Saints – Salutation

Saints

sants: In the King James Version 3 words are thus rendered:

(1) qadhosh (in Da the same root occurs several times in its Aramaic form, qaddish);

(2) chacidh, and

(3) hagioi.

Of these words (2) has in general the meaning of righteousness or goodness, while (1) and (3) have the meaning of consecration and divine claim and ownership. They are not primarily words of character, like chacidh, but express a relation to God as being set apart for His own. Wherever qadhosh refers to angels, the rendering "holy one" or "holy ones" has been substituted in the Revised Version (British and American) for the King James Version "saint" or "saints," which is the case also in Psalms 106:16 margin (compare 34:9), and in 1 Samuel 2:9, as the translation of chacidh.

While hagioi occurs more frequently in the New Testament than does qadhosh in the Old Testament, yet both are applied with practical uniformity to the company of God's people rather than to any individual. Perhaps the rendering "saints" cannot be improved, but it is necessary for the ordinary reader constantly to guard against the idea that New Testament saintship was in any way a result of personal character, and consequently that it implied approval of moral attainment already made. Such a rendering as "consecrate ones," for example, would bring out more clearly the relation to God which is involved, but, besides the fact that it is not a happy translation, it might lead to other errors, for it is not easy to remember that consecration--the setting apart of the individual as one of the company whom God has in a peculiar way as His own--springs not from man, but from God Himself, and that consequently it is in no way something optional, and admits of no degrees of progress, but, on the contrary, is from the beginning absolute duty. It should also be noted that while, as has been said, to be a saint is not directly and primarily to be good but to be set apart by God as His own, yet the godly and holy character ought inevitably and immediately to result. When God consecrates and claims moral beings for Himself and His service, He demands that they should go on to be fit for and worthy of the relation in which He has placed them, and so we read of certain actions as performed "worthily of the saints" (Romans 16:2) and as such "as becometh saints" (Ephesians 5:3). The thought of the holy character of the "saints," which is now so common as almost completely to obscure the real thought of the New Testament writers, already lay in their thinking very close to their conception of saintship as consecration by God to be His own.

David Foster Estes

Sala, Salah

sa'-la (shelach, "a missile," "petition"; Sala): A son of Arpachshad (the King James Version Genesis 10:24; Genesis 11:13 ff; 1 Chronicles 1:18,1 Chronicles 1:24). Luke 3:35,Luke 3:36 follows the Septuagint of Genesis 10:24; Genesis 11:12 = SHELAH (which see).

Salamiel

sa-la'-mi-el (Codex Vaticanus Salamiel; Codex Alexandrinus Samamiel): An ancestor of Judith (Judith 8:1) = the King James Version "Samuel" = "Shelumiel."

Salamis

sal'-a-mis (Salamis):

1. Site:

A town on the east coast of Cyprus, situated some 3 miles to the North of the medieval and modern Famagusta. It lay near the river Pediaeus, at the eastern extremity of the great plain of the Mesorea, which runs far into the interior of the island toward Nicosia (Lefkosia), the present capital. It possessed a good harbor and was the most populous and flourishing town of Cyprus in the Hellenic and Roman periods, carrying on a vigorous trade with the ports of Cilicia and Syria. Its population was mixed, consisting of Greek and Phoenician elements. The former, however, gave its tone and color to the city, and the chief cult and temple were those of Salaminian Zeus.

2. Early History:

Tradition represented Salamis as rounded soon after the fall of Troy by Teucer, the prince of Greek archers according to the narrative of the Iliad, who named it after his home, the island of Salamis off the Attic coast. In the 6th century BC it figures as an important Hellenic city, ruled by a line of kings reputed to be descended from Teucer and strengthened by an alliance with Cyrene (Herodotus iv.162). Gorgus, who was on the throne in 498 BC, refused to join the Ionic revolt against Persia, but the townsmen, led by his brother Onesilus, took up arms in the struggle for freedom. A crushing defeat, however, inflicted udder the walls of Salamis, restored the island to its Persian overlords, who reinstated Gorgus as a vassal prince (Herodotus v.103 ff). In 449 a Greek fleet under Athenian leadership defeated the Phoenician navy, which was in the service of Persia, off Salamis; but the Athenian withdrawal which followed the battle led to a decided anti-Hellenic reaction, until the able and vigorous rule of the Salaminian prince Euagoras, who was a warm friend of the Athenians (Isocrates, Euag.) and a successful champion of Hellenism. In 306 a second great naval battle was fought off Salamis, in which Demetrius Poliorcetes defeated the forces of Ptolemy I (Soter), king of Egypt. But 11 years later the town came into Ptolemy's hands and, with the rest of the island, remained an appanage of the Egyptian kingdom until the incorporation of Cyprus in the Roman Empire (58 BC).

3. Visit of the Apostles:

When Barnabas and Paul, accompanied by John Mark, set out on their 1st missionary journey, they sailed from Seleucia, the seaport of Antioch, and landed at Salamis, about 130 miles distant, as the harbor nearest to the Syrian coast. There they preached the gospel in the "synagogues of the Jews" (Acts 13:5); the phrase is worth noting as pointing to the existence of several synagogues and thus of a large Jewish community in Salamis. Of work among the Gentiles we hear nothing, nor is any indication given either of the duration of the apostles' visit or of the success of their mission; but it would seem that after a short stay they proceeded "through the whole island" (Acts 13:6 the Revised Version (British and American)) to Paphos. The words seem to imply that they visited all, or at least most, of the towns in which there were Jewish communities. Paul did not return to Salamis, but Barnabas doubtless went there on his 2nd missionary journey (Acts 15:39), and tradition states that he was martyred there in Nero's reign, on the site marked by the monastery named after him.

4. Later History:

In 116 AD the Jews in Cyprus rose in revolt and massacred 240,000 Greeks and Romans. The rising was crushed with the utmost severity by Hadrian. Salamis was almost depopulated, and its destruction was afterward consummated by earthquakes in 332 and 342 AD. It was rebuilt, though on a much smaller scale, by the emperor Constantius II (337-61 AD) under the name Constantia, and became the metropolitan see of the island. The most famous of its bishops was Epiphanius, the staunch opponent of heresy, who held the see from 367 to 403. In 647 the city was finally destroyed by the Saracens. Considerable remains of ancient buildings still remain on the site; an account of the excavations carried on there in 1890 by Messrs. J. A.R. Munro and H.A. Tubbs under the auspices of the Cyprus Exploration Fund will be found in the Journal of Hellenic Studies, XII, 59-198.

M. N. Tod

Salasadai

sal-a-sad'-a-i (Codex Alexandrinus Salasadai; Codex Vaticanus Sarasadai, Sarisadai): An ancestor of Judith (Judith 8:1).

Salathiel

sa-la'-thi-el:

(1) (Salathiel): the King James Version; Greek form of "Shealtiel" (thus the Revised Version (British and American)). The father of Zerubbabel (1 Esdras 5:5,48,56; 6:2; Matthew 1:12; Luke 3:27).

(2) Revised Version: Another name of Esdras (2 Esdras 3:1, "Salathiel").

Sale

sal (mimkar): The word is used: (1) in the sense of the transaction (Leviticus 25:50); (2) in the sense of the limit of time involved in the transaction (Leviticus 25:27); (3) in the sense of the price paid in the transaction (Deuteronomy 18:8), though it may be the same as (1) above.

Salecah; Salcah, Salchah

sal'-e-ka, sal'-ka (calekhah; Codex Vaticanus Sekchai, Acha, Sela Codex Alexandrinus Elcha, Aselcha, Selcha): This place first appears in Deuteronomy 3:10 as marking the eastern boundary of Bashan. It is named as one of the cities in which Og, king of Bashan, ruled (Joshua 12:5). It must certainly have been included in the portion given to the half-tribe of Manasseh, "all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan," although it is not named among the cities that fell to him (Joshua 13:29). At a later time we are told that Gad dwelt over against the Reubenites in the land of Bashan unto Salecah (1 Chronicles 5:11). The boundaries of the tribes probably changed from time to time.

The ancient city is represented by the modern Qalkhad, a city in a high and strong position at the southern end of Jebel ed-Druze (the Mountain of Bashan). On a volcanic hill rising some 300 ft. above the town, in what must have been the crater, stands the castle. The view from the battlements, as the present writer can testify, is one of the finest East of the Jordan, including the rich hollow of the Chauran, Mt. Hermon, and all the intervening country to the mountains of Samaria, with vast reaches of the desert to the South and to the East. The old Roman roads are still clearly seen running without curve or deviation across the country to Bozrah and Der'ah, away to the Southeast over the desert to Kal`at el-`Azraq, and eastward to the Persian Gulf. The castle was probably built by the Romans. Restored by the Arabs, it was a place of strength in Crusading times. It has now fallen on evil days. The modern town, containing many ancient houses, lies mainly on the slopes Southeast of the castle. The inhabitants are Druzes, somewhat noted for turbulence.

In the recent rising of the Druzes (1911) the place suffered heavily from bombardment by the Turks. For water-supply it is entirely dependent on cisterns filled during the rainy season. W. Ewing

Salem (1)

sa'-lem (shalem; Salem): The name of the city of which Melchizedek was king (Genesis 14:18; Hebrews 7:1,Hebrews 7:2; compare Psalms 76:2).

1. Identification and Meaning:

To all appearance it lay near "the Vale of Shaveh," described as "the King's Vale." The general opinion among the Jews was that Salem was the same as Jerusalem, as stated by Josephus (Ant., I, x, 2), who adds (VII, iii, 2) that it was known as Solyma (Saluma, variants, according to Whiston, Salem and Hierosolyma) in the time of Abraham. It was also reported that the city and its temple were called Solyma by Homer, and he adds that the name in Hebrew means "security." This identification with Jerusalem was accepted by Onkelos and all the Targums, as well as by the early Christians. The Samaritans have always identified Salem with Salim, East of Nablus, but Jewish and Christian tradition is more likely to be correct, supported, as it is, by Psalms 76:2.

2. Testimony of Tell el-Amarna Tablets:

The testimony of the Tell el-Amarna Letters is apparently negative. Knudtzon's number 287 mentions "the land" and "the lands of Urusalim," twice with the prefix for "city"; number 289 likewise has this prefix twice; and number 290 refers to "the city" or "a city of the land Urusalim called Bit-Ninip" Tablets (Beth-Anusat (?)). As there is no prefix of any kind before the element salim, it is not probable that this is the name of either a man (the city's founder) or a god (like the Assyrian Sulmanu). The form in Sennacherib's inscriptions (compare Taylor Cylinder, III, 50), Ursalimmu, gives the whole as a single word in the nominative, the double "m" implying that the "i" was long. As the Assyrians pronounced "s" as "sh", it is likely that the Urusalimites did the same, hence, the Hebrew yerushalaim, with "sh".

See JERUSALEM.

T. G. Pinches

Salem (2)

(Salamos; the King James Version Salum): An ancestor of Ezra (1 Esdras 8:1) = "Shallum" in Ezra 7:2 = "Salemas" in 2 Esdras 1:1.

Salemas

sal'-e-mas, sa-le'-mas (Latin Salame; the King James Version Sadamias): An ancestor of Ezra (2 Esdras 1:1) = "Shallum" in Ezra 7:2; called also "Salem" in 1 Esdras 8:1.

Salim

sa'-lim (Saleim): A place evidently well known, since the position of Aenon, the springs where John was baptizing, was defined by reference to it: they were "near to Salim" (John 3:23). It must be sought on the West of the Jordan, as will be seen from comparison of John 1:28; John 3:26; John 10:40. Many identifications have been proposed: e.g. that of Alford with Shilhim and Ain in the South of Judah; that of Busching with `Ain Karim, and that of Barclay, who would place Salim in Wady Suleim near `Anata, making Aenon the springs in Wady Far`ah. These are all ruled out by their distance from the district where John is known to have been at work. If there were no other objection to that suggested by Conder (Tent Work, 49 f) following Robinson (BR, III, 333) with Salim in the plain East of Nablus, Aenon being `Ainun in Wady Far`ah, it would be sufficient to say that this is in the very heart of Samaria, and therefore impossible. In any case the position of Aenon, 6 miles distant, with a high ridge intervening, would hardly be defined by the village of Salim, with the important city of Shechem quite as near, and more easily accessible.

Onomasticon places Aenon 8 Roman miles South of Scythopolis (Beisan), near Salumias (Salim) and the Jordan. This points to Tell Ridhghah, on the northern side of which is a shrine known locally as Sheikh Selim. Not far off, by the ruins of Umm el-`Amdan, there are seven copious fountains which might well be called Aenon, "place of springs."

There is reason to believe that this district did not belong to Samaria, but was included in the lands of Scythopolis, which was an important member of the league of ten cities.

W. Ewing

Salimoth

sal'-i-moth (Codex Vaticanus Saleimoth; Codex Alexandrinus 'Assalimoth; the latter is due to a wrong division of syllables; the King James Version Assailmoth): The same as "Shelomith" (Ezra 8:10). Salimoth, the son of Josaphias, of the family of Banias, and with him 130 men went up to Jerusalem with Ezra (1 Esdras 8:36).

Sallai

sal'-a-i, sal'-i (callay; Salom; Codex Alexandrinus Salo, with variants):

(1) Eponym of a Benjamite family which settled at Jerusalem after the return, descendants of "Sallu" (1 Chronicles 9:7; Nehemiah 11:7,Nehemiah 11:8); the pedigrees of Sallu differ decidedly in the two passages. Curtis (ICC) suggests that "son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah" (Chronicles) is a corruption or derivation of "Judah the son of Hassenuah" (Nehemiah).

(2) Name of a priestly family (Nehemiah 12:20), called "Sallu" in Nehemiah 12:7.

Sallu

sal'-u.

See SALLAI.

Sallumus

sa-lu'-mus, sal'-u-mus Salloumos): One of the porters who had taken "strange wives" (1 Esdras 9:25) = "Shallum" in Ezra 10:24; called also "Salum" in 1 Esdras 5:28.

Salma

sal'-ma.

See SALMON.

Salmai

sal'-mi, sal'-ma-i (salmay; the King James Version, Shalmai (the King James Version in Nehemiah 7:48 is "Shalmai" = Ezra 2:46); the Revised Version (British and American) "Salmai"): The eponym of a family of Nethinim, called "Shamlai" in Ezra 2:46 (Qere, shamlay, Kethibh, shalmay, followed by the King James Version text, "Shalmai"; Codex Vaticanus Samaan; Codex Alexandrinus Selami; Nehemiah 7:48, Codex Vaticanus Salemei; Codex Alexandrinus Selmei; Codex Sinaiticus Samaei). The name suggests a foreign reign. In 1 Esdras 5:30 the corresponding name is "Subai."

Salmanasar

sal-ma-na'-sar (2 Esdras 13:40) = SHALMANESER (which see).

Salmon; Salma

sal'-mon, (salmon, "investiture" (Ruth 4:21), salmah, "clothing" (Ruth 4:20), salma' (1 Chronicles 2:11,1 Chronicles 2:51,1 Chronicles 2:54); Salmon):

(1) The father of Boaz, the husband of Ruth, and thus the grandfather of Jesse, David's father (Ruth 4:20,Ruth 4:21). He is mentioned in both the genealogies of Jesus (Matthew 1:4,Matthew 1:5; Luke 3:32). From Matthew 1:5 we learn that he married Rahab, by whom he begat Boaz.

(2) In 1 Chronicles 2:51 ff, we read of a Salma, "the father of Beth-lehem," a son of Caleb, the son of Hur. He is also said to be the father of "the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-joab, and half of the Manahathites, the Zorites," and several "families of scribes."

See also ZALMON.

S. F. Hunter

Salmone

sal-mo'-ne (Salmone): Acts 27:7.

See PHOENIX.

Saloas

sal'-o-as (Saloas; the King James Version, Talsus after Lot Thalsas): In 1 Esdras 9:22, for "Elasah" of Ezra 10:22.

Salom

sa'-lom (Salom):

(1) The father of Helkias (Baruch 1:7). Greek form of "Shallum."

(2) the King James Version = the Revised Version (British and American) "Salu" (1 Macc 2:26).

Salome

sa-lo'-me (Salome):

(1) One of the holy women who companied with Jesus in Galilee, and ministered to Him (Mark 15:40,Mark 15:41). She was present at the crucifixion (Mark 15:40), and was among those who came to the tomb of Jesus on the resurrection morning (Mark 16:1,Mark 16:2). Comparison with Matthew 27:56 clearly identifies her with the wife of Zebedee. It is she, therefore, whose ambitious request for her sons James and John is recorded in Matthew 20:20–24; Mark 10:35–40. From John 19:25 many infer that she was a sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus (thus Meyer, Luthardt, Alford); others (as Godet) dispute the inference.

(2) Salome was the name of the daughter of Herodias who danced before Herod, and obtained as reward the head of John the Baptist (Matthew 14:3–11; Mark 6:17–28; compare Josephus, Ant, XVIII, v, 4). She is not named in the Gospels.

James Orr

Salt

solt (melach; halas, hals): Common salt is considered by most authorities as an essential ingredient of our food. Most people intentionally season their cooking with more or less salt for the sake of palatability. Others depend upon the small quantities which naturally exist in water and many foods to furnish the necessary amount of salt for the body. Either too much salt or the lack of it creates undesirable disturbance in the animal system. Men and animals alike instinctively seek for this substance to supplement or improve their regular diet. The ancients appreciated the value of salt for seasoning food (Job 6:6). So necessary was it that they dignified it by making it a requisite part of sacrifices (Leviticus 2:13; Ezra 6:9; Ezra 7:22; Ezekiel 43:24; Mark 9:49). In Numbers 18:19; 2 Chronicles 13:5, a "covenant of salt" is mentioned (compare Mark 9:49). This custom of pledging friendship or confirming a compact by eating food containing salt is still retained among Arabic-speaking people. The Arabic word for "salt" and for a "compact" or "treaty" is the same. Doughty in his travels in Arabia appealed more than once to the superstitious belief of the Arabs in the "salt covenant," to save his life. Once an Arab has received in his tent even his worst enemy and has eaten salt (food) with him, he is bound to protect his guest as long as he remains.

See COVENANT OF SALT.

The chief source of salt in Palestine is from the extensive deposits near the "sea of salt" (see DEAD SEA), where there are literally mountains and valleys of salt (2 Samuel 8:13; 2 Kings 14:7; 1 Chronicles 18:12; 2 Chronicles 25:11). On the seacoast the inhabitants frequently gather the sea salt. They fill the rock crevices with sea water and leave it for the hot summer sun to evaporate. After evaporation the salt crystals can be collected. As salt-gathering is a government monopoly in Turkey, the government sends men to pollute the salt which is being surreptitiously crystallized, so as to make it unfit for eating. Another extensive supply comes from the salt lakes in the Syrian desert East of Damascus and toward Palmyra. All native salt is more or less bitter, due to the presence of other salts such as magnesium sulphate.

Salt was used not only as a food, but as an antiseptic in medicine. Newborn babes were bathed and salted (Ezekiel 16:4), a custom still prevailing. The Arabs of the desert consider it so necessary, that in the absence of salt they batheir infants in camels' urine. Elisha is said to have healed the waters of Jericho by casting a cruse of salt into the spring (2 Kings 2:20 f). Abimelech sowed the ruins of Shechem with salt to prevent a new city from arising in its place (Judges 9:45). Lot's wife turned to a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26).

Figurative:

Salt is emblematic of loyalty and friendship (see above). A person who has once joined in a "salt covenant" with God and then breaks it is fit only to be cast out (compare Matthew 5:13; Mark 9:50). Saltness typified barrenness (Deuteronomy 29:23; Jeremiah 17:6). James compares the absurdity of the same mouth giving forth blessings and cursings to the impossibility of a fountain yielding both sweet and salt water (James 3:11 f).

James A. Patch

Salt Sea

See DEAD SEA.

Salt, City Of

(`ir ha-melach; Codex Alexandrinus hai pol(e)is halon): One of the six cities in the wilderness of Judah mentioned between Nibshan and Engedi (Joshua 15:62). The site is very uncertain. The large and important Tell el-Milch (i.e. "the salt hill"), on the route from Hebron to Akaba, is possible.

Salt, Covenant Of

See COVENANT OF SALT.

Salt, Pillar Of

See LOT; SALT; SIDDIM; SLIME.

Salt, Valley Of

(ge' ha-melach): The scene of battles, firstly, between David or his lieutenant Abishai and the Edomites (2 Samuel 8:13; 1 Chronicles 18:12; Psalms 60:1–12, title), and later between Amaziah and these same foes (2 Kings 14:7; 2 Chronicles 25:11). It is tempting to connect this "Valley of Salt" with es Sebkhah, the marshy, salt-impregnated plain which extends from the southern end of the Dead Sea to the foot of the cliffs, but in its present condition it is an almost impossible place for a battle of any sort. The ground is so soft and spongy that a wide detour around the edges has to be made by those wishing to get from one side to the other. It is, too, highly probable that in earlier times the whole of this low-lying area was covered by the waters of the Dead Sea. It is far more natural to identify ge' ha-melach with the Wady el-Milch ("Valley of Salt"), one of the three valleys which unite at Beersheba to form the Wady ec-Ceba`. These valleys, el-Milch and ec-Ceba, together make a natural frontier to Canaan.

E. W. G. Masterman

Salt-Wort

solt'-wurt (malluach, a word connected with melach, "salt," translated halimos; the King James Version, mallows): The halimos of the Greeks is the sea orache, Atriplex halimus, a silvery whitish shrub which flourishes upon the shores of the Dead Sea alongside the rutm (see JUNIPER). Its leaves are oval and somewhat like those of an olive. They have a sour flavor and would never be eaten when better food was obtainable (Job 30:4). The translation "mallows" is due to the apparent similarity of the Hebrew malluach to the Greek malache, which is the Latin malva and English "mallow." Certain species of malva known in Arabic, as khubbazeh, are very commonly eaten by the poor of Palestine.

E. W. G. Masterman

Salu

sa'-lu (calu'; Septuagint: Codex Vaticanus Salmon; Codex Alexandrinus Salo; the King James Version has "Salom" in 1 Macc 2:26): A prince and the head of a house of the tribe of Simeon and the father of Zimri who was slain by Phinehas along with the Midianite woman whom he had brought to the camp of Israel (Numbers 25:14; /RAPC 1Ma 2:26).

Salum

sa'-lum (Saloum):

(1) The head of one of the families of porters (1 Esdras 5:28; omitted in Codex Vaticanus) = "Shallum" in Ezra 2:42; Ezra 10:24; Nehemiah 7:45 = "Sallumus" in 1 Esdras 9:25.

(2) 1 Esdras 8:1 King James Version = the Revised Version (British and American) "Salem."

Salutation

sal-u-ta'-shun (aspasmos): A greeting which might be given in person, orally (Luke 1:29,Luke 1:41,Luke 1:44), or in writing, usually at the close of a letter (1 Corinthians 16:21; Colossians 4:18; 2 Thessalonians 3:17; compare use of chairein, "greeting," "joy" in James 1:1). The Pharisaic Jews loved salutations in public places (Matthew 23:7; Mark 12:38, the King James Version "greeting," the Revised Version (British and American) "salutation"; Luke 11:43; Luke 20:46). Often these salutations were very elaborate, involving much time in prostrations, embracings, etc. When Jesus therefore sent out the Seventy, He forbade salutation by the way (Luke 10:4), though He ordinarily encouraged proper civilities of this sort (Matthew 5:47; Matthew 10:12).

Edward Bagby Pollard