Salmon

son of Nahshon: he married Rahab, by whom he had Boaz, 1Ch 2:11; 1Ch 2:51; 1Ch 2:54; Rth 4:20-21; Mat 1:4. He is named the father of Bethlehem, because his descendants peopled Bethlehem.

Sal´mon (Clothed), the father of Boaz (Rth 4:21; Mat 1:4-5; Luk 3:32).

Or SALMAH 1Ch 2:11, a chief man of the tribe of Judah, husband of Rahab, and father of Boaz, Rth 4:20 Mat 1:4,5 Luk 3:32 . See ZALMON.\par

Sal’mon. (garment).

1. Rth 4:20-21; 1Ch 2:11; 1Ch 2:51; 1Ch 2:54; Mat 1:4-5; Luk 3:32. Son of Nahshon, the prince of the children of Judah, and father of Boat, the husband of Ruth. (B.C. 1296). Bethlehem-ephratah, which was Salmon’s inheritance, was part of the territory of Caleb, the grandson of Ephratah; and this caused him to be reckoned among the sons of Caleb.

2. A hill near Shechem, on which Abimelech and his followers cut down the boughs, with which they set the tower of Shechem on fire. Jdg 9:48. Its exact position is not known. Referred to in Psa 68:14.

3. The father of Boar.

A hill near Shechem on which Abimelech cut down the boughs with which they set on fire the tower of Shechem. Salmon means shady, dark (Psa 68:14). The brightness of prosperity after the gloom of the conflict was like the glittering white snow which covers dark Salmon’s forests (Jdg 9:48; Mar 9:3). Or else (Maurer) Canaan had the same snowy appearance, covered over With the corpses of the slain, as Salmon when its trees were cut down by Abimelech changed its dark color for a white one. Joe 1:7, "He hath barked my figtree ... the branches are made white." The blanching bones too may be referred to.

Salmon (săl’mon), shady. Psa 68:14, A. V., or Zalmon. Jdg 9:48. This was one of the high hills which environed the ancient Shechem and afforded pasturage for Jacob’s flocks.

When the Almighty scattered kings in some place (probably Palestine) it is compared to "snow in Salmon." Psa 68:14 (an obscure passage). It is perhaps the same as Mount ZALMON in Jdg 9:48, the Hebrew being the same, a wooded mountain near Shechem.

SALMON.—A link in our Lord’s genealogy (Mat 1:4 f., Luk 3:32 [(Revised Version margin) Sala]).

SALOME (Gr. Σαλώμη, possibly shortened from Heb. שְׁלוֹמִיאֵל Shĕlômi’çl or the name = שָׁלוֹם Shâlôm with Gr. termination).—1. The daughter of Herodias, mentioned (although not by name) in Mat 14:6-11, Mar 6:22-28. See Herod in vol. i. p. 722^a and Herodias.

2. The mother of James and John, and wife of Zebedee (Mar 15:40; Mar 16:1; cf. Joh 19:25, Mat 20:20; Mat 27:56). In St. Matthew’s account of the ambitious request of the sons of Zebedee, she is represented as coming with her sons and prostrating herself before Jesus. St. Mark does not mention her in this connexion. She was one of the women who followed our Lord and ministered to Him (ἠκολούθουν αὐτῷ καὶ διηκόνουν αὐτῷ, Mar 15:41), and was present at the Crucifixion. Along with Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James the Little, she came after the Sabbath was over, bringing fragrant oils (ἀρώματα, μύρα [Luk 23:56]) with which to anoint the body of Jesus. In the narrative of St. John there are mentioned as present at the Crucifixion (standing ‘by the cross’) ‘his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary of Clopas and Mary Magdalene.’ It has been argued by some that three women only are here mentioned, and that the words ‘Mary of Clopas’ are explanatory of ‘his mother’s sister.’ Most of the more recent commentators, however, notably Westcott (‘St. John’ in Speaker’s NT Commentary, p. 275), hold that four women are meant, and that ‘his mother’s sister’ is Salome. The following considerations seem fairly conclusive in favour of this latter view: (1) it is most unlikely that two sisters in a private family should bear the same name; (2) the parallelism (‘his mother and his mother’s sister; Mary of Clopas and Mary Magdalene’) is characteristic of St. John; (3) ‘the circuitous manner of describing his own mother is in character with St. John’s manner of describing himself’ (W. L. Bevan in Smith’s DB [Note: Dictionary of the Bible.] , art. ‘Salome’); (4) the Peshitta inserts ‘and’ before Mary of Clopas; (5) Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Little (who is certainly the same as Mary of Clopas), and Salome are mentioned by St. Matthew and St. Mark as present. The supposition that Salome = ‘his mother’s sister’ harmonizes St. John’s account with that of St. Matthew and St. Mark.* [Note: Epiphanius (Haer. lxxviii. 8) says that Salome was a daughter of Joseph, and Nicephorus Callistus (HE ii. 3) makes her Joseph’s wife. These traditions, at any rate, indicate a belief in some connexion between Salome and the house of Joseph.] See also artt. Clopas, Mary.

Literature.—Besides the authorities quoted in the article, see Wieseler, SK [Note: K Studien und Kritiken.] , 1840, p. 648 ff.; art. ‘Salome’ in Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible (cf. art. ‘Herod,’ ib.), in Encyc. Bibl., and in Herzog’s PRE [Note: RE Real-Encyklopädie fur protest. Theologic und Kirche.] ; Commentaries of H. A. W. Meyer (English translation 1880), Alford, and Luthardt (on St. John’s Gospel, iii., English translation 1880, where, against his former view, he identifies Salome with ‘his mother’s sister’).

H. W. Fulford.

SALMON, or SALMA.—The father of Boaz (Rth 4:20-21), and therefore in the direct line of the ancestry of our Lord (Mat 1:4; Mat 1:6, Luk 3:32). If the Salma of 1Ch 2:51; 1Ch 2:54 is the same person, he was the ‘father’ or founder of Bethlehem, but it is to be noticed that that Salma is reckoned as one of the sons of Caleb the son of Hur.