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt" (Ezekiel 47:11). Zechariah 14:8 likewise speaks of living waters going out from Jerusalem toward the eastern sea.

The place name "Salt Sea" does not appear in the New Testament. Many interpreters, however, see this theme of the "water of life" continuing in the "rivers of living water" of John 7:38 and the "pure river of water of life" of Revelation 22:1–2.

Interpretation and Points of Debate

Interpreters differ in how they read Ezekiel 47.

• Literal interpretation: Interpreters who follow dispensationalism see the scene as a physical restoration of the land that will actually take place during the millennial kingdom.
• Symbolic interpretation: Other interpreters read it as a symbolic portrayal of God's presence and the Holy Spirit bringing life to what is dead.

Scholars also disagree over whether Sodom and Gomorrah lay at the southern or the northern end of the Salt Sea. The text does not specify their exact location.

Genesis 19:26 records that the wife of Lot became a pillar of salt. For this reason, salt rock formations around the Salt Sea are sometimes called "Lot's Wife," but this is a later tradition; the Bible does not identify any such site.

In the Korean Church

A sermon illustration contrasting the Salt Sea (Dead Sea) with the Sea of Galilee is widely used. According to it, Galilee is alive because it passes on the water it receives, while the Dead Sea is dead because it only receives. The illustration is commonly used to encourage generosity and service, but it is not drawn directly from the biblical text. On Holy Land pilgrimages, floating in the Dead Sea and visiting Qumran are frequently included in the itinerary.