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# מֶלַח

Biblical Hebrew · Strong's H4417

**salt** — used 24 times in the Hebrew Bible. Below: its meanings with their sources, MACULA's glosses, and 2 verses word for word and in JPS 1917.

## Meaning

### OpenScriptures lexical index

salt [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1502/4417/#m1)

### Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906

מֶ֫לַח²: n.m. salt [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1502/4417/#m2)

**The whole BDB entry:** n.m. salt (NH id.; Arabic مِلْحٌ Aramaic ܡܶܠܚܳܐ, מִלְחָא);—מ׳ abs. Gn 19:26 +; cstr. Lv 2:13;—salt for seasoning food Jb 6:6; offering Lv 2:13(×3) cf. Ez 43:24; בְּרִית מֶ֫לַח Nu 18:19 2 Ch 13:5 (cf. Lv 2:13 v. Di); used in purifying waters 2 K 2:20, 21; strewn on site of devoted city Ju 9:45 cf. Zp 2:9 (מִכְרֵה־מ׳) Dt 29:22 (‖ גָּפְרִית); produced in marshes reserved for purpose Ez 47:11; pillar of salt נְצִיב מ׳ Gn 19:26; usually in combin. יָם(־) הַמֶּלַח Gn 14:3 (עֵ֫מֶק הַשִּׂדִּים), Nu 34:3, 12 Dt 3:17 (‖ יָם הָעֲרָבָה), Jos 3:16; 12:3; 15:2, 5; 18:19; also גֵיא־מ׳ 2 S 8:13 2 K 14:7 Qr, ψ 60:2 (title), גֵּיא הַמּ׳ 1 Ch 18:12 2 Ch 25:11; 2 K 14:7 Kt.

Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 21 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (7 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (6 candidates)

## Glosses

MACULA's English glosses of the word in the text, with how often each is used: Salt (10); salt (9); of salt (4).

## In the verses

[Genesis 14:3](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.14.3/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.14.3/#tree)

כָּל־אֵ֙לֶּה֙ חָֽבְר֔וּ אֶל־עֵ֖מֶק הַשִּׂדִּ֑ים ה֖וּא יָ֥ם הַמֶּֽלַח׃

*Word for word:* all these they.joined.together to the.valley of.(the) Siddim that \[is\].the.Sea of.(the) Salt

*JPS 1917:* All these came as allies unto the vale of Siddim — the same is the Salt Sea.

[Genesis 19:26](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.19.26/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.19.26/#tree)

וַתַּבֵּ֥ט אִשְׁתּ֖וֹ מֵאַחֲרָ֑יו וַתְּהִ֖י נְצִ֥יב מֶֽלַח׃

*Word for word:* and she.looked wife his from behind him and she.was a.pillar of.salt

*JPS 1917:* But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

## On Mova

- [This word in the Tanakh dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/4417.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of its meanings](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1502/4417/): every English meaning parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.

Sources. The words, their counts, glosses and the word-for-word renderings: MACULA Hebrew (the Westminster Leningrad Codex; Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0). Meanings: the OpenScriptures lexical index (CC BY 4.0), Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906 and Jastrow 1903 (public domain, via Sefaria); Targum Onkelos from Sefaria (public domain). Translation: JPS 1917 (public domain, from eBible.org).