Leviticus 2:13
You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.
English Standard Version (ESV)
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The text emphasizes not just the presence of salt, but specifically "the salt of the covenant with your God." This highlights that the salt wasn't just for preservation or flavor, but a vital reminder of the enduring and incorruptible nature of God's promises and the sincere fidelity required in His worship.
This instruction comes after detailing specific grain and first-fruits offerings, which were meant to be pure and uncorrupted. The absence of leaven and honey was emphasized to avoid impurity. Now, the Law mandates that salt, symbolizing purity and the enduring nature of God's covenant, must be added to all these offerings.
What does it mean to have something 'lack' from your offering? Leviticus 2:13 reveals that salt was essential, not just for flavor, but for a profound spiritual meaning.
Salt in ancient Israelite culture was far more than a seasoning. It was a powerful symbol:
The grain offering (or 'meat offering' as it's sometimes translated) was a specific type of sacrifice. But Leviticus 2:13 insists salt is needed for ALL offerings.
This verse expands the requirement of salt beyond just the grain offerings:
Understand the original words
melaḥ · Hebrew Noun
A preservative and seasoning agent, symbolizing durability, purity, and faithfulness. In the context of a covenant, it signifies an incorruptible and permanent bond between God and His people.
berīth · Hebrew Noun
A solemn, binding agreement between God and His people, often involving promises and responsibilities; it signifies a relationship of mutual loyalty and commitment.
Jesus directly references this Levitical practice, applying the concept of being 'salted with fire' to the purification and preservation of believers through trials.
This passage explicitly calls the priesthood a 'covenant of salt,' highlighting salt's symbolic connection to an everlasting, unbreakable covenant between God and His people.
Ezekiel 43:24This later prophetic passage continues the sacrificial use of salt, showing that its symbolic meaning of purity and covenant faithfulness carried through to the vision of future worship.
Colossians 4:6Paul uses the imagery of 'seasoned with salt' to describe believers' speech, connecting the preservative and savory qualities of salt to the way Christians should communicate.
clarkeLeviticus 2:13: "And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt."
With all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt - Salt was the opposite to leaven, for it preserved from putrefaction and corruption, and signified the purity and persevering fidelity that were necessary in the worship of God. Every thing was seasoned with it, to s…
jfbLeviticus 2:13: "And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt."
- every … meat offering shalt thou season with salt—The same reasons which led to the prohibition of leaven, recommended the use of salt—if the one soon putrefies, the other possesses a strongly preservative property, and hence it became an emblem of incorruptio…
The text emphasizes not just the presence of salt, but specifically "the salt of the covenant with your God." This highlights that the salt wasn't just for preservation or flavor, but a vital reminder of the enduring and incorruptible nature of God's promises and the sincere fidelity required in His worship.
This instruction comes after detailing specific grain and first-fruits offerings, which were meant to be pure and uncorrupted. The absence of leaven and honey was emphasized to avoid impurity. Now, the Law mandates that salt, symbolizing purity and the enduring nature of God's covenant, must be added to all these offerings.
This instruction comes after detailing specific grain and first-fruits offerings, which were meant to be pure and uncorrupted. The absence of leaven and honey was emphasized to avoid impurity. Now, the Law mandates that salt, symbolizing purity and the enduring nature of God's covenant, must be added to all these offerings.
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"You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt." — The text emphasizes not just the presence of salt, but specifically "the salt of the covenant with your God." This highlights that the salt wasn't just for preservation or flavor, but a vital reminde…
