Folklore & Superstition
The Covenant of Salt
Short answer: In the Hebrew Bible, a “covenant of salt” means a permanent, unbreakable agreement, because salt preserves and because sharing a meal with salt sealed friendship.
The phrase appears three times. Leviticus 2:13 requires salt with grain offerings. Numbers 18:19 calls the priests' share of the offerings “a covenant of salt for ever.” And 2 Chronicles 13:5 says the kingdom was given to David's line “by a covenant of salt,” that is, forever.
Salt appears in other famous Bible passages too, from Lot's wife becoming a pillar of salt to Jesus calling his followers “the salt of the earth.” Today, many Jewish families still dip or sprinkle the Sabbath bread (challah) with salt, recalling the salted offerings of the ancient Temple.
Related traditions
Cite this page
For school projects and reports. Teachers often prefer the original sources too: see the list below.
The Salt Almanac. (2026, November 8). The covenant of salt. https://saltalmanac.com/folklore/covenant-of-salt
“The Covenant of Salt.” The Salt Almanac, 8 Nov. 2026, saltalmanac.com/folklore/covenant-of-salt. Accessed [today's date].
“The Covenant of Salt.” The Salt Almanac. Last modified November 8, 2026. https://saltalmanac.com/folklore/covenant-of-salt.
Original sources
- BiblicalTraining. Covenant of salt. https://www.biblicaltraining.org/library/covenant-of-salt
- Wikipedia. Bread and salt. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_salt