Naravist

Person in the New Testament

Salome

Salome: a woman named in two of Mark's lists, at the cross and at the sepulchre

Portrait of Salome. An AI-generated artistic interpretation, not a historical likeness.

Portrait: an AI-generated artistic interpretation, not evidence of how Salome looked.

Who Salome is

Mark names Salome twice, and those two verses are all the text gives. At the crucifixion Mark says there were also women looking on afar off, among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome; the next verse says of that group that they followed him and ministered unto him when he was in Galilee, and that many other women came up with him unto Jerusalem. After the sabbath Mark names Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, who had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him, and who came unto the sepulchre very early in the morning the first day of the week, at the rising of the sun. No word of hers is recorded, no family is named, and nothing is said about her before the cross or after the sepulchre.

Cited passages: Mark 15:40, Mark 15:41, Mark 16:1, Mark 16:2

Historical setting

The name Salome is printed only in Mark 15:40 and Mark 16:1. The source index for this person also carries Matthew 20:20, where the text reads the mother of Zebedee's children and prints no name at all; Matthew 27:56 likewise lists the mother of Zebedee's children among the women at the cross without naming her. The printed text never makes that identification, and this record does not make it either. Mark 15:41 describes what the group of women did in Galilee, not Salome by herself. Mark 16:1 says the three had bought sweet spices; the buying is attributed to all three. No husband, children, home or age is given, she is quoted nowhere, and nothing is said of what became of her.

Cited passages: Mark 15:40, Mark 16:1, Matthew 20:20, Matthew 27:56, Mark 15:41

How the story is told

Both mentions are entries in a list, and her name is third in each. The two lists sit on either side of the burial: the first names women looking on afar off, the second names women who have bought spices and are walking toward the tomb, so the same names move from distance to approach. Mark gives her nothing of her own, no speech, no gesture, no separate action, and the verbs in both verses are plural. The parenthesis in Mark 15:41 supplies the only history attached to any of them, and it is given for the group.

Cited passages: Mark 15:40, Mark 16:1, Mark 16:2, Mark 15:41

Story moments

  1. Looking on afar off (Mark 15:40). Mark names Salome among the women watching the crucifixion from a distance.
  2. Followed and ministered (Mark 15:41). Mark says the women had followed and ministered to Jesus in Galilee and come up to Jerusalem.
  3. Sweet spices bought (Mark 16:1). After the sabbath Salome is named with the two Marys buying spices to anoint him.
  4. Early to the sepulchre (Mark 16:2). The three women come to the sepulchre very early on the first day of the week.

Key passages

Mark 15:40

There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;

Mark 16:1

And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.

King James Version. 3 indexed passages in total.

For reflection

Everything the text says of Salome is that she was named in two lists, watching and then returning with spices. What does a name carry when it appears only alongside others?

Books Salome appears in

Related people

Names and references are adapted from STEPBible TIPNR. A person listed with a verse is named or indexed there; it does not mean they wrote or spoke it.