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Salt in the Bible: The Symbolic Meaning and More

Most believers, especially those who have been in church for several years, know that salt features quite prominently in the Bible.

It’s mentioned often, and one of Jesus’ most famous sayings was that we are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13). We might even have some vague idea of what the symbol of salt means in the Bible.

But salt is a far more prominent symbol than most of us think. It has more than one meaning and interpretation, depending on the context in which it is used. Let’s take a closer look at what the Bible says about salt and how it applies to us today.

Salt in the Bible

Check Out: Salt of the Earth: The Bible’s Meaning to Being A Salty Christian

Salt is Long-Lasting

Chemically, salt can last forever. It never loses its flavor. This sounds contrary to what Jesus said in Matthew 5:13, but we will look at that in a moment.

What we know as salt is a mineral called sodium chloride. It occurs naturally but can also be manufactured through a chemical process.

One of its most impressive properties is that it can last forever and never loses its flavor, no matter how long it lasts. That’s why we can still buy and use salt from salt mines that have been underground for thousands of years.

We can dissolve salt in water, and the salt will disappear. Its flavor will still be in the water, though. And, if we let the water evaporate, the salt crystals will be left behind.

In this same context, we know that salt also helps preserve food items. In making pickled foods or jerky, for example, we use copious amounts of salt. It helps to preserve the food, sometimes even for years.

Some of the first mentions of salt in the Bible are all tied to God’s covenant with the people. We see it in two contexts:

  • 2 Chronicles 13:5 says that God gave the kingdom of Israel to David and his sons forever by a covenant of salt. We know that Jesus fulfilled that covenant as the Son of David and that He will rule forever. A covenant of salt is eternal.
  • In Leviticus 2:13 and Numbers 18:19, Moses tells the people of Israel to include salt in their sacrifices and offerings, calling it the “covenant of salt” and the “salt of the covenant.”

    This emphasized the value of salt, which wasn’t as easy to come by in Old Testament times as today, so the Israelites weren’t allowed to “cheapen” their sacrifices.

But it also signified that the offerings related to their eternal covenant with God, His everlasting grace for humanity, and His love, which made it possible for us to know Him and live with Him.

So, salt in the Bible often refers to an everlasting or life-long commitment, covenant, and grace. This means we can also know that God’s covenant preserves us and ensures us everlasting life.

Salt Adds Flavor

Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:13 tell us the following:

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”

Matthew 5:13 Salt Bible Verse

This was during the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus told believers what He desired from His followers and how it differed from what the Jewish religious leaders taught.

It is also mentioned just before He says we are the light of the world and should let our light shine to people to bring glory to our Father.

As salt, we are to let our flavor spread into the world. We are to influence the world, not the other way around.

People often believe that salt gives flavor, but it doesn’t really. It breaks down the cells of whatever food is prepared with it, allowing the food’s own flavor to come out and spread.

Similarly, we are to break down whatever is holding back God’s flavor in our own lives (and those around us) and allow His flavor to spread through the world, bringing people to a saving knowledge of Him.

The confusion comes in when Jesus says salt can lose its flavor since we know from science that it can’t. But Jesus wasn’t teaching chemistry; He was using a symbol to teach us His will for us.

If salt could lose its flavor, it would be ruined and useless. Similarly, we will become useless in the Kingdom of God if we ever lose the uniqueness that He gives us.

God’s covenant with us gives us this unique flavor and makes us different from the world around us.

Through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit (the Seal of the New Covenant), we will be able to spread our flavor throughout the world.

Salt Limits Natural Growth

Judges 9 tells how a man called Abimelech conspired to rule over Israel.

After three years, the people of Shechem decided to overthrow him, and Abimelech fought against the city, killing the people, after which he sowed the ground with salt.

When salt is poured over farmland, and the rains come, the salt dissolves. It removes the natural nutrients that plants need to grow, causing unnatural growth or plants that are sub-standard.

Doing this to farmland was an active attempt to stunt the city’s growth and prosperity.

But we can also see this in a positive way, especially since we also have the example of Matthew 5.

Since we are salt, we are to limit the growth of our human nature, the fruit that would come naturally if we weren’t born again.

We would not be able to do this without the New Covenant and everything God has given us by grace.

Salt Purifies

In 2 Kings 2:19-21, we see that the people who lived in Jericho approached the prophet Elisha because the water in the city was bad, making the land unfruitful. Elisha asked for a bowl of salt to be given to him.

He threw the salt into the spring of water, then prophesied over it that God had healed the water and no death or miscarriage would come from it.

This was obviously a prophetic act and miracle since a bowl of salt could not scientifically have such an impact on an entire spring of water.

But it shows us another significant meaning of salt in the Bible: purification and healing.

Ezekiel 36:22-28 prophesies about the new covenant and how God would put His Spirit in us. Within this context, we see in verse 25 that God says He will purify us and cleanse us from all uncleanness.

So, yet again, salt is closely tied to God’s covenant with His people, including all the benefits of the covenant.

What Does This Mean for Us?

Every benefit, use, or characteristic of salt reflects back to God’s eternal covenant and everything He promised us through it.

The only thing that’s left is for us to take that and be the salt of the world. As God gives us grace, we should extend that grace to others.

Colossians 4:6 says, “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”

People will see the example we set (adding flavor) through the change in our lives (stopping the growth of our old, sinful nature).

They will ask us questions, which allows us to answer in gracious wisdom, seasoned with salt, to offer them the everlasting covenant of God and bring them to salvation.


Whenever the Bible mentions salt symbolically or prophetically, it refers to God’s covenant and everything that comes with it.

Old Testament believers brought the symbol into their physical acts of worship and sacrifice as a prophetic act to portray what would come when Jesus ushered in the New Covenant.

We don’t have to use salt physically anymore, at least not as an act of worship. We have become the offering, giving ourselves as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1).

That’s why we must not withhold the salt from the sacrifice but go out and be the salt of the earth, showing God’s grace in everything we do and say, extending His grace to others who need it.