Meaning of the Name Salome
The name Salome is generally linked with Semitic roots in the field of "peace, wholeness, well-being." For that reason it is often connected with forms such as Shalom. The exact intermediate form is debated, but the main semantic line is fairly clear.
Origin
The name Salome is of Hebrew/Aramaic in origin, transmitted in Greek form origin.
Who is Salome in the Bible?
In the New Testament Salome is named among the women who ministered to Jesus and appears in the scenes of the cross and the empty tomb. Especially in Mark, she is one of the witnesses around Jesus' burial and the morning of the resurrection. Tradition often identifies her with the mother of Zebedee's sons, but the text does not make that equation explicit.
The story of Salome in the Bible
We meet Salome in some of the darkest and most hopeful scenes of Mark's Gospel. Listing the women who watched from a distance as Jesus was crucified, Mark names Salome alongside Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James the younger and Joses. The explanation that follows tells us who she was: these women had followed Jesus and cared for his needs while he was in Galilee, and had come up with him to Jerusalem. Salome's name appears a second time on resurrection morning. When the Sabbath was over, she and the two Marys bought fragrant oils to anoint Jesus' body and went to the tomb at sunrise on the first day of the week; there she was among the first to see the stone rolled away and to hear the news of the empty tomb. Scripture tells us nothing more about her. Tradition often identifies her with the mother of Zebedee's sons, but the text itself never makes that equation. Salome remains a quiet, faithful link in the chain of witnesses running from the cross to the empty tomb.
Is Salome mentioned in the Quran?
The name Salome does not appear in the Quran; she is known from the New Testament as one of the women who served Jesus and stood among the witnesses of the cross and the empty tomb.
Verses where Salome appears
- Mark 15:40 —
There were also women watching from afar, among whom were both Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;
- Mark 16:1 —
When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might come and anoint him.
- Mark 15:41 —
who, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and served him; and many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.