Hebrew noun (masculine) · H4417
מֶלַח
melachmeh'-lakh
Salt (Sea)
27 uses in the Hebrew text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key
Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's H4417is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.
- 13 of 39Old Testament books
- 17spellings
The definition in full
Strong's key (1890) · H4417
properly, powder, i.e. (specifically) salt (as easily pulverized and dissolved)
The King James renders it: salt(-pit).
James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), public domain. Strong indexed the King James text, and this site quotes his entry as that index.
Summary
melach is rendered "Salt (Sea)". It stands 27 times in the Hebrew text, across thirteen books.
- Five of the uses stand in Joshua, more than in any other book.
- Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.Genesis 14:3The latter five came as allies to the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).
- The Greek text spells it seventeen different ways.
The first use
The latter five came as allies to the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).
Genesis 14:3הַמֶּֽלַח׃
The first use, in the order of the Old Testament's books.
Where the word stands
The word stands in thirteen of the 39 Old Testament books.
What the word means
Each meaning, and the words it is translated by
How the Greek text is glossed, word by word
- salt11
- the Salt11
- salt of2
- and salt1
- to salt1
- with the salt1
The words built on the same word-part
Each word below begins with the same letters this one begins with. A shared word-part shows a family. It does not settle what any one of them means, so each word carries its own uses on its own page. Scholars call that shared part the stem.
All 27, in canonical order
Every use, in order
Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.
17 spellings and their grammar
STEP Bible tags every word of the Hebrew and Greek text with its spelling and its grammar. Both lists below count the rows printed underneath, written out in English, with the code beside each one as it was tagged.
How it is spelled
- מֶ֑לַח4
- הַמֶּ֑לַח3
- הַמֶּ֔לַח3
- הַמֶּ֖לַח2
- הַמֶּ֙לַח֙2
- מֶֽלַח׃ ס2
- בַּמֶּ֣לַח1
- הַמֶּֽלַח׃1
- וָמֶלַח֮1
- לְמֶ֥לַח1
- מֶ֚לַח1
- מֶ֨לַח1
and 5 more spellings in the ledger below.
The grammar of each form
- noun · masculine singular10HNcmsa
- the definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singular9HTd/Ncmsa
- noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)2HNcmsc
- the definite article (“the”) + proper noun (a name)2HTd/Npl
- conjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine singular1HC/Ncmsa
- proper noun (a name)1HNpl
- preposition + noun · masculine singular1HR/Ncmsa
- preposition with the article + noun · masculine singular1HRd/Ncmsa
Genesis
two uses
The latter five came as allies to the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).
- הַמֶּֽלַח׃hamelachthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the Salt
But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
- מֶֽלַח׃melachnoun · masculine singulartagged: salt
Leviticus
three uses
And you shall season each of your grain offerings with salt. You must not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offering; you are to add salt to each of your offerings.
- בַּמֶּ֣לַחbamelachpreposition with the article + noun · masculine singulartagged: with the salt
- מֶ֚לַחmelachnoun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: salt of
- מֶֽלַח׃ סmelachnoun · masculine singulartagged: salt
Numbers
three uses
All the holy offerings that the Israelites present to the LORD I give to you and to your sons and daughters as a permanent statute. It is a permanent covenant of salt before the LORD for you and your offspring.”
- מֶ֨לַחmelachnoun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: salt of
Your southern border will extend from the Wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom. On the east, your southern border will run from the end of the Salt Sea,
- הַמֶּ֖לַחhamelachthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the Salt
Then the border will go down along the Jordan and end at the Salt Sea. This will be your land, defined by its borders on all sides.”
- הַמֶּ֑לַחhamelachthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the Salt
Deuteronomy
two uses
The Jordan River in the Arabah bordered it from Chinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) with the slopes of Pisgah to the east.
- הַמֶּ֔לַחhamelachthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the Salt
All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His fierce anger.
- וָמֶלַח֮vamelachconjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: and salt
Joshua
five uses
the flowing water stood still. It backed up as far upstream as Adam, a city in the area of Zarethan, while the water flowing toward the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.
- הַמֶּ֖לַחhamelachthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the Salt
as well as the Arabah east of the Sea of Chinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea), eastward through Beth-jeshimoth, and southward below the slopes of Pisgah.
- הַמֶּ֙לַח֙hamelachthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the Salt
Their southern border started at the bay on the southern tip of the Salt Sea,
- הַמֶּ֑לַחhamelachthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the Salt
The eastern border was the Salt Sea as far as the mouth of the Jordan.
- הַמֶּ֔לַחhamelachthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the Salt
The border continued to the northern slope of Beth-hoglah and came out at the northern bay of the Salt Sea, at the mouth of the Jordan. This was the southern border.
- הַמֶּ֙לַח֙hamelachthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the Salt
Judges
one use
And all that day Abimelech fought against the city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he demolished the city and sowed it with salt.
- מֶֽלַח׃ פmelachnoun · masculine singulartagged: salt
2 Samuel
one use
And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
- מֶ֑לַחmelachproper noun (a name)tagged: Salt
2 Kings
three uses
“Bring me a new bowl,” he replied, “and put some salt in it.” So they brought it to him,
- מֶ֑לַחmelachnoun · masculine singulartagged: salt
and Elisha went out to the spring, cast the salt into it, and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘I have healed this water. No longer will it cause death or unfruitfulness.’”
- מֶ֑לַחmelachnoun · masculine singulartagged: salt
Amaziah struck down 10,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. He took Sela in battle and called it Joktheel, which is its name to this very day.
- מֶ֙לַח֙melachnoun · masculine singulartagged: Salt
1 Chronicles
one use
Moreover, Abishai son of Zeruiah struck down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
- הַמֶּ֔לַחhamelachthe definite article (“the”) + proper noun (a name)tagged: the Salt
2 Chronicles
two uses
Do you not know that the LORD, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?
- מֶֽלַח׃ סmelachnoun · masculine singulartagged: salt
Amaziah, however, summoned his strength and led his troops to the Valley of Salt, where he struck down 10,000 men of Seir,
- הַמֶּ֑לַחhamelachthe definite article (“the”) + proper noun (a name)tagged: the Salt
Job
one use
Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg?
- מֶ֑לַחmelachnoun · masculine singulartagged: salt
Ezekiel
two uses
You must present them before the LORD; the priests are to sprinkle salt on them and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the LORD.
- מֶ֔לַחmelachnoun · masculine singulartagged: salt
But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt.
- לְמֶ֥לַחlemelachpreposition + noun · masculine singulartagged: to salt
Zephaniah
one use
Therefore, as surely as I live,” declares the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, “surely Moab will be like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah—a place of weeds and salt pits, a perpetual wasteland. The remnant of My people will plunder them; the remainder of My nation will dispossess them.”
- מֶ֥לַחmelachnoun · masculine singulartagged: salt
Where it leads
How the numbers are counted
Every count on this page comes from STEP Bible's tagged Hebrew and Greek text, the same text the ledger prints. A use is counted once each time the tagging marks a word with this key.
Spellings are counted as the Greek text spells them, with the sentence's own punctuation taken off the word first, so a form that ends a clause is not counted as a second spelling.
The words it stands beside are the nouns, verbs and adjectives immediately before or after it, counted in every verse where the word stands. The article, the conjunctions and the prepositions are left out, because they stand beside every word.
