The Covenant of Salt

Discover the deep spiritual meaning of salt in the Bible. The covenant of salt symbolizes an eternal, unchanging agreement between God and His people, rooted in salt’s preserving nature.

Covenant of Salt

1. The Function of Salt

Salt is a substance that produces a salty taste; it was used to season food and to preserve it by preventing spoilage [6] Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt, or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow? (Job 6:6, ESV). Salt was also used during sacrificial offerings [13] You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt. (Lev 2:13; Ezek 43:24, ESV) — in these cases it appears that salt was presented alongside the offering rather than simply sprinkled on it — and it was used as a medicinal antiseptic as well [4] And as for your birth, on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. (Ezek 16:4, ESV). Salt was also employed in the making of covenants, owing to its unchanging nature — its property of preventing decay and deterioration [19] All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the LORD I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. It is a covenant of salt forever before the LORD for you and for your offspring with you.” (Num 18:19, ESV).

2. Salt According to Tradition

According to tradition, the parties who concluded a covenant, or the representatives of two nations entering into an agreement, would share a meal featuring salted meat as the main dish, thereby deepening the mutual trust between both sides. In this sense, a “covenant of salt” refers to an “eternal covenant” — one that can never be altered or broken. In other words, because salt is a substance characterized by immutability, permanence, and preservation, the expression emphasizes that the covenant is “everlasting and unalterable.” Historically, Abijah king of Judah, who went to war against Jeroboam of northern Israel, proclaimed to King Jeroboam — who had broken away from the Davidic dynasty and established the northern kingdom — that God had given the kingship to David and his sons “by a covenant of salt forever” [5] Ought you not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt? (2 Chr 13:5, ESV). In this way, salt was commonly used in the ancient world when covenants were made [13] You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt. (Lev 2:13, ESV).

3. Why Salt Was Used

1) Because of its unchanging nature. That is, the covenant of salt was made out of a desire for the agreement between two parties to endure for a long time.

2) Because of its property of inhibiting the activity of leaven (yeast). Leaven, in fact, symbolizes corruption and rebellion, whereas salt is a substance that implies faithfulness — a refusal to allow anything to corrupt the mutual trust between the parties involved.

3) Because of its property of symbolizing complete destruction. Salt also functions to halt the productive capacity of living things. Embedded in this is a warning message: if the covenant were to be broken, the offending party, along with his family and his land, would utterly fail to bear fruit and would be destroyed — just like a living thing upon which salt has been scattered.

Source: Dictionary of Biblical Cultural Background

salt covenant, Bible exposition, Old Testament, covenant theology, eternal promise

Originally published in Korean at bible2u.com