use ma·laʹkhe but aʹli·ma (“salt herbs,” Bagster’s LXX), and aʹli·ma, like mal·luʹahh, is thought to refer either to the salty taste of the plant or to the region where it grows.

The plant most frequently suggested as corresponding to the mal·luʹahh of the Bible is “sea purslane” (Atriplex halimus). Ordinarily this bushy shrub grows one to three feet (.3 to .9 meter) high, but on the shores of the Dead Sea plants measuring as much as ten feet (3 meters) in height have been encountered. The plant has small, thick, sour-tasting leaves and, in the spring, it bears tiny purple flowers. Sea air is vital to its existence.

SALT SEA

One of the Biblical designations for the large lake or sea now generally known as the Dead Sea. The Salt Sea forms the southern termination of the Jordan River.

NAME

The first and most frequent designation of this sea in the Bible, “Salt Sea,” is quite appropriate since it is the saltiest body of water on the earth. (Gen. 14:3; Num. 34:3, 12; Josh. 15:2, 5) It is also called the Sea of the Arabah (Deut. 4:49; 2 Ki. 14:25), being in the huge rift of which the Arabah is a part. Sometimes, though, the name “Salt Sea” is added after “Sea of the Arabah” as if to explain exactly which body of water is meant by the later name. (Deut. 3:17; Josh. 3:16; 12:3) The Salt Sea was on the E boundary of the Promised Land and was termed the “eastern sea,” thus distinguishing it from the “western [Mediterranean] sea.” (Ezek. 47:18; Joel 2:20; Zech. 14:8) Josephus, who was aware that large pieces of bitumen or asphalt occasionally surface in this sea, called it Lake Asphaltites. Evidently it was not until the second century C.E. that it came to be called the Dead Sea. The Arabic name is Bahr Lut, “Sea of Lot.”

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

The Salt Sea is oblong, about ten miles (16 kilometers) wide and approximately forty-seven miles (76 kilometers) long, the length varying somewhat according to the season. Its outline is interrupted on the SE side by a large peninsula called the Lisan (“the tongue”), shaped like a boot with its toe pointing N. This peninsula reaches to within two miles (3 kilometers) of the W shore and so divides the sea into two sections. The portion embayed S of the Lisan is quite shallow, usually three to fifteen feet (.9 to 4.5 meters), while the main part of the sea in the N reaches a depth of 1,310 feet (399 meters). The surface of the water is 1,292 feet (394 meters) below the level of the Mediterranean Sea, making it the lowest spot on earth.

The E shore (N of the Lisan) consists mainly of sandstone cliffs that rise steeply to the plateau of Moab. Several gorges, the most prominent being the Arnon, cut through these barren hills and empty water into the sea. To the E and S of the peninsula lies a plain that is well watered with streams. The S end of the sea is a flat salt marsh. On the W side the limestone cliffs are not as precipitous as those on the E. These Judean hills are more terraced and receding, but very desolate, since no permanent streams cut through to the sea. The beach and slopes near the shore allow travel along the W side. On a high mesa opposite the Lisan is Masada, the fortress that Herod strengthened and where the Romans defeated the last of the Jewish rebels in 73 C.E. Farther N is the oasis En-gedi. At the N end, the Jordan empties into the sea, mixing its fresh water with the extremely salty water of the sea.

WATER

The water of the sea is unique in that it is about 25 percent solids, mostly common salt (sodium chloride), making it about four to six times as salty as the oceans. Each day some 6,500,000 tons of fresh water pour into the Salt Sea, mainly from the Jordan. The Salt Sea has no outlet, so most of the water coming into it evaporates in the intense heat, leaving behind more mineral salts. The salt concentration is such that no fish, even saltwater varieties, are able to live; the few fish in the brackish water where fresh water mixes with the salt water are killed if they are swept into the sea proper. This adds meaning to Ezekiel’s description of a torrent flowing from Jehovah’s temple into the “eastern sea” and healing the upper portion so that it abounded in fish like the Mediterranean Sea and could support a flourishing fishing industry. (Ezek. 47:8-10, 18) The high density of the water causes objects to float easily, and it contributes to a smooth surface because the water is not ruffled by light breezes.

SODOM AND GOMORRAH

It is generally believed that Sodom and Gomorrah were located on land now covered by the portion of the Salt Sea S of the Lisan Peninsula. The kings of these cities were among those who battled in “the Low Plain of Siddim, that is, the Salt Sea,” and the way this is phrased suggests that the Low Plain of Siddim came to be covered by the Salt Sea. (Gen. 14:3) The region of Sodom and Gomorrah where Lot settled was ‘well watered, like the garden of Jehovah.’ (Gen. 13:10-12) Even today, in the plain along the SE shore, vegetation is abundant, and wheat, barley, dates and vines can be grown there. The large amounts of bitumen and salt, especially in this southern section, also match the Biblical account of Sodom and Gomorrah.—Gen. 14:10; 19:24-26.

SALT, VALLEY OF

A valley where, on two occasions, the Israelites defeated the Edomites. (2 Sam. 8:13; 2 Ki. 14:7) Its precise location is uncertain, but scholars have generally recommended either of two locations, one near Beer-sheba and the other to the S of the Salt Sea.

East from Beer-sheba in the Negeb is a valley the Arabic name of which (Wadi el-Milh) means Valley of Salt. The location is one where Judeans from the N might conceivably meet in combat Edomites coming from the SE. However, some authorities, preferring a location in Edom’s territory, identify the Scriptural Valley of Salt with a plain S-SW of the Salt Sea. At present, the low land S of the Salt Sea is quite marshy and hardly a location that would be chosen for a battle. But, since the level of the Salt Sea is rising, the plain may have been more firm at the time the battles occurred, or the fighting could have begun in a portion of the valley where the ground was not marshy. After the second conflict 10,000 Edomites were hurled to their deaths from a crag, but the location of that crag is not stated.—2 Chron. 25:11, 12.

In the first battle, David and Joab (evidently with Abishai in charge of at least some of the troops) struck down 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. (2 Sam. 8:13; 1 Ki. 11:15; 1 Chron. 18:12; Ps. 60 superscription) Later, King Amaziah (858-829 B.C.E.) attacked and slaughtered 10,000 Edomites in the same valley following this with the execution of 10,000 Edomites who were captured, as well as the seizing of the Edomite stronghold Sela (Petra).—2 Ki. 14:7; 2 Chron. 25:11, 12.

SALU

(Saʹlu).

A Simeonite whose son Zimri was executed for immorality on the plains of Moab.—Num. 25:14.

SALVATION

See RANSOM; SAVIOR.

SALVE

The spiritually blind Christians in the Laodicean congregation were urged to buy ‘eyesalve, to rub in their eyes that they may see.’ (Rev. 3:17, 18) The Greek word for eyesalve (kol·louʹri·on) literally means a roll or cake of coarse bread, suggesting that the salve was likely made up into small cakes or