(Salʹlu).

1. A postexilic Benjamite resident of Jerusalem; son of Meshullam.​—1Ch 9:3, 7; Ne 11:7.

2. A priestly family head who returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel. (Ne 12:1, 7) At Nehemiah 12:20, in the list of later paternal houses, the name Sallai appears at the corresponding place.

(Salʹma).

1. Descendant of Judah and ancestor of David. (1Ch 2:3-5, 9-15) He is also called Salmon.​—Ru 4:12, 18-22; Lu 3:32; see SALMON.

2. Forefather of those who settled in places such as Bethlehem, Netophah, and Atroth-beth-joab. (1Ch 2:51, 54) Salma was a son of Hur in the Calebite branch of Judah’s genealogy.​—1Ch 2:4, 5, 9, 18, 19, 50, 51.

(Salʹmai).

One of the Nethinim whose descendants returned to Jerusalem in 537 B.C.E.​—Ezr 2:1, 2, 43, 46; Ne 7:48.

(Salʹmon).

The son of Judah’s chieftain Nahshon, likely born during the 40-year wilderness trek. Salmon married Rahab of Jericho, by whom he fathered Boaz. He was, therefore, a link in the genealogical line leading to David and Jesus. (Nu 2:3; Ru 4:20-22; Mt 1:4, 5; Lu 3:32) In 1 Chronicles 2:11 he is called Salma. However, this descendant of Ram, Salmon, whose progeny lived in Bethlehem, should not be confused with the Salma mentioned in 1 Chronicles 2:51, 54 as “the father” or builder of Bethlehem, for the latter was a descendant of Ram’s brother Caleb.​—Compare 1Ch 2:9, 18.

(Sal·moʹne).

A promontory of Crete, generally identified with Cape Sidero at the E end of the island. Paul sailed past Salmone in about 58 C.E. on his way to Rome for trial. However, strong winds apparently did not permit the vessel, en route from Cnidus, to sail N of Crete past the southern tip of Greece and on to Rome. Forced southward, the craft passed Salmone and thereafter had some protection from the wind while sailing along Crete’s southern shores.​—Ac 27:7.

(Sa·loʹme) [probably from a Heb. root meaning “peace”].

1. A comparison of Matthew 27:56 with Mark 15:40 may indicate that Salome was the mother of the sons of Zebedee​—James and John, who were apostles of Jesus Christ. The former text names two of the Marys, namely, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James (the Less) and of Joses; and with these it also mentions the mother of the sons of Zebedee as being present at Jesus’ impalement; while the latter text names the woman with the two Marys as Salome.

It is conjectured on similar grounds that Salome was also the fleshly sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus. This has been suggested because the scripture at John 19:25 names the same two Marys, Mary Magdalene and “the wife of Clopas” (generally understood to be the mother of James the Less and of Joses), and also says: “By the torture stake of Jesus, however, there were standing his mother and the sister of his mother.” If this text (aside from mentioning Jesus’ mother) is speaking of the same three persons mentioned by Matthew and Mark, it would indicate that Salome was the sister of Jesus’ mother. On the other hand, Matthew 27:55 and Mark 15:40, 41 state that there were many other women present who had accompanied Jesus, and therefore Salome may have been among them.

Salome was a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, among the women accompanying him and ministering to him from their belongings, as Matthew, Mark, and Luke (8:3) imply.

If her identification as the mother of Zebedee’s sons is accurate, she was the one who approached Jesus with the request that her sons be granted seats on the right and the left of Jesus in his Kingdom. Matthew depicts the mother as making the request, while Mark shows James and John doing the asking. Apparently the boys had the desire and induced their mother to make the request. This is supported by Matthew’s report that, on hearing about the request, the other disciples became indignant, not at the mother, but at the two brothers.​—Mt 20:20-24; Mr 10:35-41.

At the break of dawn on the third day after Jesus’ death, Salome was among the women who went to Jesus’ tomb to rub his body with spices, only to find the stone rolled away and, inside the tomb, an angel who announced to them: “He was raised up, he is not here. See! The place where they laid him.”​—Mr 16:1-8.

2. A daughter of Herod Philip and only child of her mother Herodias. In time Herod Antipas married Salome’s mother, having adulterously taken her from his half brother Philip. Shortly before Passover 32 C.E., Antipas held an evening meal in Tiberias in celebration of his birthday. He invited the princess Salome, now his stepdaughter, to dance before the group, which consisted of “his top-ranking men and the military commanders and the foremost ones of Galilee.” So delighted was Herod at Salome’s performance that he promised her anything she requested​—up to half his kingdom. Upon her wicked mother’s advice, Salome asked for the head of John the Baptizer.