Leviticus 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.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
oblation	קָרְבַּ֣ן ka.re.Ban	H7133	something brought near the altar · noun, common masculine singular construct
offering	מִנְחָתְךָ֮ min.cha.te.Kha	H4503	a donation · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
season	תִּמְלָח֒ tim.Lach	H4414	properly · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
salt	בַּמֶּ֣לַח ba.Me.lach	H4417	properly · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
salt	מֶ֚לַח Me.lach	H4417	properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
covenant	בְּרִ֣ית be.Rit	H1285	a compact (because made by passing between pieces of fl… · noun, common feminine singular construct
God	אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ 'e.lo.Hei.kha	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
lacking	תַשְׁבִּ֗ית tash.Bit	H7673	to repose · verb, hiphil imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
offering	מִנְחָתֶ֑ךָ min.cha.Te.kha	H4503	a donation · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
offerings	קָרְבָּנְךָ֖ ka.re.ba.ne.Cha	H7133	something brought near the altar · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
offer	תַּקְרִ֥יב tak.Riv	H7126	to approach (causatively · verb, hiphil imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
salt	מֶֽלַח Me.lach	H4417	properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Ezekiel 43:24 And thou shalt offer them before the LORD, and the priests shall cast salt upon them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt offering unto…
Matthew 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to…
Colossians 4:6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
Mark 9:49-50 For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.
Numbers 18:19 All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the LORD, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daught…
2 Chronicles 13:5 Ought ye not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant o…
Ezra 7:22 Unto an hundred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of oil, and…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Leviticus 2:11–end

Here, I. Leaven and honey are forbidden to be put in any of their meat-offerings: No leaven, nor any honey, in any offering made by fire, Lev 2:11. 1. The leaven was forbidden in remembrance of the unleavened bread they ate when they came out of Egypt. So much despatch was required in the offerings they made that it was not convenient they should stay for the leavening of them. The New Testament comparing pride and hypocrisy to leaven because they swell like leaven, comparing also malice and wickedness to leaven because they sour like leaven, we are to understand and improve this as a caution to take heed of those sins which will certainly spoil the acceptableness of our spiritual sacrifices…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Leviticus 2:13

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 incorruption and purity, as well as of a perpetual covenant--a perfect reconciliation and lasting friendship. No injunction in the whole law was more sacredly observed than this application of salt; for besides other uses of it that will be noticed elsewhere, it had a typical meaning referred to by our Lord concerning the effect of the Gospel on those who embrace it (Mar 9:49-50); as when plentifully applied it preserves meat from spoiling,…

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Adam Clarke on Leviticus 2:13

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 signify the purity and perfection that should be extended through every part of the Divine service, and through the hearts and lives of God's worshippers. It was called the salt of the covenant of God, because as salt is incorruptible, so was the covenant made with Abram, Isaac, Jacob, and the patriarchs, relative to the redemption of the world by the incarnation and death of Jesus Christ. Among the heathens salt was a common ingredi…

The Church Fathers

Salt is good, and every offering must be sprinkled with it. Therefore also the apostle has given the commandment: "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt." But "if the salt have lost his savor," it is cast out.
— Jerome, LETTER 125.1

For just as flesh, if it be not sprinkled with salt, however great and choice it be, is corrupted, so also the soul, unless it be in some way salted with continual temptations, immediately is dissolved and grows slack. Whence it is clear that on this account it was said that "every sacrifice shall be salted with salt."
— Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON NUMBERS 27.12

Hence in Leviticus every gift, unless it is seasoned with salt, is forbidden to be offered as an oblation to the Lord God. Now the whole spiritual meditation of the Scriptures is given to us as salt which stings in order to benefit and which disinfects. Without [this] it is impossible for a soul, by means of reason, to be brought to the Almighty; for "you are the salt of the earth," said the Lord to the apostles.
— Methodius of Olympus, BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS 1.1

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Bread — Among the Jews was generally made of wheat (Ex. 29:2; Judg. 6:19), though also sometimes of other grains (Gen. 14:18; Judg. 7:13). Parched grain was sometimes used for food without any other…
Cake — Cakes made of wheat or barley were offered in the temple. They were salted, but unleavened (Ex. 29:2; Lev. 2:4). In idolatrous worship thin cakes or wafers were offered “to the queen of heaven” (Jer.…
Covenant — A contract or agreement between two parties. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word berith is always thus translated. Berith is derived from a root which means “to cut,” and hence a covenant is a…
Law of Moses — Is the whole body of the Mosaic legislation (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 23:25; Ezra 3:2). It is called by way of eminence simply “the Law” (Heb. Torah, Deut. 1:5; 4:8, 44; 17:18, 19; 27:3, 8). As a written…
Meat-offering — (Heb. minhah), originally a gift of any kind. This Hebrew word came latterly to denote an “unbloody” sacrifice, as opposed to a “bloody” sacrifice. A “drink-offering” generally accompanied it. The…
Salt — Used to season food (Job 6:6), and mixed with the fodder of cattle (Isa. 30:24, “clean;” in marg. of R.V. “salted”). All meat-offerings were seasoned with salt (Lev. 2:13). To eat salt with one is to…
Covenant · By salting — By salting
First Fruits · required as an offering — required as an offering
Meat Offerings · Always seasoned with salt — Always seasoned with salt
Offerings · .Salted — .Salted
Sacrifices · Were salted with salt — Were salted with salt

Leviticus 2:13

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Leviticus 2:11–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Leviticus 2:13

Adam Clarke on Leviticus 2:13

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Leviticus 2:13

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Leviticus 2:11–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Leviticus 2:13

Adam Clarke on Leviticus 2:13

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Leviticus 2:13

John Calvin on Leviticus 2:13

Keil & Delitzsch on Leviticus 2:12-13

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Leviticus 2:13

Rashi on Leviticus 2:13