Greek word · G252
ἁλυκός
halykos
salty
Salty, briny, brackish. Used of seawater, salt lakes and mineral springs.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
Salty, briny, brackish. Used of seawater, salt lakes and mineral springs.
- Against the English
BSB and NIV have "salt spring," ESV "salt pond," NASB "salt water." Most of these supply a noun the Greek leaves out. "Pond" suggests still water, which weakens the picture of a source that flows out.
- Used elsewhere in the period
It appears only here in the New Testament. In the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) the Dead Sea is called "the salty sea" (ἡ θάλασσα ἡ ἁλυκή), e.g. Num 34:3, 12; Deut 3:17; Josh 3:16. Classical writers use it for brine and brackish water.
Where it appears
James · 1
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James 3:12 ἁλυκὸν of salt
My brothers, can a fig tree grow olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
Here: "Salty," used here as a noun: "something salty," meaning a salt or brackish water source. It is the subject of the clause: what is salty cannot make fresh water.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.