Who Were the Two Salomes in the Bible?
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Salome probably doesn’t top your list of biblical characters. The New Testament mentions one woman with that name, and other documents indicate another, more well-known, woman in the New Testament also had that name. While the Bible doesn’t give us all the details we’d like about the two Salomes, what we do know describes them as women faced with harsh situations, who had very different responses.
Who Was the Salome Who Was Herod's Daughter?
Mark 6:21-29 and Matthew 14:6-11 tell the story of John the Baptist being executed.
As described in Matthew 14:
“On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests and pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Prompted by her mother, she said, ‘Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.’ The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted and had John beheaded in the prison. His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother.”
Mark 6 gives a few more details:
“On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, ‘Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.’ And he promised her with an oath, ‘Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.’ She went out and said to her mother, ‘What shall I ask for?’ ‘The head of John the Baptist,’ she answered. At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: ‘I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.’ The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother.”
Neither of these accounts establishes the name of Herodias’ daughter, but later historians filled in that information. In his book Jewish Antiquities, Josephus writes that Herodias “divorced herself from her husband while he was alive, was married to Herod, her husband's brother by the father's side, he was tetrarch of Galilee; but her daughter Salome was married to Philip, the son of Herod, and tetrarch of Trachonitis; and as he died childless, Aristobulus, the son of Herod, the brother of Agrippa, married her; they had three sons, Herod, Agrippa, and Aristobulus.”
Consequently, most biblical paintings or plays refer to this scene as “Salome’s dance.”
Who Was the Salome Who Was a Follower of Jesus?
The less famous Salome is one of several women mentioned as being Jesus’ followers. While Jesus’ male followers get a lot more space in the New Testament, and Salome doesn’t play as prominent a role as Mary Magdalene or the sisters Mary and Martha. However, Salome appears in two critical scenes.
In Mark 15:40-41, she is mentioned as one of the onlookers at Jesus’ crucifixion:
“Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome. In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.”
Matthew 27:56 seems to reference the same group of women, without mentioning Salome’s name. Since first-century Jewish women lived in a very patriarchal society, they rarely if ever had careers. So, we assume Salome and these other women were somewhat wealthy and provided monetary support to Jesus while he was traveling around teaching.
After Jesus’ crucifixion on Friday, Mark 16:1 establishes that Salome was one of the women who appeared at Jesus’ tomb on Sunday:
“When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.”
Was the First Salome Wicked?
Starting at least in the medieval period, paintings and sermons have taken an erotic, sinister take on the story of the first Salome. She is often described as a loose woman, arousing men with her dancing and willfully bringing John’s downfall. Oscar Wilde’s 1891 play Salome gave a particularly sensual take on her character, describing her as trying to seduce John the Baptist, being rejected, and then bringing about his doom.
Looking just at what the New Testament passages tell us about Salome, we don’t get enough information to know if there’s an erotic subtext to this story. We don’t know whether Salome agreed to dance or was ordered to by her mother. We aren’t told anything about the style of dancing (which might help a historian establish if there was something sexual going on). We aren’t told her age just that she’s a “girl,” which might help establish whether she was old enough to be doing an erotic dance or underage (not to mention how dependent she was on her mother). We are told that her dancing pleased her uncle and his guests, but not in what way they were pleased. The particular Greek word used for “please,” areskō, is also used in places like 1 Thessalonians 2:15 (“they please not God, and are contrary to all men”). This would suggest the word doesn’t have a particularly erotic connotation, although it might in this passage. So, without historical and cultural context that the New Testament doesn’t tell us, we don’t know if Salome aroused the guests with her dancing, or whether it was something more innocent.
We also aren’t told whether Salome planned out this encounter with her mother before the party. Add that to the fact that we don’t know her age or relationship with her mother, and it’s hard to say how much she was complicit in John the Baptist’s death.
At minimum, this Salome is a compelling picture of someone affected by, and sucked into family dysfunction. Her mother has entered an inappropriate (if not legally incestuous) relationship and demands the death of those who criticize her. Her uncle/stepfather has some spiritual interests (he’s interested in John’s teachings) but isn’t willing to give up his sinful ways and pursue wisdom. The conflict between what her mother wants done with John the Baptist and what her stepfather wants with John creates a power struggle on top of the scandal. Salome is stuck in the middle of this conflict, the daughter waiting to see what the parents will do. At Herod’s party, she goes beyond being a bystander and becomes part of her mother’s plan to get what she wants, a pawn and maybe more.
Why Was the Second Salome Someone We Should Learn from?
Even though we don’t know much about the second Salome and her particular motivations, what we do know gives a strong sense of her devotion. She was willing to give up her regular life to follow Jesus, a carpenter who had become an itinerant (and, since he wasn’t part of the recognized religious orders, uncertified) teacher. Dropping everything to follow someone like that, especially since he was a Messiah who avoided any worldly connotations (no way to make money from his revolution) would have been hard to explain. Doing that as a woman in a patriarchal society would have been even harder. Salome not only took big social risks to follow Jesus, but she also supported him with her resources.
Even after his cause appeared to have completely collapsed and he was dying, Salome was there for Jesus. Rather than just quietly leave and get back to her normal life, she was there at the cross. After his death, she was there to honor him at the tomb by anointing his body.
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/Prostock-Studio
This article is part of our People from the Bible Series featuring the most well-known historical names and figures from Scripture. We have compiled these articles to help you study those whom God chose to set before us as examples in His Word. May their lives and walks with God strengthen your faith and encourage your soul.
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