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 ¹  forever before the Lord for you and for your descendants with you.”

Numbers 25:18

25:18 because they bring trouble to you by their treachery with which they have deceived ²  you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, ³  their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague that happened as a result of Peor.”

[18:19]  ¹ 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.

[25:18]  ² tn This is the same word as that translated “treachery.”

[25:18]  ³ sn Cozbi’s father, Zur, was one of five Midianite kings who eventually succumbed to Israel (Num 31:8). When the text gives the name and family of a woman, it is asserting that she is important, at least for social reasons, among her people.