Salutation
SALUTATION
The usual formula of salutation among the Hebrews was Shalom lekha, that is, Peace be with thee. The same expression is the common one among the Arabs to the present day: they say, Salam lekha, to which the person saluted replies, “With thee be peace,” Gen 29:6 Jdg 18:15, margin. Hence we hear of the Arab and Turkish Salams, that is, salutations. Other phrases of salutation are found in Scripture, most of them invoking a blessing: as “The Lord be with thee;” “All hail,” or Joy to thee; “Blessed be thou of the Lord.”These and similar phrases the oriental still use on all occasions with the most profuse and punctilious politeness. The letter of an Arab will be nearly filled with salutations; and should he come in to tell you your house was on fire, he would first give and receive the compliments of the day, and then say perhaps, “If God will, all is well; but your house is on fire.” Their more formal salutations they accompany with various ceremonies or gestures; sometimes they embrace and kiss each other; sometimes an inferior kiss the hand or the beard of a superior, or bows low, with the hand upon the breast, and afterwards raises it to his lips or forehead. See Jacob’s salutation of Esau, Gen 43:1-34 ; and compare Gen 19:1 23:7 42:6 1Sa 25:44 2Sa 1:2 Joh 20:26 . The due and dignified performance of some of these ceremonious courtesies, especially when frequently recurring, requires much time; and hence, when the prophet sent his servant in great haste to lay his staff upon the dead child, he forbade him to salute any one, or answer any salutation by the way, 2Ki 4:29 .For a similar reason, our Savior forbade the seventy disciples to salute any one by the way, Luk 10:4, that is, in this formal and tedious manner, wasting precious time. Much of the oriental courtesy was superficial with it what was “better than life.” “My peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you,” Joh 14:27 .
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
salutation
(1) Motion of reverence by bowing or lifting the hat when meeting a priest, and when passing a church, because it is the House of God and, as a rule, the sanctuary of the Blessed Sacrament. It is common also in the Liturgy, as when at Mass the priest salutes the congregation with “Dominus vobiscum” (The Lord be with you) or “Orate, fratres” (Brethren, pray).
(2) Characteristic opening of the Epistles of the Apostles, wishing those addressed “Grace and the peace of God,” and also of the letters of popes and bishops.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Salutation
(from the Lat. salus, health, i.e. a wishing well; in the A.V. salute is the rendering of , barak, to bless; , shaal, to inquire; but more properly of , shalom, peace [q.v.]; in the N.T. of , to embrace), a term which, in the Bible, includes two classes or modes of address. These, however, were of course often continued under various circumstances. SEE COURTESY.
I. Conversation. The frequent allusion in Scripture to the customary salutations of the Jews invests the subject with a higher degree of interest than it might otherwise claim; and it, is therefore fortunate that there are few scriptural topics which can be better understood by the help of the illustrations derivable from the existing usages of the East.
1. The forms of salutation that prevailed among the Hebrews, so far as can be collected from Scripture, are the following:
(1.) The salutation at meeting consisted, in early times, of various expressions of blessing, such as God be gracious unto thee (Gen 43:29); Blessed be thou of the Lord (Rth 3:10; 1Sa 15:13); The Lord be with you, The Lord bless thee (Rth 2:4); The blessing of the Lord be upon you; we bless you in the name of the Lord (Psa 129:8). Hence the term bless received the secondary sense of salute, and is occasionally so rendered in the A.V. (1Sa 13:10; 1Sa 25:14; 2Ki 4:29; 2Ki 10:15), though not so frequently as it might have been (e.g. Gen 27:23; Gen 47:7; Gen 47:10; 1Ki 8:66). Most of the expressions used in meeting, and also those which were used in parting, implied that the person who employed them interceded for the other. Hence the word , barak, which originally signified to bless, meant also to salute or to welcome, and to bid adieu (Gen 47:8-11; 2Ki 4:29; 2Ki 10:13; 1Ch 18:10).
(2.) The blessing was sometimes accompanied with inquiries as to the health either of the person addressed or his relations. In countries often ravaged, and among people often ruined, by war, peace implied every blessing of life; and this phrase had, therefore, the force of Prosperous be thou. This was the commonest of all salutations (Jdg 19:20; Rth 2:4; 1Sa 25:6; 2Sa 20:9; Psa 129:8). Hence the Hebrew term used in these instances ( , shalom) has reference to general well being, and strictly answers to our welfare, as given in the text (Gen 43:27; Exo 18:7). It is used, not only in the case of salutation (in which sense it is frequently rendered to salute, e.g. Jdg 18:15; 1Sa 10:4; 2Ki 10:13), but also in other cases, where it is designed to soothe or to encourage a person (Gen 43:23; Jdg 6:23; Jdg 19:20; 1Ch 12:18; Dan 10:19; comp. 1Sa 20:21, where it is opposed to hurt; 2Sa 18:28, all is well; and 2Sa 11:7, where it is applied to the progress of the war). The salutation at parting consisted originally of a simple blessing (Gen 24:60; Gen 28:1; Gen 47:10; Jos 22:6); but in later times the term shalom was introduced here also in the form Go in peace, or, rather, Farewell (1Sa 1:17; 1Sa 20:42; 2Sa 15:9). This was current at the time of our Savior’s ministry (Mar 5:34; Luk 7:50; Act 16:36), and is adopted by him in his parting address to his disciples (Joh 14:27). It had even passed into a salutation on meeting, in such forms as Peace be to this house (Luk 10:5), Peace be unto you (Luk 24:36; Joh 20:19).
The more common salutation, however, at this period was borrowed from the Greeks, their word (to be joyful or in good health) being used both at meeting (Mat 26:49; Mat 28:9; Luk 1:28) and probably also at departure. In modern times, the ordinary mode of address current in the East resembles the Hebrew: Es-selam aleykum, Peace be on you (Lane, Mod. Egypt. 2, 7); and the term salam has been introduced into our own language to describe the Oriental salutation. Accordingly, we have the exclamation , ; Joy to thee! Joy to you! rendered by Hail! an equivalent of the Latin Ave! Salve! (Mat 27:29; Mat 28:9; Mar 15:18; Lnlke 1:28; Joh 19:3).
A still stronger form of this wish for the health of the person addressed was the expression Live, my lord ( ), as a common salutation among the Phoenicians, and also in use among the Hebrews, but by them only addressed to their kings in the extended form of Let the king live forever! (1Ki 1:31), which was also employed in the Babylonian and Persian courts (Dan 2:4; Dan 3:9; Dan 5:10; Dan 6:6; Dan 6:21; Neh 2:3). This, which in fact is no more than a wish for a prolonged and prosperous life, has a parallel in the customs of most nations, and does not differ from the Vivat! of the Latin, the Vive le roi! of the French, or our own forever!
2. Use of these Expressions. The forms of greeting that we have noticed were freely exchanged among persons of different ranks on the occasion of a casual meeting, and this even when they were strangers. Thus Boaz exchanged greeting with his reapers (Rth 2:4), the traveler on the road saluted the worker in the field (Psa 129:8), and members of the same family interchanged greetings on rising in the morning (Pro 27:14). The only restriction appears to have been in regard to religion, the Jew of old, as the Mohammedan of the present day, paying the compliment only to those whom he considered brethren, i.e. members of the same religious community (Mat 5:47; Lane, Mod. Egypt. 2, 8; Niebuhr, Descript. p. 43). Even the apostle John forbids an interchange of greeting where it implied a wish for the success of a bad cause (2Jn 1:11). In modern times the Orientals are famed for the elaborate formality of their greetings, which occupy a very considerable time; the instances given in the Bible do not bear such a character, and therefore the prohibition addressed to persons engaged in urgent business, Salute no man by the way (2Ki 4:29; Luk 10:4), may best be referred to the delay likely to ensue from subsequent conversation. This, perhaps, must not be understood literally, as it would be churlish and offensive. But there is so much insincerity, flattery, and falsehood in the terms of salutation prescribed by custom that our Lord rebuked them by requiring his followers, as far as possible, to avoid them (see Thomson, Land and Book, 1, 533 sq.).
3. Modern Parallels. As already intimated, the usages involved in these oral salutations seem not only similar to, but identical with, those still existing among the Arabians. These, indeed, as now observed, go upon the authority of religious precepts. But it is known that such enactments of the Koran and its commentaries merely embody such of the previously and immemorially existing usages as the legislature wished to be retained.
(1.) Oral Forms. Their most common greeting, as among the Jews, is, Peace be on you! to this the reply is, On you be peace! to which is commonly added, and the mercy of God and his blessings! This salutation is never addressed by a Moslem to one whom he knows to be of another religion; and if he find that he has by mistake thus saluted a person not of the same faith, he generally revokes his salutation: so also he sometimes does if a Moslem refuses to return his salutations, usually saying, Peace be on us and on (all) the right worshippers of God! This seems to us a striking illustration of Luk 10:5-6; 2Jn 1:11. Various set compliments usually follow this salam; which, when people intend to be polite, are very much extended and occupy considerable time. Hence they are evaded in crowded streets, and by persons in haste, as was the case, for the same reason doubtless, among the Jews (2Ki 4:29; Luk 10:4). Specimens of this conventional intercourse are given by Lane (Mod. Egypt. 1, 253), who says that to give the whole would occupy a dozen of his pages. There are set answers, or a choice of two or three answers, to every question; and it is accounted rude to give any other answer than that which custom prescribes. They are such as those by which the Israelites probably prolonged their intercourse. If one is asked, How is your health? he replies, Praise be to God! and it is only from the tone of his voice that the inquirer can tell whether he is well or ill. When one greets another with the common inquiry, Is it well with thee? (see 2Ki 4:26) the answer is, God bless thee! or God preserve thee! An acquaintance on meeting another whom he has not seen for several days, or for a longer period, generally says, after the salam, Thou hast made us desolate by thy absence from us; and is usually answered, May God not make us desolate by thy absence!
(2.) The gestures and inflections used in salutation varied with the dignity and station of the person saluted, as is the case with the Orientals at this day. SEE ATTITUDE. The obeisance with which this is accompanied varies according to the degree of respect designed to be shown to the person addressed, and this rises nearly according to the following scale:
1. Placing the right hand upon the breast;
2. Touching the lips and the forehead or turban (or the forehead and turban only) with the right hand;
3. Doing the same, but slightly inclining the head during the action;
4. The same as the preceding, but inclining the body also;
5. Still the same, with the addition of previously touch, ing the ground with the right hand;
6. Kissing the hand of the person to whom obeisance is paid;
7. Kissing his sleeve;
8. Kissing the skirt of his clothing;
9. Kissing his feet; and
10. Kissing the carpet or ground before him.
Persons distinguished by rank, wealth, or learning are saluted by many of the shopkeepers and passengers as they pass through the streets and market-places of Eastern cities, and are, besides, often greeted with a short ejaculatory prayer for the continuance of their life and happiness. Such were the salutations and greetings in the market place of which the scribes were so extravagantly fond (see Mar 12:28). When a very great man rides through the streets, most of the shopmen rise to him and pay their respects to him by inclining the head and touching the lips and forehead or turban with the right hand. It is usual for the person who returns the salutation to place at the same time his right hand upon his breast, or to touch his lips, and then his forehead or turban with the same hand. This latter mode, which is the most respectful, is often performed to a person of superior rank, not only at first with the salam, but also frequently during a conversation. In some cases the body is gently inclined, while the right hand is laid upon the left breast. A person of the lower orders in addressing a superior does not always give the salam, but shows his respect to high rank by bending down his hand to the ground, and then putting it to his lips and forehead. SEE BOWING.
It is a common custom for a man to kiss the hand of his superior instead of his own (generally on the back only, but sometimes on both back and front), and then to put it to his forehead in order to pay more particular respect. Servants thus evince their respect towards their masters. Those residing in the East find their own servants always doing this on such little occasions as arise beyond the usage of their ordinary service; as on receiving a present, or on returning fresh from the public baths. The son also thus kisses the hand of his father, and the wife that of her husband. Very often, however, the superior does not allow this, but only touches the hand extended to take his, whereupon the other puts the hand that has been touched to his own lips and forehead. The custom of kissing the beard is still preserved, and follows the first and preliminary gesture; it usually takes place on meeting after an absence of some duration, and not as an everyday compliment. In this case the person who gives the kiss lays the right hand under the beard, and raises it to his lips, or rather supports it while it receives his kiss. This custom strikingly illustrates 2Sa 20:9. In Arabia Petraea and some other parts it is more usual for persons to lay the right sides of their cheeks together. These acts involved the necessity of dismounting in case a person were riding or driving (Gen 24:64; 1Sa 25:23; 2Ki 5:21). The same custom still prevails in the East (Niebuhr, Descript. p. 39). Among the Persians, persons in saluting often kiss each other on the lips; but if one of the individuals is of high rank, the kiss is given on the cheek instead of the lips. This seems to illustrate 2Sa 20:9; Gen 29:11; Gen 29:13; Gen 33:4; Gen 48:10-12; Exo 4:27; Exo 18:7. SEE KISS.
Another mode of salutation is usual among friends on meeting after a journey. Joining their right hands together, each of them compliments the other upon his safety, and expresses his wishes for his welfare by repeating, alternately, many times the words selamat (meaning, I congratulate you on your safety) and taiyibin (I hope you are well). In commencing this ceremony, which is often continued for nearly a minute before they proceed to make any particular inquiries, they join their hands in the same manner as is usually practiced by us; and at each alternation of the two expressions change the position of the hands. These circumstances further illustrate such passages as 2Ki 4:19; Luk 10:4. SEE HAND.
II. The epistolary salutations in the period subsequent to the Old Test. were framed on the model of the Latin style: the addition of the term peace may, however, be regarded as a vestige of the old Hebrew form (2Ma 1:1). The writer placed his own name first, and then that of the person whom he saluted; it was only in special cases that this order was reversed (2Ma 1:1; 2Ma 9:19; 1Es 6:7). A combination of the first and third persons in the terms of the salutation was not unfrequent (Gal 1:1-2; Phm 1:1; 2Pe 1:1). The term used (either expressed or understood) in the introductory salutation was the Greek in an elliptical construction (1Ma 10:18; 2Ma 9:19; 1Es 8:9; Act 23:26); this, however, was more frequently omitted, and the only apostolic passages in which it occurs are Act 15:23 and Jam 1:1, a coincidence which renders it probable that James composed the letter in the former passage. A form of prayer for spiritual mercies was also used, consisting generally of the terms grace and peace, but in the three pastoral epistles and in 2 John grace, mercy, and peace, and in Jude mercy, peace, and love. The concluding salutation consisted occasionally of a translation of the Latin valete (Act 15:29; Act 23:30), but more generally of the term , I salute, or the cognate substantive, accompanied by a prayer for peace or grace. Paul, who availed himself of an amanuensis (Rom 16:22), added the salutation with his own hand (1Co 16:21; Col 4:18; 2Th 3:17). The omission of the introductory salutation in the Epistle to the Hebrews is very noticeable. There are Latin monographs on the subject in general by Mayer (Gryph. 1703), Allgower (Ulm, 1728), Schmerschl (Jena, 1739), Heyrenbach (Vien. 1773), and Purmann (Frankf.-on-the-Main, 1749). SEE EPISTLE.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Salutation
“Eastern modes of salutation are not unfrequently so prolonged as to become wearisome and a positive waste of time. The profusely polite Arab asks so many questions after your health, your happiness, your welfare, your house, and other things, that a person ignorant of the habits of the country would imagine there must be some secret ailment or mysterious sorrow oppressing you, which you wished to conceal, so as to spare the feelings of a dear, sympathizing friend, but which he, in the depth of his anxiety, would desire to hear of. I have often listened to these prolonged salutations in the house, the street, and the highway, and not unfrequently I have experienced their tedious monotony, and I have bitterly lamented useless waste of time” (Porter, Through Samaria, etc.). The work on which the disciples were sent forth was one of urgency, which left no time for empty compliments and prolonged greetings (Luke 10:4).
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Salutation
In meeting, “God be gracious unto thee,” “the Lord bless thee,” etc. (Gen 43:29; Rth 2:4; Rth 3:10; 1Sa 15:13; Psa 129:8). Thus “bless” came to moan salute (1Sa 13:10 margin). “Peace” (shalom, from whence the oriental salaam), including health or welfare of body and mind, was the constant salutation of Hebrew; as “joy” (chairein) is the Greek salutation. Jam 1:1-2; “greeting … joy,” only found elsewhere in the apostolic letter probably composed by James (Act 15:23), an undesigned coincidence. “Hail”: Mat 27:29. The Hebrew’s very salutation indicated his sense of man’s deep spiritual need.
The Greek salutation answers to the national characteristic, “joy,” and outward gracefulness (Gen 43:27 margin; Exo 18:7 margin). “Peace” was used also in encouraging (Gen 43:23); at parting a blessing was pronounced (Gen 24:60). Latterly (1Sa 1:17) “go in peace”: no empty form in Christ’s mouth (Mar 5:34; Luk 7:50; Luk 10:5; Luk 24:36; Act 16:36). Pro 27:14; “he that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning,” i.e., the affected assiduity and loud exaggeration engender suspicion of insincerity and duplicity. “Salute no man by the way,” lest it should cause delay by subsequent conversation (2Ki 4:29; Luk 10:4).
“Live for ever” was the salutation to the Babylonian and Persian kings (Dan 2:4; Dan 6:6). “Grace and peace” is Paul’s opening salutation in his epistles to churches, but in his three pastoral epistles, Timothy and Titus, “grace, mercy, and peace”; for ministers of all men most need “mercy” for their ministry (2Co 4:1; 1Co 7:25; 1Ti 1:16). Paul added to the epistles written by an amanuensis the salutation with his own hand, “grace” to all (1Co 16:21-23; Col 4:18; 2Th 3:17-18). The greeting forbidden toward a false teacher in 2Jo 1:10 is of that usual among Christian brethren, a token of Christian brotherhood; this would be insincerity.
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Salutation
SALUTATION.See Greetings.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Salutation
SALUTATION (or greeting) is a serious matter in the East; some knowledge of immemorial practice is necessary in dealing with Orientals. The subject salutes his king by prostration; the humble his superior by touching the ground with his hand, and then his lips and brow. The young salutes the aged, the rider the footman, etc. In crowded streets only men of age, rank, and dignity need be saluted (Mat 23:7 etc.). Common forms of salutation are, Peace he upon you; response, And upon you: May your day be happy; response, May your day be happy and blessed: and, in the highway, Blessed be he that cometh (Jdg 18:15, Mat 10:12, Luk 24:36, Psa 118:26, Mat 21:9 etc.). Salutations are frequently prolonged, and repeated inquiries after health and welfare extremely tedious (1Ki 4:29, Luk 10:4). See also Gestures, Kiss.
W. Ewing.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Salutation
The Lord Jesus takes notice of the salutations of the Scribes in the market-place, and their delight to be called of men Rabbi. (Mat 23:7) Contrary to this when the Lord sent out his disciples to teach and to preach, he commanded them to “salute no man by the way.” (Luk 10:4) To an ordinary reader unacquainted with eastern customs, these things appear strange. We are so much in the habit of familiar conversation as we pass persons we know, that the salutation Good morning, or Good day, or the like, seems but common courtesy. But in the manners of the orientals, these things would make constant confusion. Numberless transactions, and that of the highest kind, are carried on with them by the mere bend of the body or the motion of the head, without speaking a word. A modern historian relates, that even upon their public days of transacting business, and where a multitude of concerns is carried on, so much of the whole is done by sign and gesture, that if a blind person were present, he would be unconscious of any company when perhaps some hundreds were assembled. What would those eastern people think of the clamour of voices in our Royal Exchange? In families, among the servants with their masters, a thousand commands are issued and executed, and not a voice heard. This may serve to shew a new beauty on that sweet Psalm of David, the one hundred and twenty third, were the soul of a believer in the Lord is described as waiting in silent adoration and obedience to receive the Lord’s commands, “as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress.”
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Salutation
sal-u-tashun (, aspasmos): A greeting which might be given in person, orally (Luk 1:29, Luk 1:41, Luk 1:44), or in writing, usually at the close of a letter (1Co 16:21; Col 4:18; 2Th 3:17; compare use of , charein, greeting, joy in Jam 1:1). The Pharisaic Jews loved salutations in public places (Mat 23:7; Mar 12:38, the King James Version greeting, the Revised Version (British and American) salutation; Luk 11:43; Luk 20:46). Often these salutations were very elaborate, involving much time in prostrations, embracings, etc. When Jesus therefore sent out the Seventy, He forbade salutation by the way (Luk 10:4), though He ordinarily encouraged proper civilities of this sort (Mat 5:47; Mat 10:12).
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Salutation
Fig. 306Salam Greeting
The forms of salutation that prevailed among the Hebrews, so far as can be collected from Scripture, are the following:
1. ‘Blessed be thou of the Lord,’ or equivalent phrases.
2. ‘The Lord be with thee.’
3. ‘Peace be unto thee,’ or ‘upon thee,’ or ‘with thee.’ In countries often ravaged, and among people often ruined by war, ‘peace’ implied every blessing of life; and this phrase had therefore the force of ‘Prosperous be thou.’ This was the commonest of all salutations (Jdg 19:20; Rth 2:4; 1Sa 25:6; 2Sa 20:9; Psa 129:8).
4. ‘Live, my lord,’ was a common salutation among the Phoenicians, and was also in use among the Hebrews, but was by them only addressed to their kings in the extended form of ‘Let the king live forever!’ (1Ki 1:31); which was also employed in the Babylonian and Persian courts (Dan 2:4; Dan 3:9; Dan 5:10; Dan 6:7; Dan 6:22; Neh 2:3).
5. ‘Joy to thee! joy to you!’ rendered by Hail! an equivalent of the Latin Ave! Salve! (Mat 27:29; Mat 28:9; Mar 15:18; Luk 1:28; Joh 19:3).
Fig. 307Salam Hand Kiss
The gestures and inflections used in salutation varied with the dignity and station of the person saluted; as is the case with the Orientals at this day. It is usual for the person who gives or returns the salutation, to place at the same time his right hand upon his breast, or to touch his lips, and then his forehead or turban, with the same hand. In some cases the body is gently inclined, while the right hand is laid upon the left breast. A person of the lower orders, in addressing a superior, does not always give the salam, but shows his respect to high rank by bending down his hand to the ground, and then putting it to his lips and forehead. It is a common custom for a man to kiss the hand of his superior instead of his own (generally on the back only, but sometimes on both back and front), and then to put it to his forehead in order to pay more particular respect. Servants thus evince their respect towards their masters. The son also thus kisses the hand of his father, and the wife that of her husband. Very often, however, the superior does not allow this, but only touches the hand extended to take his; whereupon the other puts the hand that has been touched to his own lips and forehead. The custom of kissing the beard is still preserved, and follows the first and preliminary gesture; it usually takes place on meeting after an absence of some duration, and not as an every-day compliment. In this case, the person who gives the kiss lays the right hand under the beard, and raises it slightly to his lips, or rather supports it while it receives his kiss. This custom strikingly illustrates 2Sa 20:9. In Arabia Petra, and some other parts, it is more usual for persons to lay the right sides of their; cheeks together.
Fig. 308Salam Beard Kiss
Among the Persians, persons in saluting under the same circumstances, often kiss each other on the lips; but if one of the individuals is of high rank, the kiss is given on the cheek instead of the lips. This seems to illustrate 2Sa 20:9; Gen 29:11; Gen 29:13; Gen 33:4; Gen 48:10-12; Exo 4:27; Exo 18:7.
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Salutation
The brotherly greetings expressed at the close of nearly all the epistles. They were sent from the saints located where the epistles were written to the saints addressed, together with, at times, the injunction to greet one another with ‘a holy kiss,’ that being the ordinary form of salutation in the East among the men as well as among the women. Rom 16:5-23; 1Th 5:26; Tit 3:15, etc.
When evil doctrine had spread in the professing church, the question of salutation became serious. The ‘lady’ to whom the apostle John wrote was strictly enjoined not to receive into her house any one who brought not good doctrine, nor was she even to salute such a one; for to do so, would be to become morally a partaker of his evil deeds. 2Jn 1:10-11; cf. Rom 16:17.
Salutations in the East being often very lengthy and of mere ceremony, may well account for those sent in haste being told to salute no one by the way. 2Ki 4:29; Luk 10:4.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Salutation
Salutation. Salutations may be classed under the two headings of ‘conversational’ and ‘epistolary’. The salutation at meetings consisted, in early times, of various expressions of blessing, such as “God be gracious unto thee,” Gen 43:29, “The Lord be with you;” “The Lord bless thee.” Rth 2:4. Hence, the term, “bless,” received the secondary sense of “salute.” The salutation at parting consisted originally of a simple blessing, Gen 24:60, but, in later times, the form “Go in peace,” or rather “Farewell,” 1Sa 1:17, was common.
In modern times, the ordinary mode of address current in the East resembles the Hebrew, Es-selam aleykum, “Peace be on you”, and the term “salam”, peace, has been introduced, into our own language, to describe the Oriental salutation. In epistolary salutations, the writer placed his own name first, and then that of the person whom he sainted. A form of prayer for spiritual mercies was also used. The concluding salutation consisted generally of the term, “I salute,” accompanied by a prayer for peace or grace.