Numbers 34:3

34:3 your southern border ¹  will extend from the wilderness of Zin along the Edomite border, and your southern border will run eastward to the extremity of the Salt Sea,

Numbers 34:12

34:12 Then the border will continue down the Jordan River ²  and its direction will be to the Salt Sea. This will be your land by its borders that surround it.’”

Numbers 18:19

18:19 All the raised offerings of the holy things that the Israelites offer to the Lord, I have given to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual ordinance. It is a covenant of salt ³  forever before the Lord for you and for your descendants with you.”

¹ tn The expression refers to the corner or extremity of the Negev, the South.

² tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

³ sn Salt was used in all the offerings; its importance as a preservative made it a natural symbol for the covenant which was established by sacrifice. Even general agreements were attested by sacrifice, and the phrase “covenant of salt” speaks of such agreements as binding and irrevocable. Note the expression in Ezra 4:14, “we have been salted with the salt of the palace.” See further J. F. Ross, IDB 4:167.