The grain offering was brought by an Israelite to the Lord as fine flour with oil and incense on it. The priest would take a handful of the fine flour mixture and burn it as a memorial offering.
This grain offering could not include yeast or honey. The reason for this prohibition seems to be related to the potential of fermentation which would corrupt the original condition of the substance offered. Yeast causes decay through the fermentation process. In extreme cases yeast will sour dough if it is left unattended and honey can ferment under certain conditions. Any kind of decay is associated with sin, the fallen nature of the world, immorality, impurity, corruption, death, etc. In fact, honey was used in Assyria and Anatolia to honor the gods of the dead and the underworld
So, absolutely no yeast and no honey in the grain offering, but as offering of firstfruits yeast is acceptable (Lev. 23:17, 20). Honey was included in firstfruits offered during Hezekiah’s reign (2 Chr. 31;5). But, yeast and honey are never used in burnt offerings.
On the other hand, salt was always a necessity! Salt is generally considered a covenant food among the Greeks in the West and the Arabs in the East. In the world of 1400 BC salt was a shared substance between covenant parties. A Babylonian letter from this time speaks of their allies as those who had “tasted the salt of the Jakin tribe.” This reference to tasting the salt of their tribe was meant to remind the recipients of the letter that they had eaten the salt from their allies (the Jakin tribe in this case) table, and so where obligated as a covenant partner.
Likewise, Israel shared their salt with God so as to reinforce their understanding of the covenant relationship they had with the Lord. The use of the phrase “the salt of the covenant of your God” in Leviticus 2:13 would indicate that the salt was a symbol of the original covenant the Israelites had with God. This covenant was the motive for using the sacrificial system. The sacrifices and offerings maintained their covenant relationship with God, because the sacrifices atoned for sins and preserved Israel’s standing in their covenant with God.
In the ancient world salt was indestructible. Salt would have been an indication that the covenant was eternal and indestructible. The symbolic value of salt was very important.
Salt was part of the eternal covenant with the priests of Israel promising provisions for their priestly families. It is called a covenant of salt in Numbers 18:19:
”Whatever is set aside from the holy offerings the Israelites present to the Lord I give to you and your sons and daughters as your regular share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord for both you and your offspring.”
In Second Chronicles 13:5 the Davidic covenant is referred to as a covenant of salt that will last forever:
"Don’t you know that the Lord, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?”
Notice in Ezra 4:14 in the ESV translation where the Hebrew wording is preserved the Samaritans consider themselves covenant partners and obligated to be loyal to the Persian king because of the salt they have eaten from the Persian palace:
“Now because we eat the salt of the palace and it is not fitting for us to witness the king's dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king.”
It is worth noting that the salt may also be a reminder to both parties of a covenant of the curses that would be inflicted upon the one that broke the covenant obligations. A Hittite treaty includes the curse that if the treaty is broken “he and his family and his lands, like salt that has no seed, likewise have no offspring.” |
