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Summary
- In the Bible, salt stands for what lasts: God calls a lasting promise “a covenant of salt for ever” (Numbers 18:19; 2 Chronicles 13:5), and the Law put salt on every offering: “with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt” (Leviticus 2:13).
- The word “salt” appears 41 times in a printed King James Bible: 40 times in 34 verses, nine of them naming the Salt Sea (the Dead Sea), and once in the title of Psalm 60.
- Salt also marks barren land and judgment: Abimelech “sowed it with salt” (Judges 9:45), and Lot’s wife “became a pillar of salt” (Genesis 19:26).
- Elisha cast salt into Jericho’s spring, but the healing came by God’s word: “I have healed these waters” (2 Kings 2:21).
- No verse tells anyone to use salt for protection; the Catholic Church blesses salt as a sacramental and calls magical use of such signs superstition (Catechism 1670, 2111).
- Jesus calls his disciples “the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13), and Paul asks for speech “seasoned with salt” (Colossians 4:6).
Bibliography (Click to show)
- The Holy Bible, King James Version (public domain), from BibleGateway: Genesis 8:16 (Reina-Valera 1960 wording only); Genesis 14:3; 19:17, 24, 26; Leviticus 2:13; Numbers 18:19; Deuteronomy 29:23; Judges 9:45; 2 Samuel 8:13; 2 Kings 2:19–22; 14:7; 1 Chronicles 18:12; 2 Chronicles 13:5; Ezra 4:14; 6:9; 7:22; Job 6:6; Psalm 60 (title, from Bible Hub); Jeremiah 17:6; Ezekiel 16:4; 43:24; 47:11; Matthew 5:13; Mark 9:49–50; Luke 14:34–35; 17:30–33; Colossians 4:6.
- Word counts: King James Version, Project Gutenberg eBook #10; Reina-Valera 1960 and Almeida Revista e Corrigida from the thiagobodruk/bible texts; counted 20 October 2026.
- James A. Patch, “Salt,” International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, ed. James Orr (1915, 1939 edition).
- Edward Bagby Pollard, “Covenant of Salt,” International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.
- E. W. G. Masterman, “Salt, Valley of,” International Standard Bible Encyclopedia; and “Salt Sea,” same work.
- Keil and Delitzsch, Ellicott, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown and the Cambridge Bible on Ezra 4:14, Bible Hub commentaries.
- Barnes’ Notes, Ellicott, Benson and Meyer on Matthew 5:13, Bible Hub commentaries.
- Francis Mershman, “Salt,” The Catholic Encyclopedia (1912), republished by Catholic Answers.
- Augustine, Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, Book I, chapter 6, and Confessions, Book I, chapter 11, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (New Advent).
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1667–1673, and paragraphs 2110–2111 (vatican.va).
- The exorcism of salt in the blessing of water, Rituale Romanum, Latin and English, Prayers in Latin.
- Edward McNamara, “Exorcism of Salt and Water,” ZENIT, 21 February 2012 (EWTN).
- Yehuda Shurpin, “Why Do We Dip the Challah Bread in Salt?,” Chabad.org.
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