² tn Heb “sowed it with salt.”

³ sn The Salt Sea is another name for the Dead Sea.

¹ sn The Salt Sea is another name for the Dead Sea.

¹ tn Aram “we eat the salt of the palace.”

³ tn Heb “gather mallow,” a plant which grows in salt marshes.

¹ tn Grk “Now salt…”; here οὖν has not been translated.

³ sn The Salt Sea is the older name for the Dead Sea.

³ sn The Salt Sea is an ancient name for the Dead Sea.

¹ sn The Salt Sea is another name for the Dead Sea (also in v. 5).

¹ tn Heb “and Amaziah strengthened himself and led his people and went to the Valley of Salt.”

³ sn The Salt Sea is another name for the Dead Sea (cf. Gen 14:3; Josh 3:16).

³ tn Heb “the [waters] descending toward the sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) were completely cut off.”

¹ tn Heb “Their southern border was from the end of the Salt Sea, from the tongue that faces to the south.”

¹ sn For other references to a “covenant of salt,” see Lev 2:13 and Num 18:19.

² sn Arab midwives still cut the umbilical cords of infants and then proceed to apply salt and oil to their bodies.

¹ sn It is likely that salt was used with sacrificial meals (Num 18:19; 2 Chr 13:5).

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.

¹ sn The sea of the Arabah refers to the Dead Sea, also known as the Salt Sea in OT times (cf. Deut 3:17).

² sn The difficulty of this saying is understanding how salt could lose its flavor since its chemical properties cannot change. It is thus often assumed that Jesus was referring to chemically impure salt, perhaps a natural salt which, when exposed to the elements, had all the genuine salt leached out, leaving only the sediment or impurities behind. Others have suggested that the background of the saying is the use of salt blocks by Arab bakers to line the floor of their ovens; under the intense heat these blocks would eventually crystallize and undergo a change in chemical composition, finally being thrown out as unserviceable. A saying in the Talmud (b. Bekhorot 8b) attributed to R. Joshua ben Chananja (ca. a.d. 90), when asked the question “When salt loses its flavor, how can it be made salty again?” is said to have replied, “By salting it with the afterbirth of a mule.” He was then asked, “Then does the mule (being sterile) bear young?” to which he replied: “Can salt lose its flavor?” The point appears to be that both are impossible. The saying, while admittedly late, suggests that culturally the loss of flavor by salt was regarded as an impossibility. Genuine salt can never lose its flavor. In this case the saying by Jesus here may be similar to Matt 19:24, where it is likewise impossible for the camel to go through the eye of a sewing needle.

² sn The difficulty of this saying is understanding how salt could lose its saltiness since its chemical properties cannot change. It is thus often assumed that Jesus was referring to chemically impure salt, perhaps a natural salt which, when exposed to the elements, had all the genuine salt leached out, leaving only the sediment or impurities behind. Others have suggested the background of the saying is the use of salt blocks by Arab bakers to line the floor of their ovens: Under the intense heat these blocks would eventually crystallize and undergo a change in chemical composition, finally being thrown out as unserviceable. A saying in the Talmud (b. Bekhorot 8b) attributed to R. Joshua ben Chananja (ca. a.d. 90), when asked the question “When salt loses its flavor, how can it be made salty again?” is said to have replied, “By salting it with the afterbirth of a mule.” He was then asked, “Then does the mule (being sterile) bear young?” to which he replied: “Can salt lose its flavor?” The point appears to be both are impossible. The saying, while admittedly late, suggests that culturally the loss of flavor by salt was regarded as an impossibility. Genuine salt can never lose its flavor. In this case the saying by Jesus here may be similar to Matt 19:24, where it is likewise impossible for the camel to go through the eye of a sewing needle.