Leviticus 2:13

And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt,.... Which makes food savoury, and preserves from putrefaction; denoting the savouriness and acceptableness of Christ as a meat

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 oblation of thy meat-offering shalt thou season with salt; either, 1. For the decency and conveniency of the feast, which God would have here represented. Or, 2. For the signification of that incorruption of mind, and sincerity of grace, which in Scripture is signified by salt, , and which is necessary in all them that would offer an acceptable offering to God. Or, 3. In testimony of that communion which they had with God in these exercises of his worship; salt being the great symbol of friendship in all nations and ages. The salt of the covenant of thy God: so salt is called, either, 1. Because it fitly represented the durableness and perpetuity of God’ s covenant with them, which is designed by salt, . Or, 2. Because it was so particularly and rigorously required as a condition of their covenant with God; this being made absolutely necessary in all their offerings, as it follows; and as the neglect of sacrifices was a breach of covenant on their part, so also was the neglect of salt in their sacrifices. With all thine offerings; not these only, but all other, as appears from .

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.Ver. 13. Shalt thou season with salt.] Called here the salt of God’ s covenant; as signifying the covenant of God made with us in Christ, who seasoneth us, and makes all our services savoury. See the note on Mark 9:49-50.

(13) And every oblation.—But salt, which is the contrary to leaven, and which preserves from putrefaction and corruption, was to be an ingredient, not only of bloodless, but of all animal sacrifices (Ezekiel 43:24). The salt of the covenant of thy God.—From its antiseptic and savoury qualities, salt became the symbol of hospitality, friendship, durability, fidelity. “To eat bread and salt together” is, in the East, an expression for a league of mutual amity (Russell, Aleppo, i. 232). When the Arabs make a covenant together, they put salt on the blade of a sword, from whence every one puts a little into his mouth. This constitutes them blood relations, and they remain faithful to each other even when in danger of life (Ritter, Erd. 14:960). Hence the expression “a covenant of salt,” which also occurs in Numbers 18:19, and 2 Chronicles 13:5, denotes an indissoluble alliance, an everlasting covenant. Hence, too, the phrase “salted with the salt of the palace” (Ezra 4:14) means bound by sacred obligations of fidelity to the king.

Verse 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 ingredient in all their sacrificial offerings; and as it was considered essential to the comfort and preservation of life, and an emblem of the most perfect corporeal and mental endowments, so it was supposed to be one of the most acceptable presents they could make unto their gods, from whose sacrifices it was never absent. That inimitable and invaluable writer, Pliny, has left a long chapter on this subject, the seventh of the thirty-first book of his Natural History, a few extracts from which will not displease the intelligent reader. Ergo, hercule, vita humanior sine Sale nequit degere: adeoque necessarium elementum est, ut transierit intellectus ad voluptates animi quoque. Nam ita SALES appellantur omnisque vitae lepos et summa hilaritas, laborumque requies non alio magis vocabulo constat. Honoribus etiam militiaeque inter ponitur, SALARIIS inde dictis--Maxime tamen in sacris intelligitur auctoritas, quando nulla conficiuntur sine mola salsa. "So essentially necessary is salt that without it human life cannot be preserved: and even the pleasures and endowments of the mind are expressed by it; the delights of life, repose, and the highest mental serenity, are expressed by no other term than sales among the Latins. It has also been applied to designate the honourable rewards given to soldiers, which are called salarii or salaries. But its importance may be farther understood by its use in sacred things, as no sacrifice was offered to the gods without the salt cake." So Virgil, Eclog. viii., ver. 82: Sparge molam. "Crumble the sacred mole of salt and corn." And again, AEneid., lib. iv., ver. 517: - Ipsa mola, manibitsque piis, altaria juxta. "Now with the sacred cake, and lifted hands,, All bent on death, before her altar stands." PITT. In like manner Homer: - Πασσεδ' ἁλοςθειοιο, κρατευταωνεπαειπας. Iliad, lib. ix., ver. 214. "And taking sacred salt from the hearth side, Where it was treasured, pour'd it o'er the feast." COWPER. Quotations of this kind might be easily multiplied, but the above may be deemed sufficient.

13. shalt thou season with salt] Salt, which is necessary for those who eat farinaceous food and a pleasant condiment with flesh meat, was freely used by the Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, and other nations of antiquity. They brought it as an accompaniment of sacrifice, in accordance with the primitive view of sacrifice as the food of the gods (cp. ch. Leviticus 21:22). It may have been an element in the Jewish ritual from the earliest times. The phrase ‘salt of the covenant of thy God’ indicates that a symbolical meaning was also attached to it. A covenant among ancient peoples was ratified by eating food together (Genesis 31:54) with which salt was generally taken. ‘There is salt between us’ is in the mouth of the Arab a declaration of friendship and obligation; God’s covenants with Levi and David are ‘covenants of salt’ (Numbers 18:19; 2 Chronicles 13:5); so here ‘the salt of the covenant’ implies that the Israelite, by reason of his covenant relation with God, was bound to bring with his sacrifice the offering of a willing heart (Psalms 54:6; Psalms 119:108). Salt with sacrifice is enjoined in Ezekiel 43:24, and referred to Mark 9:49. For the remission of the tax on salt, cp. 1Ma 10:29; 1Ma 11:35, and Jos. Ant. xii. 3. 3. For the mola salsa of the Romans (Hor. Sat. ii. 3. 200) and other classical references to salt with sacrifice, see the Articles on Salt in HDB. and Enc. Bib.

With all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt - Not only every מנחה mı̂nchāh, but every animal offering was to be accompanied by salt.

13. Season with salt — Salt, from its antiseptic quality, is suggestive of that moral purity and fidelity required of all true worshippers.