Salt-laden earth β unproductive, cursed land associated with divine judgment and the desolation of destroyed cities.
The Hebrew melecha (from melach, salt) refers to ground so saturated with salt that nothing can grow β the wasteland left by divine judgment or the deliberate salting of conquered cities. It appears in Job 39:6 where God has given the wild donkey the salt flats (melecha) as its home, in Psalm 107:34 where God 'turns a fruitful land into a salt waste (melecha) because of the wickedness of those who live there,' and in Jeremiah 17:6 where the one who trusts in man 'will live in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land (melecha) where no one lives.'
The melecha is the anti-Eden β the land of curse rather than blessing. Just as Eden was fruitful and life-sustaining, the salt land is barren and death-dealing. Judges 9:45 records that Abimelech 'destroyed the city and scattered salt over it' β a curse to ensure permanent desolation. Deuteronomy 29:23 prophesies that disobedient Israel will become like Sodom, 'the whole land a burning waste of salt and sulfur.' Yet Psalm 107 also shows the reverse: God can turn wilderness into pools of water and thirsty ground into springs. The same God who judges with salt can restore with water.