Salome

Easton's Bible Dictionary

"The daughter of Herodias," not named in the New Testament. On the occasion of the birthday festival held by Herod Antipas, who had married her mother Herodias, in the fortress of Machaerus, she "came in and danced, and pleased Herod" ( Mark 6:14-29 ). John the Baptist, at that time a prisoner in the dungeons underneath the castle, was at her request beheaded by order of Herod, and his head given to the damsel in a charger, "and the damsel gave it to her mother," whose revengeful spirit was thus gratified. "A luxurious feast of the period" (says Farrar, Life of Christ) "was not regarded as complete unless it closed with some gross pantomimic representation; and doubtless Herod had adopted the evil fashion of his day. But he had not anticipated for his guests the rare luxury of seeing a princess, his own niece, a grand-daughter of Herod the Great and of Mariamne, a descendant, therefore, of Simon the high priest and the great line of Maccabean princes, a princess who afterwards became the wife of a tetrarch [Philip, tetrarch of Trachonitis] and the mother of a king, honouring them by degrading herself into a scenic dancer."

Copyright Statement These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., DD Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain.

Bibliography Information Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Salome'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/s/salome.html. 1897.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

1. Wife of Zebedee; among the "women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto Him" ( Matthew 27:55-56; compare  Mark 15:40). Supposed to be the Virgin Mary's sister. (But see on  John 19:25 (See Mary OF Cleophas Salome requested for her two rams seats of honour on Christ's right hand and left in His kingdom ( Matthew 20:20), and shared with her sons in His rebuke, but was not the less zealous in her attachment to Him. Size was at His crucifixion, "beholding afar off," when even her sons had withdrawn; and at His sepulchre by early dawn ( Mark 16:1).

2. Herodias' daughter by her former husband Herod Philip (Josephus Ant. 18:5, section 4;  Matthew 14:6;  Mark 6:22). She danced before Herod Antipas, and at her mother's instigation asked for John the Baptist's head. (See Herod Antipas; John The Baptist Salome married first Philip, tetrarch of Trachonitis, her paternal uncle; then Aristobulus, king of Chalcis.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

the wife of Zebedee, and mother of St. James the greater, and St. John the evangelist,  Matthew 27:56; and one of those holy women who used to attend upon our Saviour in his journeyings, and to minister to him. She was the person who requested of Jesus Christ, that her two sons, James and John, might sit on his right and left hand when he should enter upon his kingdom, having then but the same obscure views as the rest of the disciples; but she gave proof of her faith when she followed Christ to Calvary, and did not forsake him even at the cross,  Mark 15:40;  Matthew 27:55-56 . She was also one of the women that brought perfumes to embalm him, and who came, for this purpose, to the sepulchre "early in the morning,"  Mark 16:1-2 . At the tomb they saw two angels, who informed them that Jesus was risen. Returning to Jerusalem, Jesus appeared to them on the way, and said to them, "Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me."

Morrish Bible Dictionary

1. One ofthe women who witnessed the crucifixion of the Lord, and brought spices to anoint His body.  Mark 15:40;  Mark 16:1 . By comparing  Matthew 27:56 with   Mark 15:40 , it appears that Salome was the wife of Zebedee; and if so, she came with her two sons, James and John, when they asked that they might sit on the right hand and on the left of the Lord in His kingdom.  Matthew 20:20;  Mark 10:35 .

2. Though not mentioned by name in scripture, this Salome is therein spoken of as the daughter of Herodias (by her first husband, Herod Philip). She danced before Herod Antipas, and, by the request of her guilty mother, asked the head of John the Baptist. She became wife of her uncle Philip, tetrarch of Trachonitis, and afterwards of Aristobulus the king of Chalcis,   Mark 6:22-28 , etc.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Salo'me. (Peaceful).

1. The wife of Zebedee,  Matthew 27:56;  Mark 15:40, and, probably, sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus , to whom reference is made in  John 19:25. The only events recorded of Salome are that, she preferred a request on behalf of her two sons for seats of honor in the kingdom of heaven,  Matthew 20:20, that she attended at the crucifixion of Jesus ,  Mark 15:40, and that she visited his sepulchre.  Mark 16:1. She is mentioned by name on only the two latter occasions.

2. The daughter of Herodias, by her first husband, Herod Philip.  Matthew 14:6. She married in the first, the tetrarch of Trachonitis, her paternal uncle, and, secondly, Aristobulus, the king of Chalcis.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

SALOME . 1 . The daughter (unnamed in NT) of Herodias. who danced before Herod and received as a reward the head of John the Baptist (  Matthew 14:3-11 ,   Mark 6:17-20 ). 2 . One of the women who were present at the crucifixion (  Mark 15:40 ) and who afterwards visited the sepulchre (  Mark 16:1 ). By comparing   Mark 15:40 and   Matthew 27:66 it has been almost certainly concluded that Salome was the wife of Zebedee, who also figures in the Incident   Matthew 20:20-23 . The conjecture that Salome was the sister of Mary the mother of Jesus has no adequate support.

W. F. Boyd.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Salome ( Sa-Lôme' ; Greek and Latin, Sa-Lô'Me . 1. The wife of Zebedee, and the mother of James the elder and John the Evangelist, and was one of the followers of Christ,  Matthew 27:56;  Mark 15:40;  Mark 16:1, though she seems, like many others, to have at first mistaken the true nature of his kingdom.  Matthew 20:21. 2. The name of the daughter of Herodias, who danced before Herod.  Matthew 14:6;  Mark 6:22. She is not named in the New Testament, but is by Josephus.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Wife of Zebedee, mother of James the elder and John the evangelist, one of those holy women of Galilee who attended our Savior in his journeys and ministered to him,  Matthew 20.20-23 . Her conception as to the true nature of Christ's kingdom were no doubt changed by his crucifixion, which she witnessed "afar off," and by his resurrection, of which she was early apprized by the angels at the tomb,  Mark 15:40;  16:1 . Some infer, from comparing  Matthew 27:56 and   John 19:25 , that she was a sister of Mary the mother of Jesus.

Salome was also the name of the daughter of Herodias.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Mark 16:1 Matthew 27:56 John 19:25 John 19:25Mary

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

The wife of Zebedee. Honorable mention is made of this woman in her attendance on the Lord Jesus,  Mark 15:40; Mar 16:1.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

( Σαλώμη , from the Heb. שָׁלוֹ ם , i.e. Peaceful ), the name of several women mentioned or alluded to in the N.T. and by Josephus.

1. Called also Alexandra , the wife of Aristobulus I, king of the Jews, on whose death (B.C. 106) she released her brothers, who had been thrown by him into prison, and advanced the eldest of them (Alexander Jannaeus) to the throne (Josephus, Ant. 13:12, 1; War , 1, 4, 1). By some she has been identified with Alexandra, the wife of Alexander Jannseus. (See Alexandra).

2. A daughter of Antipater by his wife Cypros, and sister of Herod the Great, one of the most wicked of women. She first married Joseph, whom she accused of familiarities with Mariamne, wife of Herod, and thus procured his death (B.C. 34). She afterwards married Costobarus; but, being disgusted with him, she put him away — a license till then unheard of among the Jews, whose law (says Josephus) allows men to put away their wives, but does not allow women equal liberty (B.C. 26). After this she accused Him of treason against Herod, who put him to death. She caused much division and trouble in Herod's family by her calumnies and mischievous informations; and she may be considered as the chief author of the death of the princes Alexander and Aristobulus, and of their mother Mariamne. (See Aristobulus). She afterwards conceived a violent passion for an Arabian prince, called Sillaeus, whom she would have married against her brother Herod's consent; and even after she was married to Alexas, her inclination for Sillaeus was notorious. Salome survived Herod, who left her, by will, the cities of Jamnia, Azoth, and Phasaelis, with fifty thousand pieces of money. She favored Antipas against Archelaus, and died A.D. 9, a little after Archelaus had been banished to Vienne, in Dauphiny. Salome had five children by Alexas — Berenice, Antipater, Calleas, and a son and a daughter whose names are not mentioned (Josephus, Ant. 15:4; 17:8) (See Herod).

3. A daughter of Herod the Great by Elpis. In addition to what her father bequeathed to her, Augustus gave her a considerable dowry, and married her to one of the sons of Pheroras, Herod's brother (Josephus, A Nf. 17:1; War , 1, 28, etc.). (See Herod).

4. The wife of Zebedee, as appears from comparing  Matthew 27:56 with  Mark 15:40. It is further the opinion of many modern critics that she was that sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus, to whom reference is made in  John 19:25. The words admit, however, of another and hitherto generally received explanation, according to which they refer to the "Mary the wife of Cleophas" immediately afterwards mentioned. In behalf of the former view, it may be urged that it gets rid of the difficulty arising out of two sisters having the same name; that it harmonizes John's narrative with those of Matthew and Mark; that this circuitous manner of describing his own mother is in character with John's manner of describing himself; that the absence of any connecting link between the second and third designations may be accounted for on the ground that the four are arranged in two distinct couplets; and, lastly, that the Peshito, the Persian, and the Aethiopic versions mark the distinction between the second and third by interpolating a conjunction. On the other hand, it may be urged that the difficulty arising out of the name may be disposed of by assumig a double marriage on the part of the father; that there is no necessity to harmonize John with Matthew and Mark, for that the time and the place in which the groups are noticed differ materially; that the language addressed to John — "Behold thy mother!" — favors the idea of the absence rather than of the presence of his natural mother; and that the varying traditions current in the early Church as to Salome's parents, worthless as they are in themselves, yet bear a negative testimony against the idea of her being related to the mother of Jesus. (According to one account, she was the daughter of Joseph by a former marriage [Epiphan. Hoer. 78, 8]; according to another, the wife of Joseph [Niceph. H.E. 2, 3].) Altogether, we can hardly regard the point as settled, though the weight of modern criticism is decidedly in favor of the former view (see Wieseler, in the Stud. u. Kit. [1840] p. 648). The only events recorded of Salome are that she preferred a request, on behalf of her two sons, for seats of honor in the kingdom, of heaven ( Matthew 20:20); that she attended at the crucifixion of Jesus ( Mark 15:40); and that she visited his sepulchre ( Mark 16:1) (A.D. 26-28). She is mentioned by name only on the two latter occasions. (See Zebedee).

5. The daughter of Herodias by her first husband, Herod Philip (Josephus, Ant. 18:5, 4). She is the "daughter of Herodias" noticed in  Matthew 14:6 as dancing before Herod Antipas, and as procuring, at her mother's instigation, the death of John the Baptist. (See Herodias). She was married, in the first place, to Philip, the tetrarch of Trachonitis, her paternal uncle, who died childless; and, secondly, to her cousin Aristobulus, son of Herod, the king of Chalcis, by whom she had three sons. The legendary account of her death (Niceph. H.E. 1 , 20) is a clumsy invention to the effect that Salome accompanied her mother Herodias, and her father-in-law Herod, in their banishment to Vienne, in Dauphiny; and that, the emperor having obliged them to go into Spain, as she passed over a river that was frozen, the ice broke under her feet, and she sank in up to her neck, when, the ice uniting again, she remained thus suspended by it, and suffered the same punishment she had made John the Baptist undergo. (See Herod).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

sa - lō´mḗ ( Σαλώμη , Salṓmē ):

(1) One of the holy women who companied with Jesus in Galilee, and ministered to Him ( Mark 15:40 ,  Mark 15:41 ). She was present at the crucifixion ( Mark 15:40 ), and was among those who came to the tomb of Jesus on the resurrection morning ( Mark 16:1 ,  Mark 16:2 ). Comparison with  Matthew 27:56 clearly identifies her with the wife of Zebedee. It is she, therefore, whose ambitious request for her sons James and John is recorded in   Matthew 20:20-24;  Mark 10:35-40 . From  John 19:25 many infer that she was a sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus (thus Meyer, Luthardt, Alford); others (as Godet) dispute the inference.

(2) Salome was the name of the daughter of Herodias who danced before Herod, and obtained as reward the head of John the Baptist ( Matthew 14:3-11;  Mark 6:17-28; compare Josephus, Ant. , Xviii , v, 4). She is not named in the Gospels.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Salome, 1

Salo´me, a woman of Galilee, who accompanied Jesus in some of His journeys, and ministered unto Him; and was one of those who witnessed His crucifixion and resurrection . It is gathered by comparing these texts with , that she was the wife of Zebedee, and mother of the apostles James and John.

Salome, 2

Salo´me was also the name (though not given in Scripture) of that daughter of Herodias, whose dancing before her uncle and father-in-law, Herod Antipas, was instrumental in procuring the decapitation of John the Baptist [[[Herodian Family; John The Baptist]]]