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Concordances
Nave Topical Bible
• Salt
Scofield Reference Index
• Salt
Thompson Chain Reference
• Salt, the
• Salt, Christians As, the
• Salt
The Topic Concordance
• Salt
Treasury of Biblical Knowledge
• Salt
• Dead or Salt Sea?
Torrey Topical Textbook
• Salt
Dictionaries
American Tract Society
• Salt
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary
• Salt
Easton's Bible Dictionary
• Salt, Valley of
• Salt, the City of
• Salt Sea
•   (only first 3 shown)
Fausset Bible Dictionary
• Sea, the Salt
• Salt, Valley of
• Salt, City of
•   (only first 3 shown)
Holman Bible Dictionary
• Salt, Valley of
• Salt, Covenant of
• Salt, City of
•   (only first 3 shown)
Hastings' BibleDictionary
• Salt, Valley of
• Salt, City of
• Salt Sea
•   (only first 3 shown)
Hastings' NT Dictionary
• Salt (2)
• Salt
King James Dictionary
• Saltness
• Salted
• Salt
Morrish Bible Dictionary
• Salt, Valley of
• Salt, City of
• Salt Sea
•   (only first 3 shown)
1910 New Catholic Dictionary
• Salt, Robert, Blessed
• Salt, Liturgical Use of
• Salt of the Earth
•   (only first 3 shown)
Hawker's Poor Man's Dictionary
• Salt
People's Bible Dictionary
• Sea the Salt
• Salt Valley of
• Salt (2)
•   (only first 3 shown)
Smith Bible Dictionary
• Sea The Salt
• Salt The Valley of
• Salt The City of
•   (only first 3 shown)
Vines' Expository Dictionary
• Salt, Saltness
Wilson's Bible Types
• Salt
Webster Dictionary
• Smelling Salts
• Sea Salt
• Saltness
•   (only first 3 shown)
Watson's Theological Dictionary
• Salt
Encyclopedias
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
• Abraum Salts
• Epsom Salts
• George Salting
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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
• City of Salt
• Covenant of Salt
• Pillar of Salt
•   (only first 3 shown)
Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia
• Salt
McClintock and Strong's Bible Encyclopedia
• City of Salt
• Covenant of Salt
• Pillar of Salt
•   (only first 3 shown)
The Nuttall Encyclopedia
• Attic Salt
• Great Salt Lake
• Salt Lake City
•   (only first 3 shown)
The Catholic Encyclopedia
• Diocese of Salt Lake
• Salt
The Jewish Encyclopedia
• Salt
• Salt Lake City
• Salt Sea
Lexicons
• ܡܠܰܚ
• ܡܰܠܳܚܶܐ
• ἅλα , ἅλας
• ἁλίζω
• ἅλς
•   (only first 3 shown)
• חָמִיץ
• מָלַח , מָלַח
• מְלַח
•   (only first 3 shown)

Salt, always used for the seasoning of food and for the preservation of things from corruption, had from very early days a sacred and religious character.

The Prophet Eliseus employed it to make palatable the waters of a well (2 Kings 2:19 ff.). The Orientals used it to cleanse and harden the skin of a newborn child (Ezekiel 16:4); by strewing salt on a piece of land they dedicated it to the gods; in the Jewish Law it was prescribed for the sacrifices and the loaves of proposition (Leviticus 2:13). In Matthew 5:13, salt symbolizes wisdom, though perhaps originally it had an exorcistic signification.

Its use in the Church belongs exclusively to the Roman Rite. The Ritual knows two kinds of salt for liturgical purposes, the baptismal salt and the blessed salt.

The former, cleansed and sanctified by special exorcisms and prayers, is given to the catechumen before entering church for baptism. According to the fifth canon of the Third Council of Carthage it would seem that salt was administered to the catechumens several times a year. This use of salt is attested by St. Augustine (Confessions I.11) and by John the Deacon. St. Isidore of Seville speaks of it (De off., II, xxi), but in the Spanish Church it was not universal.

The other salt is exorcized and blessed in the preparation of holy water for the Asperges before high Mass on Sunday and for the use of the faithful in their homes. The present formula of blessing is taken from the Gregorian Sacramentary (P.L., LXXVIII, 231). Both baptismal salt and blessed salt may be used again without a new benediction.

The appendix of the Roman Ritual has a blessing of salt for the use of animals and another in honour of St. Hubert. The Roman Pontifical orders salt to be blessed and mixed in the water (mixed in turn with ashes and wine) for the consecration of a church. This is also from the Gregorian Sacramentary. Again salt (not specially blessed) may be used for purifying the fingers after sacred unctions.