The Dead Sea
Scripture first
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The of the cities of the plain join battle in the Valley of Siddim, that is, the Salt Sea.
The Dead Sea, the Salt Sea of the Old Testament, lies over 430 metres below sea level, the lowest place on earth. The cities of the plain stood near its southern end; David hid at En Gedi on its western shore; Ezekiel's vision makes its barrenness the measure of the healing that is coming.
The Salt Sea at the bottom of the rift valley, the border of Judah and the sea that receives the Jordan and gives nothing back.
- the Salt Sea, the Sea of the Arabah, the Eastern Sea
- Lake Asphaltites (Greek and Roman writers)
- The Dead Sea · Israel, Jordan, Palestine
The sea has no outlet; everything evaporates and the salts remain. Ezekiel 47 chooses the deadest water on earth for the promise that 's river will make even this live.
The cliffs of En Gedi on its shore gave David caves, water and inaccessibility, all in one landscape.
- Genesis 14:3 The kings of the cities of the plain join battle in the Valley of Siddim, that is, the Salt Sea.
- Numbers 34:12 The Salt Sea marks the eastern border of the land
- Joshua 3:16 The Jordan's waters cut off, and the people pass over opposite Jericho
- Ezekiel 47:8-10 In the vision, the sea's waters are healed and swarm with fish
- Zechariah 14:8 Living waters flow from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea
What we know
Certain
- The Salt Sea's identity with the Dead Sea and its role as a boundary are secure.
Disputed
- The location of Sodom and the cities of the plain is debated; several sites south-east and north of the sea are proposed. Scripture locates them in the plain; it does not give coordinates.