SEV Biblia, Chapter 2:13
Y sazonarás toda ofrenda de tu presente con sal; y no harás que falte jamás de tu presente la sal de la alianza de tu Dios; en toda ofrenda tuya ofrecerás sal.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Leviticus 2:13
Verse 13. With all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.] SALT was the opposite to leaven, for it preserved from putrefaction and corruption, and signified the purity and persevering fidelity that were necessary in the worship of God. Every thing was seasoned with it, to signify the purity and perfection that should be extended through every part of the Divine service, and through the hearts and lives of God's worshippers. It was called the salt of the covenant of God, because as salt is incorruptible, so was the covenant made with Abram, Isaac, Jacob, and the patriarchs, relative to the redemption of the world by the incarnation and death of Jesus Christ. Among the heathens salt was a common ingredient in all their sacrificial offerings; and as it was considered essential to the comfort and preservation of life, and an emblem of the most perfect corporeal and mental endowments, so it was supposed to be one of the most acceptable presents they could make unto their gods, from whose sacrifices it was never absent. That inimitable and invaluable writer, Pliny, has left a long chapter on this subject, the seventh of the thirty-first book of his Natural History, a few extracts from which will not displease the intelligent reader. Ergo, hercule, vita humanior sine Sale nequit degere: adeoque necessarium elementum est, ut transierit intellectus ad voluptates animi quoque. Nam ita SALES appellantur omnisque vitae lepos et summa hilaritas, labourumque requies non alio magis vocabulo constat. honouribus etiam militiaeque inter ponitur, SALARIIS inde dictis--Maxime tamen in sacris intelligitur auctoritas, quando nulla conficiuntur sine mola salsa. "So essentially necessary is salt that without it human life cannot be preserved: and even the pleasures and endowments of the mind are expressed by it; the delights of life, repose, and the highest mental serenity, are expressed by no other term than sales among the Latins. It has also been applied to designate the honourable rewards given to soldiers, which are called salarii or salaries. But its importance may be farther understood by its use in sacred things, as no sacrifice was offered to the gods without the salt cake." So Virgil, Eclog.viii., ver. lx22: Sparge molam.
"Crumble the sacred mole of salt and corn." And again, AEneid., lib. iv., ver. 5xvii. - Ipsa mola, manibitsque piis, altaria juxta.
"Now with the sacred cake, and lifted hands, All bent on death, before her altar stands." PITT.
In like manner Homer:- passe dÆ alov qeioio, krateuta wn epaeipav.
Iliad, lib. ix., ver. 214.
"And taking sacred salt from the hearth side, Where it was treasured, pour'd it o'er the feast." COWPER.
Quotations of this kind might be easily multiplied, but the above may be deemed sufficient.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 13. And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt , etc.] Which makes food savoury, and preserves from putrefaction; denoting the savouriness and acceptableness of Christ as a meat offering to his people, he being savoury food, such as their souls love, as well as to God the Father, who is well pleased with his sacrifice; and also the perpetuity of his sacrifice, which always has the same virtue in it, and of him as a meat offering, who is that meat which endures to everlasting life, ( John 6:27) and also the grave and gracious conversation of those that by faith feed upon him, ( Mark 9:50 Colossians 4:6) neither shall thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering ; this seems to suggest the reason why salt was used in meat offerings, and in all others, because it was a symbol of the perpetuity of the covenant, which from thence is called a covenant of salt, ( Numbers 18:19) namely, the covenant of the priesthood, to which these sacrifices belonged, ( Numbers 25:13) hence the Targum of Jonathan, “because the twenty four gifts of the priests are decreed by the covenant of salt, therefore upon all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt:” with all thine offerings thou shall offer salt , even those that were not to be eaten, as well as those that were; as the burnt offering of the herd, of the flock, and of fowls, and their several parts; all were obliged to be salted that were offered, excepting wine, blood, wood, and incense f69 ; hence there was a room in the temple where salt was laid up for this purpose, called jlm tkçl , “the salt room” f70 ; and which was provided by the congregation, and not by a private person f71 ; our Lord has reference to this law in ( Mark 9:49) the Heathens always made use of salt in their sacrifices f72 .
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 12-16 - Salt is required in all the offerings. God hereby intimates to the that their sacrifices, in themselves, were unsavoury. All religiou services must be seasoned with grace. Christianity is the salt of the earth. Directions are given about offering their first-fruits a harvest. If a man, with a thankful sense of God's goodness in giving him a plentiful crop, was disposed to present an offering to God, le him bring the first ripe and full ears. Whatever was brought to God must be the best in its kind, though it were but green ears of corn Oil and frankincense must be put upon it. Wisdom and humility softe and sweeten the spirits and services of young people, and their gree ears of corn shall be acceptable. God takes delight in the first rip fruits of the Spirit, and the expressions of early piety and devotion Holy love to God is the fire by which all our offerings must be made The frankincense denotes the mediation and intercession of Christ, by which our services are accepted. Blessed be God that we have the substance, of which these observances were but shadows. There is tha excellency in Christ, and in his work as Mediator, which no types an shadows can fully represent. And our dependence thereon must be s entire, that we must never lose sight of it in any thing we do, if we would be accepted of God __________________________________________________________________
Original Hebrew
וכל 3605 קרבן 7133 מנחתך 4503 במלח 4417 תמלח 4414 ולא 3808 תשׁבית 7673 מלח 4417 ברית 1285 אלהיך 430 מעל 5921 מנחתך 4503 על 5921 כל 3605 קרבנך 7133 תקריב 7126 מלח׃ 4417
