Talk:Salt

Covenant of Salt?
This sentence is marked as needing a better source:
 * In the Middle East, salt was used to ceremonially seal an agreement, and the ancient Hebrews made a "covenant of salt" with God and sprinkled salt on their offerings to show their trust in him.

There is wording about sprinkling grain offerings with salt, in Leviticus 2:11-13 (and a covenant is mentioned), but the text does not give any reason why salt was used in this context. The phrase "covenant of salt" also occurs elsewhere, e.g., in 2 Chr 13 (in reference to an entirely different covenant), but again there is no detailed explanation of what the salt signifies. In the absense of any reliable source for the interpretation, I propose that we de-editorialize the content as follows:


 * In the Middle East, salt was used ceremonially, e.g., the ancient Hebrews made a "covenant of salt" with God, sprinkling salt on their grain offerings to him.

It's _interesting_ to speculate about why the salt was used and what it meant, but this is an encyclopedia and as such not the correct venue for such speculation. The mere fact that salt was used, does seem germaine to the article, as it is an indicator of salt's cultural importance. --Jonadab, 2021 Nov 3

Edit request: grammatical error
Second to last sentence in second to last paragraph of first section: "such as sea salt and table salt, which latter usually contains" -> "such as sea salt and table salt, the latter of which usually contains" (bolding mine) ReidLeek (talk) 16:57, 29 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Fixed. Thanks for picking that up. HiLo48 (talk) 22:50, 29 December 2023 (UTC)

Some changes to the Religion section
I have just rewritten a paragraph about uses in the Bible and in Christianity in the "In religion" section. The edit itself is here: Special:diff/1235024798 and the old and new versions are added below for reference.

First of all, the paragraph said that there are 35 verses mentioning salt in the Hebrew Bible, sourced to a search results page in an online version of the King James Version. This is problematic for several reasons: the Hebrew Bible and the KJV are not the same text; there is an implied claim that the English word "salt" is represented in exactly 35 verses in the Hebrew source text; carrying out a text search and presenting the result is original research.

Secondly, the inclusion of multiple Bible verses with details about book, chapter and verse came across as WP:UNDUE, especially as there is an article about Salt in the Bible. I removed one of the instances and the mentions of specific chapters and verses; I think the remaining mentions are relevant because they cover different uses of the term.

Thirdly, the paragraph combined the salt-in-the-Bible discussion with a discussion of uses in Christian rites. I split the paragraph, since only the New Testament instance is specifically relevant to Christianity.

I also intend to merge content from Thursday salt into the Christian rites paragraph (which is why I started looking at it more closely). --bonadea contributions talk 10:29, 17 July 2024 (UTC)


 * Great change! Suriname0 (talk) 14:37, 17 July 2024 (UTC)

In the Hebrew Bible, there are thirty-five verses which mention salt. One of these mentions Lot's wife, who was turned into a pillar of salt when she looked back at the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:26) as they were destroyed. When the judge Abimelech destroyed the city of Shechem, he is said to have "sown salt on it," probably as a curse on anyone who would re-inhabit it (Judges 9:45). The Book of Job contains the first mention of salt as a condiment. "Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?" (Job 6:6). In the New Testament, six verses mention salt. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus referred to his followers as the "salt of the earth". The apostle Paul also encouraged Christians to "let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt" (Colossians 4:6). Salt is mandatory in the rite of the Tridentine Mass. Salt is used in the third item (which includes an Exorcism) of the Celtic Consecration (cf. Gallican Rite) that is employed in the consecration of a church. Salt may be added to the water "where it is customary" in the Roman Catholic rite of Holy water.

In the Bible, there are multiple mentions of salt, both of the mineral itself and as a metaphor. Uses in the Hebrew Bible include the tale of how Lot's wife is turned into a pillar of salt when looking back at the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah as they are destroyed. The judge Abimelech is described as salting the earth after the destruction of the city of Shechem, probably as a curse on anyone who would re-inhabit it. The Book of Job mentions salt as a condiment. "Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?". In the New Testament, Jesus refers to his followers as the "salt of the earth".

Salt plays a role within different Christian traditions. It is mandatory in the rite of the Tridentine Mass. Salt is used in the third item (which includes an Exorcism) of the Celtic Consecration (cf. Gallican Rite) that is employed in the consecration of a church, and it may be added to the water "where it is customary" in the Roman Catholic rite of Holy water.