ἅλας
hálas · G217 · Greek · 8 occurrences
Meanings
-
salt
White crystalline substance, mainly consisting of sodium chloride, used for seasoning or preserving food
ExamplesMatthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by people.
Mark 9:50 “Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
Luke 14:34 “Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned?
How it’s used In 5 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- γῆearth 1
What it doesIt is the subject
2 occurrences in 1 groups
- μωραίνωto cause to become nonsense 2
What is done to itIt is the object
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- ἔχωto have 1
What it is said to bePredicate
3 occurrences in 2 groups
- καλόςgood 2
- ἄναλοςwithout salt 1
What is said to be itIt is the predicate
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- σύyou 1
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
In the other Testament 2 words
- מֶלַח melach · H4417 · salt
- Hebrew מֶלַח (melach, H4417) is the direct Old Testament lexical equivalent of Greek ἅλας (hálas, G217), both denoting the mineral substance salt in literal contexts; the Greek term additionally extends to figurative use (prudence, preservation) in New Testament discourse while the Hebrew primarily remains literal.
- מְלַח mᵉlach · H4416 · maintenance, salt
- Hebrew מְלַח (mᵉlach, H4416) and Greek ἅλας (hálas, G217) both denote the mineral substance salt, with direct translation equivalence across literal cultic/dietary contexts and shared capacity for figurative extension (covenant faithfulness, preservation, wisdom).
Semantic domains 1 entry
- Salt5.25
- In Matthew 5:13, Jesus tells His disciples, “you are the salt (tó hálas) of the earth,” naming the literal seasoning and preservative substance.
Word family 10 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon [, τό, read by Tdf. in Mt 5:13; Mk 9:50; Lk 14:34; see ἅλας.] G217 — ἅλας , (ατος, τό (a…
G217 — ἅλας
, (ατος, τό (a later form, found in the Sept. and N. T. (Aristotle, de mirab, ause. § 138; Plutarch, qu. conv. 4:4, 3, 3), cf. Alexander Buttmann (1873) Ausf. Spr. i., p. 220; dative ἅλατι Col 4:6), and ἅλς, ἁλός, ὁ (the classic form (from Homer down); Sir. 22:15 (13); Sirach 43:19>; Wis. 10:7; 1 Macc. 10:29, etc. Mk 9:49 ἁλί dative (T WH Tr marginal reading omit; Tr text brackets), and in Mk 9:50 L T Tr WH ἅλα accusative (yet without the article) with the nominative τό ἅλας), finally, the nominative and the accusative ἅλα Tdf. in Mk 9:50 (also Mt 5:13; Lk 14:34 (where see his note)) (similar to γάλα, genitive γάλατος, a form noted by certain grammarians, see (WH's Appendix, p. 158;) Kühner, 1:353f; but see what Fritzsche, Commentary on Sirach (Sir. 39:26), p. 226f, says in opposition); salt;
1. Salt with which food is seasoned and sacrifices are sprinkled: Mk 9:49 R G; cf. ἁλίζω.
2. ἅλας τῆς γῆς, those kinds of saline matter used to fertilize arable land, Mt 5:13{a}; here salt as a condiment cannot be understood, since this renders land sterile (Deut 29:23; Zeph 2:9; Judg 9:45); cf. Grohmann in Kauffer's Biblical Studien, 1844, p. 82ff The meaning is, 'It is your prerogative to impart to mankind (likened to arable land) the influences required for a life of devotion to God.' In the statement immediately following, ἐάν δέ ἅλας κτλ., the comparison seems to be drawn from salt as a condiment, so that two figures are blended; (but it is better to adopt this latter meaning throughout the passage, and take γῆ to denote the mass of mankind, see under the word, 4 b. and cf. Tholuck and others at the passage). In Mk 9:50{a} and Lk 14:34 salt is a symbol of that health and vigor of soul which is essential to Christian virtue; (cf. Meyer on the former passage).
3. Salt is a symbol of lasting concord, Mk 9:50{c}, because it protects food from putrefaction and preserves it unchanged. Accordingly, in the solemn ratification of compacts, the Orientals were, and are to this day, accustomed to partake of salt together. Cf. Winers RWB under the word Salz; (BB. DD. under the word ); Knobel on Leviticus, p. 370. 4. Wisdom and grace exhibited in speech: Col 4:6 (where see Lightfoot).
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain
Topical studies with this word 1 entry
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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