“The salt of the covenant”
Leviticus 2:13
Cultural referenceWell-supportedGod
You must not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offering; you are to add salt to each of your offerings. (Leviticus 2:13 BSB)
* Salt preserves and does not spoil, so a 'covenant of salt' meant an unbreakable, enduring bond; sharing salt at a meal sealed friendships in the ancient Near East.
What it sounds like today
A minor instruction about seasoning the offerings.
The cultural key
Salt kept food from rotting, so it became the natural emblem of permanence and loyalty. To make a 'covenant of salt' was to swear an enduring, unbreakable bond, and to share salt at table was to pledge friendship. Requiring salt on every offering stamped each sacrifice with the mark of a lasting covenant. The same idea lies behind calling priestly dues a 'covenant of salt forever' and behind Jesus telling his followers they are 'the salt of the earth.'
Recovered meaning
Every offering was seasoned with a reminder that the covenant does not spoil or expire. Salt on the altar preached permanence: a bond with God as enduring and preserving as salt itself.
Parallels: Numbers 18:19; Matthew 5:13