Numbers 18:19

All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the LORD, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD unto thee and to thy seed with thee.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(19) It is a covenant of salt.—i.e., an indissoluble covenant. (See Leviticus 2:13, and Note; also 2Chronicles 13:5.) Hence the phrases used by the Greeks to denote the breach of a covenant, “Where is the salt?” and “They overstepped the salt.” (Comp. Pliny, H. N., xxxi. 41; Cic., De Div., ii. 16; Virgil, Ecl., viii. 82.)

Benson Commentary

Numbers 18:19. A covenant of salt — A durable and perpetual covenant; so called here, and 2 Chronicles 13:5, either because salt is of singular use to preserve things from corruption, and was an emblem of friendship; or because it was ratified on their part by salt, which is therefore called the salt of the covenant, for which the priests were obliged to take care that it should never be lacking from any meal-offering, Leviticus 2:13. And this privilege conferred upon the priests is called a covenant, because it was given them conditionally, upon condition of their service and care about the worship of God.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

18:8-19 All believers are spiritual priests, and God has promised to take care of them. Godliness has the promise of the life that now is. And from the provision here made for the priests, the apostle shows that it is the duty of christian churches to maintain their ministers. Scandalous maintenance makes scandalous ministers. The priests were to be wholly devoted to their ministry, not diverted from it, or disturbed in it, by worldly care or business. Also, that they might be examples of living by faith, not only in God's providence, but in his ordinances. The best should be offered for the first-fruits unto the Lord. Those who think to save, by putting God off with the refuse, deceive themselves, for God is not mocked.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A covenant of salt - Compare the marginal reference. covenants were ordinarily cemented in the East by the rites of hospitality; of which salt was the obvious token, entering as it does into every article of diet. It indicates perpetuity: compare Leviticus 2:13 note.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

19. it is a covenant of salt—that is, a perpetual ordinance. This figurative form of expression was evidently founded on the conservative property of salt, which keeps meat from corruption; and hence it became an emblem of inviolability and permanence. It is a common phrase among Oriental people, who consider the eating of salt a pledge of fidelity, binding them in a covenant of friendship. Hence the partaking of the altar meats, which were appropriated to the priests on condition of their services and of which salt formed a necessary accompaniment, was naturally called "a covenant of salt" (Le 2:13).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

A covenant of salt, i.e. a durable and perpetual covenant; so called here and 2 Chronicles 13:5, either because salt is a sign of incorruption, as being of singular use to preserve things from corruption; or because it is confirmed and ratified on their part by salt, which is therefore called

the salt of the covenant, for which the priests were obliged to take care that it should never be lacking from any meat-offering, Leviticus 2:13. And this promise or privilege conferred upon the priests is called a

covenant because it is given them conditionally, upon condition of their service, and care about the worship of God, and sacrifices, which were commonly accompanied with meat-offerings, and therefore with salt.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

All the heave offerings of the holy things,.... All before mentioned, and whatsoever comes under that name:

which the children of Israel offer unto the Lord; either by his commandment, or of their own freewill:

have I given thee, and thy sons, and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: so providing for their maintenance by an irrepealable law as long as their priesthood lasted, even until the Messiah should come:

it is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord unto thee, and thy seed with thee: an incorruptible, inviolable, durable covenant, which should last for ever, even until the Gospel dispensation or world to come should take place; and it would remain ever before the Lord in his sight, who would take care it should never be made void, but stand fast with Aaron and his posterity as long as his priesthood endured.

Geneva Study Bible

All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the LORD, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant {k} of salt for ever before the LORD unto thee and to thy seed with thee.

(k) That is, sure, stable and incorruptible.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

19. a covenant of salt] In primitive days the eating of salt, or of the smallest portion of food belonging to another man, constituted a sacred bond of friendship. So the expression denotes ‘a covenant which cannot be broken.’ On the Hebrew ideas of a covenant see the writer’s Exodus, pp. 150–4.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 19. - All the heave offerings of the holy things. Those, viz., enumerated from verse 9. It is a covenant of salt for ever. Septuagint, διαθήκη ἀλὸς αἰωνίου (cf. 2 Chronicles 13:5). Salt was the natural emblem of that which is incorruptible; wherefore a binding alliance was (and still is) made by eating bread and salt together, and salt was always added to the sacrifices of the Lord (Leviticus 2:13; Mark 9:49). Numbers 18:19

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"All the holy heave-offerings" are not the thank-offerings (Knobel), but, as in Numbers 18:8, all the holy gifts enumerated in Numbers 18:9-18. Jehovah gives these to the priests as an eternal claim. "An eternal covenant of salt is this before Jehovah," for Aaron and his descendants. A "covenant of salt;" equivalent to an indissoluble covenant, or inviolable contract (see at Leviticus 2:13).