מָלַח
to salt
‘to salt’ is one of 4 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Hophal verb in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Stem
- Hophal
- The passive counterpart of the Hiphil (“he was caused to…”).
- Niphal
- Usually the simple passive or reflexive of the Qal (“he was written”).
- Pual
- The passive counterpart of the Piel.
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”).
Form
- Infinitive Absolute
- An unbound verbal noun, often intensifying or standing in for a finite verb.
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
- Participle Passive
- A verbal adjective expressing action received (“written”).
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Person
- 2nd Person
- The one addressed (“you”).
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
Gender
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
- Common
- Either gender — not distinguished for this form.
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
Grammatical forms
- Verb, Hophal, Infinitive Absolute 1 time (20%)
- Verb, Hophal, Perfect, 2nd Person, Feminine, Singular 1 time (20%)
- Verb, Niphal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural 1 time (20%)
- Verb, Pual, Participle Passive, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 1 time (20%)
- Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular 1 time (20%)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 5 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Every verse where H4414 appears — 4 distinct verses across 4 books. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Exodus 1 verse
Leviticus 1 verse
Isaiah 1 verse
Ezekiel 1 verse
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
מלח (mâlach) is a Hebrew verb most often rendered “to salt.” It is rare — just 4 verses in the entire Hebrew Bible. Exodus dominates its distribution — 1 of 4 verses. Scripture first uses it in Exodus 30:35. As a verb its force shifts by stem, across 3 stems (Qal, Pual, and more). For the data behind this summary, explore the sense tree and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H4414 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 4
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 4 distinct verses.
- 4 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 4 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #3,337
- by frequency
- Top 5000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 3,337 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 4 occurrences in the concordance →
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 4 distinct verses.
- Torah (Pentateuch) 2 verses · 50%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 2 verses · 50%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
BDB lists this Strong’s number as 2 distinct words (homographs). Each count above pools all of them and is not split by sense — see the Senses section below. A low-frequency rendering may belong to a different one of those words, not the primary meaning.
- King James Version†: All 1×, Shall vanish away 1×, Shalt thou season 1×
- American Standard Version†: Heavens shall vanish away 1×, Seasoned 1×, Shalt thou season 1×
- Berean Standard Bible†: Rubbed with salt 1×, Seasoned with salt 1×, Will vanish 1×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: Rub you down 1×, Salt 1×, Salted 1×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H4414 across 5† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H4414 across 5† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H4414 across 4† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Not rendered by a distinct English word in 1 further occurrence.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H4414 across 5† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Senses in the full BDB
Hebrew verbs can shift meaning by stem (binyan): Qal is the basic action, Niphal is often passive or reflexive, Piel often intensifies or makes it factitive, and Hiphil is typically causative. The senses below are grouped under the stem BDB assigns to each. This entry also uses Pual (the passive of Piel) and Hophal (the passive of Hiphil).
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 3 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
מלח I tear away, dissipate, be dispersed in fragments, dissipated
מלח II salt, season
Qal
- Lv 2:13 (obj. offering). e.g. Leviticus 2:13
Pual
- . salted, i.e. the incense
Hophal
- . i.e. rubbed or washed with salt (of infant, in personification).
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
I. [ מָלַח ] vb. tear away, dissipate;— Niph. fig. be dispersed in fragments, dissipated, Is 51:6.
III. [ מָלַח ] vb. denom. salt, season
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Origin: a primitive root
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
מָלַח
- to salt, brine; esp. (in ritual law) to strew salt on raw meat to resorb its blood. Midd. V, 3 היו מוֹלְחִין עורות וכ׳ they put salt on the hides of sacrifices.—Ḥull. 113ᵃ אלא א"כ מוֹלְחוֹ יפה יפה וכ׳ unless one salts it carefully and washes it thoroughly. Ib. מדיח ומוֹלֵחַ וכ׳ one must first wash the meat, then salt it and again wash it. B. Bath. 74ᵇ ומְלָחָהּ לצדיקים וכ׳ and preserved it in salt for the benefit of the righteous &c. Ḥull. l. c. דג טהור שמְלָחוֹ וכ׳ a clean fish which was salted together with an unclean one; a. fr.—Part. pass. מָלוּחַ (v. מְלִיחַ); pl. מְלוּחִים, מְלוּחִין. Ib. שניהם מ׳ both were salted, opp. תָּפֵל. Yalk. Ps. 887 מ׳ salty secretions.—Y. Taan. IV, 69ᵇ top מיני מ׳ various kinds of salted food. Y. Sabb. I, 3ᶜ bot. מְלוּחֵיהֶן brines prepared by gentiles; a. fr.
- to be strewn with salt. Sifra Vayikra, N’dab., Par. 9, ch. XI שלא הוּמְלְחָה no salt had been put on it.
- same. Part. מְמוּלָּח salted, trnsf. bright. Kidd. 29ᵇ אם היה בנו זריז וממ׳ (Var. וממולא) if his son is eager to learn and bright; [our w. missing in Tosef. Bekh. VI, 10).
מְלַח I
- Targ. Lev. II, 13. Targ. Y. Gen. XXXI, 19.—Sabb. 75ᵇ האי מאן דמ׳ בשרא וכ׳ he who salts raw meat (on the Sabbath) &c. Ḥull. 113ᵃ מ׳ ליה גרמא גרמא salted each piece separately. B. Bath. 74ᵇ לִימְלְחָהּ לנקבה let him preserve in salt the female (Behemoth); a. fr.—Part. pass. מְלִיחַ, מְלִיחָא, pl. מְלִיחֵי. Ib. כוורא מ׳ מעלי fish in salt is good; בשרא מ׳ וכ׳ meat in salt is not.—Ib. ציפרי מ׳ fowls in salt; a. fr.—V. מְלִיחָא.
- to be strewn with salt, be salted. Targ. Ez. XVI, 4.—Ḥull. 112ᵇ. Ib. 97ᵇ אִימְּלִיחוּ וכ׳ were (ritually) salted … with the nervus ischiadicus left therein; a. fr.
מְלַח II
- (denom. of מַלָּח) to row; to balance. Keth. 85ᵃ מְמַלַּח מַלּוּחֵי (not מימלח) rowed the boat (as an act of possession). B. Kam. 117ᵇ מ׳ ביה חד מינייהו (Alf.) one of them tried to keep the boat in balance (against the ass that threatened to upset it); [ed. מַ׳ ליה לחמרא (Var. מלא, v. Rabb. D. S. a. l. note 90) he tried to counterbalance the ass].
מֶלַח
- c. (b. h.; [brittle,] salt. Ker. 6ᵃ; B. Bath. 20ᵇ מ׳ סדומית (sub. ארץ) sea-salt, v. אִסְתְּרוֹקָנִית. Ḥull. 112ᵃ נאכל מחמת מִלְחוֹ is eaten on account of (with) the salt it has absorbed. Keth. 66ᵇ (prov.) מ׳ ממון חֶסֶר וא"ל חסד the salt (means of preservation) of wealth is its diminution (by charitable deeds), and some say ḥesed (benevolence). Gen. R. s. 51 חטאה במ׳ she (Lot’s wife) sinned through salt; הולכת … תנו לי מ׳ מ׳ she went to all her neighbors and said, give me salt for we have guests; a. fr.
מֶלַח ²
- Targ. Lev. II, 13 מַלַח constr. ed. Berl. (Var. מָ׳, מְ׳, v. Berl. Targ. O. II, p. 32; Y. מֶ׳). Targ. II Chr. XIII, 5. Targ. Y. Gen. XIX, 26 (v. Gen. R. s. 51 quot. in preced.); a. fr.—Kidd. 62ᵃ; Ḥull. 113ᵃ, v. גְּלַלְנִיתָא. Bekh. 8ᵇ מ׳ כי סרי וכ׳ when salt becomes unsavory, wherewith do they salt it? B. Bath. 74ᵇ מִלְחָהּ מעלי (differ. vers. in Ms. M., v. Rabb. D. S. a. l. note) as to the female (Behemoth), its brine is more savory. Yeb. 63ᵃ, v. חֲפוּרָה II; a. fr.—Pl. מִלְחֵי, מִי׳. Pes. 8ᵃ בי מ׳ salt-store. Ab. Zar. 33ᵃ שדא חמרא לבי מ׳ דישראל poured wine into a Jew’s salt-store (Rashi: a vessel filled with salt).
מַלָּח
- cmp. meaning of ἅλς a. mariner, sailor. Koh. R. to IX, 8.
מְלִיחַ
- (מָלַח)
- 1. preserved in salt, pickled. Ḥull. 113ᵃ (בשר) מ׳ salted meat, opp. תָּפֵל. Ib. 97ᵇ, a. fr. מ׳ … כרותח what is preserved in salt, is ritually to be considered as if boiled or roasted; a. fr.—[Pl., v. מָלַח.]
- 2. salted relish, dessert. Ber. VI, 7. Ib. 44ᵃ כל סעודה שאין בה מ׳ וכ׳ Ms. M. (ed. מלח, corr. acc.; v. Rabb. D. S. a. l. note) a meal without salted preserves is no meal.
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 5 distinct written forms H4414 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that stem’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
| Form | Parsing | Example | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| הֻמְלַ֔חַתְּ | Verb, Hophal, Perfect, 2nd Person, Feminine, Singular | Ezekiel 16:4 | 1 |
| וְ/הָמְלֵ֨חַ֙ | Verb, Hophal, Infinitive Absolute | Ezekiel 16:4 | 1 |
| מְמֻלָּ֖ח | Verb, Pual, Participle Passive, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Exodus 30:35 | 1 |
| נִמְלָ֨חוּ֙ | Verb, Niphal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural | Isaiah 51:6 | 1 |
| תִּמְלָח֒ | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular | Leviticus 2:13 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H4414, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derived from this word
- מלוח mallûwach H4408 mallow
- מלח mᵉlach H4415 to eat salt
- מלח melach H4417 salt
- מלח mâlâch H4418 rag
- מלח mallâch H4419 sailor
- מלחה mᵉlêchâh H4420 saltness
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 7 — not the complete family. They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 4 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 4 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
