SALT

Used to season food (Job 6:6), and mixed with the fodder of cattle (Isa. 30:24, “clean;” in marg. of R.V. “salted”). All meat-offerings were seasoned with salt (Lev. 2:13). To eat salt with one is to partake of his hospitality, to derive subsistence from him; and hence he who did so was bound to look after his host’s interests (Ezra 4:14, “We have maintenance from the king’s palace;” A.V. marg., “We are salted with the salt of the palace;” R.V., “We eat the salt of the palace”). A “covenant of salt” (Num. 18:19; 2 Chr. 13:5) was a covenant of perpetual obligation. New-born children were rubbed with salt (Ezek. 16:4). Disciples are likened unto salt, with reference to its cleansing and preserving uses (Matt. 5:13). When Abimelech took the city of Shechem, he sowed the place with salt, that it might always remain a barren soil (Judg. 9:45). Sir Lyon Playfair argues, on scientific grounds, that under the generic name of “salt,” in certain passages, we are to understand petroleum or its residue asphalt. Thus in Gen. 19:26 he would read “pillar of asphalt;” and in Matt. 5:13, instead of “salt,” “petroleum,” which loses its essence by exposure, as salt does not, and becomes asphalt, with which pavements were made. The Jebel Usdum, to the south of the Dead Sea, is a mountain of rock salt about 7 miles long and from 2 to 3 miles wide and some hundreds of feet high.

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 beset, (Isaiah 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. (Leviticus 2:13) They possessed an inexhaustible and ready supply of it on the southern shores of the Dead Sea. [Sea, The Salt, 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,” (Leviticus 2:13; Numbers 18:19; 2 Chronicles 13:5) as betokening an indissoluble alliance between friends; and again the expression “salted with the salt of the palace.” (Ezra 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.

SALT is abundant in Palestine. The famous Jehel Usdum is substantially a mountain of rock-salt about 7 miles long, from 1 1/2 to 3 miles wide, and several hundred feet high. This ridge, almost entirely composed of this mineral, extends to the south from the south-west corner of the Dead Sea. Besides the rock-salt to be obtained from this ridge and its vicinity, the Jews used, and preferred for domestic purposes, salt obtained by evaporation from the waters of the Mediterranean and Dead Seas. On the eastern shore of the latter it is found in lumps often more than a foot thick, in places which the lake had overflowed in the rainy season. The stones on the shore are covered with an incrustation of lime or gypsum. Branches and twigs which fall into the water from the bushes become encased in salt; and if a piece of wood is thrown in, it soon acquires a bark or rind of salt. From this fact some have attempted to explain the transformation of Lot's wife into a pillar of salt. Gen 19:26; while others suppose that the expression is figurative, denoting that she was made an everlasting monument of divine displeasure (salt being an emblem of perpetuity), and others still think that she was miraculously transformed into a solid column of salt. At the south-western extremity of the Dead Sea there is a plain of considerable extent east of Jebel Usdum, the soil of which is entirely covered with salt, without the slightest trace of vegetation. This is believed by Robinson to be the "valley" (or plain) "of salt," where David's army vanquished the Edomites, 2 Sam 8:13; 1 Chr 18:12; 2 Chr 25:11. By the "salt-pits," Zeph 2:9, we are not to understand quarries from which rock-salt is extracted, but such pits as the Arabs, even at this day, make upon the shore of the Dead Sea, in order that they may be filled when the spring freshets raise the waters of the lake. When the water evaporates, it leaves in the pits a salt crust about an inch thick, which furnishes the salt used throughout the country. Pits of this sort seem to be alluded to in Eze 47:11. In Josh 15:62 a "city of salt" is mentioned, in the neighborhood of the Dead Sea. The uses of salt are sufficiently known. Most food would be insipid without it. Job 6:6. Salt being thus essential to the enjoyment of food, the word was used to denote the subsistence which a person obtained in the service of another. Thus, in Ezr 4:14, the words translated "we have maintenance from the king's palace" are in the original "we salt" (or are salted) "with the salt of the palace." And even now, among the Persians and East Indians, to "eat the salt" of any one is to be in his employment. Salt was also used in sacrifices. Lev 2:13; Mark 9:49. In the last passage reference is had to the perpetuity of suffering. New-born children were rubbed with salt. Eze 16:4. Salt, as a preservative from corruption, symbolized durability, fidelity, and purity. Hence an indissoluble and perpetual covenant is called a "covenant of salt." Num 18:19; Lev 2:13; 2 Chr 13:5. The idea of sacred obligation to the king is involved in the above quotation from Ezra. Among the modern Arabs, to "eat salt" with any one is a pledge of perpetual and mutual friendship. No plants can germinate in a soil covered with salt. Hence a "salt land" is an unfruitful, desert land. Jer 17:6. Salt was also used as a visible emblem of sterility. When Abimelech took Shechem, Jud 9:45, he "beat down the city and sowed it with salt," as a token that it should continue desolate. In like manner, the emperor Frederick Barbarossa, when he destroyed Milan, in the year 1162, caused the ground to be ploughed and strewed with salt. On the other hand, as salt renders food savorv, it is employed as an emblem of holy life and conversation. Mark 9:50; Col 4:6. In Matt 5:13, Christ calls his disciples "the salt of the earth" - i.e., of mankind, because the latter was to be enlightened and purified by their agency and preserved for their sake. There is reference in the remainder of the verse to the fact that, as Oriental salt often contains mineral impurities, by exposure to rain or dampness this material may lose its savor or valuable part, and become "good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men."

SALT, VAL'LEY OF, more accurately a "ravine," and the battlefield between Judah and Edom, It is five times mentioned in Scripture in connection with two remarkable victories of the Israelites. That of David over the Edomites when 18,000 of them were slain. 2 Sam 8:13; 1 Chr 13:12; and compare the title to Ps 60. The victory of Amaziah, who slew 10,000 Edomites and hurled 10,000 more over the "rock" (Petra). 2 Kgs 14:7; 2 Chr 25:11. It has been proposed to locate this valley near the salt mountain Jebel Usdum, in the plains south of the Salt Sea: but Grove objects to this, and holds that "salt" is not necessarily the right translation of the Hebrew melach, and infers that Amaziah brought his prisoners to Selah (margin, "the rock," or Petra); hence that he would scarcely carry so many prisoners for 50 miles through a hostile country. It would seem more likely, therefore, that the Valley of Salt was in Edom, near to Petra.

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. The chloride of sodium, a substance used for seasoning food, for the preservation of meat, etc. It is found native in the earth, and is also produced, by evaporation and crystallization, from sea water and other water impregnated with saline particles.

2. Hence, flavor; taste; savor; smack; seasoning. Though we are justices and doctors and churchmen . . . we have some salt of our youth in us. Shak.

3. Hence, also, piquancy; wit; sense; as, Attic salt.

4. A dish for salt at table; a saltcellar. I out and bought some things; among others, a dozen of silver salts. Pepys.

5. A sailor; -- usually qualified by old. [Colloq.] Around the door are generally to be seen, laughing and gossiping, clusters of old salts. Hawthorne.

6. The neutral compound formed by the union of an acid base; thus, sulphuric acid and iron form the salt sulphate of iron or green vitriol.

7. Fig.: That which preserves from corruption or error; that which purifies; a corrective; an antiseptic; also, an allowance or deduction; as, his statements must be taken with a grain of salt. Ye are the salt of the earth. Matt. v. 13.

8. Any mineral salt used as an aperient or cathartic, especially Epsom salts, Rochelle salt, or Glauber's salt.

9. Marches flooded by the tide. [Prov. Eng.] Above the salt, Below the salt, phrases which have survived the old custom, in the houses of people of rank, of placing a large saltcellar near the middle of a long table, the places above which were assigned to the guests of distinction, and those below to dependents, inferiors, and poor relations. See Saltfoot. His fashion is not to take knowledge of him that is beneath him in clothes. He never drinks below the salt. B. Jonson. -- Acid salt (Chem.) (a) A salt derived from an acid which has several replaceable hydrogen atoms which are only partially exchanged for metallic atoms or basic radicals; as, acid potassium sulphate is an acid salt. (b) A salt, whatever its constitution, which merely gives an acid reaction; thus, copper sulphate, which is composed of a strong acid united with a weak base, is an acid salt in this sense, though theoretically it is a neutral salt. -- Alkaline salt (Chem.), a salt which gives an alkaline reaction, as sodium carbonate. -- Amphid salt (Old Chem.), a salt of the oxy type, formerly regarded as composed of two oxides, an acid and a basic oxide. [Obsolescent] -- Basic salt (Chem.) (a) A salt which contains more of the basic constituent than is required to neutralize the acid. (b) An alkaline salt. -- Binary salt (Chem.), a salt of the oxy type conveniently regarded as composed of two ingredients (analogously to a haloid salt), viz., a metal and an acid radical. -- Double salt (Chem.), a salt regarded as formed by the union of two distinct salts, as common alum, potassium aluminium sulphate. See under Double. -- Epsom salts. See in the Vocabulary. -- Essential salt (Old Chem.), a salt obtained by crystalizing plant juices. -- Ethereal salt. (Chem.) See under Ethereal. -- Glauber's salt or salts. See in Vocabulary. -- Haloid salt (Chem.), a simple salt of a halogen acid, as sodium chloride. -- Microcosmic salt. (Chem.). See under Microcosmic. -- Neutral salt. (Chem.) (a A salt in which the acid and base (in theory) neutralize each other. (b) A salt which gives a neutral reaction. -- Oxy salt (Chem.), a salt derived from an oxygen acid. -- Per salt (Old Chem.), a salt supposed to be derived from a peroxide base or analogous compound. [Obs.] -- Permanent salt, a salt which undergoes no change on exposure to the air. -- Proto salt (Chem.), a salt derived from a protoxide base or analogous compound. -- Rochelle salt. See under Rochelle. -- Salt of amber (Old Chem.), succinic acid. -- Salt of colcothar (Old Chem.), green vitriol, or sulphate of iron. -- Salt of hartshorn. (Old Chem.) (a) Sal ammoniac, or ammonium chloride. (b) Ammonium carbonate. Cf. Spirit of hartshorn, under Hartshorn. -- Salt of lemons. (Chem.) See Salt of sorrel, below. -- Salt of Saturn (Old Chem.), sugar of lead; lead acetate; -- the alchemical of lead being Saturn. -- Salt of Seignette. Same as Rochelle salt. -- Salt of soda (Old Chem.), sodium carbonate. -- Salt of sorrel (Old Chem.), acid potassium oxalate, or potassium quadroxalate, used as a solvent for ink stains; -- so called because found in the sorrel, or Oxalis. Also sometimes inaccurately called salt of lemon. -- Salt of tartar (Old Chem.), potassium carbonate; -- so called because formerly made by heating cream of tartar, or potassium tartrate. [Obs.] -- Salt of Venus (Old Chem.), blue vitriol; copper sulphate; -- the alchemical name of copper being Venus. -- Salt of wisdom. See Alembroth. -- Sedative salt (Old Med. Chem.), boric acid. -- Sesqui salt (Chem.), a salt derived from a sesquioxide base or analogous compound. -- Spirit of salt. (Chem.) See under Spirit. -- Sulpho salt (Chem.), a salt analogous to an oxy salt, but containing sulphur in place of oxygen.

Part of speech: noun (n.)

The act of leaping or jumping; a leap. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

Part of speech: verb (v.)

1. To sprinkle, impregnate, or season with salt; to preserve with salt or in brine; to supply with salt; as, to salt fish, beef, or pork; to salt cattle.

2. To fill with salt between the timbers and planks, as a ship, for the preservation of the timber. To salt a mine, to artfully deposit minerals in a mine in order to deceive purchasers regarding its value. [Cant] -- To salt away, To salt down, to prepare with, or pack in, salt for preserving, as meat, eggs, etc.; hence, colloquially, to save, lay up, or invest sagely, as money.

Part of speech: verb (v.)

To deposit salt as a saline solution; as, the brine begins to salt.

Part of speech: adjective (a.)

1. Of or relating to salt; abounding in, or containing, salt; prepared or preserved with, or tasting of, salt; salted; as, salt beef; salt water. "Salt tears." Chaucer.

2. Overflowed with, or growing in, salt water; as, a salt marsh; salt grass.

3. Fig.: Bitter; sharp; pungent. I have a salt and sorry rheum offends me. Shak.

4. Fig.: Salacious; lecherous; lustful. Shak. Salt acid (Chem.), hydrochloric acid. -- Salt block, an apparatus for evaporating brine; a salt factory. Knight. -- Salt bottom, a flat piece of ground covered with saline efforescences. [Western U.S.] bartlett. -- Salt cake (Chem.), the white caked mass, consisting of sodium sulphate, which is obtained as the product of the first stage in the manufacture of soda, according to Leblanc's process. -- Salt fish. (a) Salted fish, especially cod, haddock, and similar fishes that have been salted and dried for food. (b) A marine fish. -- Salt garden, an arrangement for the natural evaporation of sea water for the production of salt, employing large shallow basins excavated near the seashore. -- Salt gauge, an instrument used to test the strength of brine; a salimeter. -- Salt horse, salted beef. [Slang] -- Salt junk, hard salt beef for use at sea. [Slang] -- Salt lick. See Lick, n. -- Salt marsh, grass land subject to the overflow of salt water. -- Salt-marsh caterpillar (Zoöl.), an American bombycid moth (Spilosoma acreæ which is very destructive to the salt-marsh grasses and to other crops. Called also wooly bear. See Illust. under Moth, Pupa, and Woolly bear, under Woolly. -- Salt-marsh fleabane (Bot.), a strong-scented composite herb (Pluchea camphorata) with rayless purplish heads, growing in salt marshes. -- Salt-marsh hen (Zoöl.), the clapper rail. See under Rail. -- Salt-marsh terrapin (Zoöl.), the diamond-back. -- Salt mine, a mine where rock salt is obtained. -- Salt pan. (a) A large pan used for making salt by evaporation; also, a shallow basin in the ground where salt water is evaporated by the heat of the sun. (b) pl. Salt works. -- Salt pit, a pit where salt is obtained or made. -- Salt rising, a kind of yeast in which common salt is a principal ingredient. [U.S.] -- Salt raker, one who collects salt in natural salt ponds, or inclosures from the sea. -- Salt sedative (Chem.), boracic acid. [Obs.] -- Salt spring, a spring of salt water. -- Salt tree (Bot.), a small leguminous tree (Halimodendron argenteum) growing in the salt plains of the Caspian region and in Siberia. -- Salt water, water impregnated with salt, as that of the ocean and of certain seas and lakes; sometimes, also tears. Mine eyes are full of tears, I can not see; And yet salt water blinds them not so much But they can see a sort of traitors here. Shak. -- Salt-water sailor, an ocean mariner. -- Salt-water tailor. (Zoöl.) See Bluefish.