Salome is commonly identified with the daughter of Herodias who, according to accounts in the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Matthew, danced for Herod Antipas. In his Jewish Antiquities, Josephus mentions marriages and children of the daughter of Herodias named Salome.
There are two women named Salome in the Bible, but only one is mentioned by that name. One Salome was righteous; the other unrighteous. The righteous Salome was the wife of Zebedee (Matthew 27:56), the mother of the disciples James and John, and a female follower of Jesus.
Salome, daughter of Herodias and stepdaughter of the tetrarch Herod Antipas. She was the immediate agent in the execution of John the Baptist, who had condemned her mother’s marriage to Herod.
“There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, who also followed Him and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee, and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem” (NKJV, Mark 15:40-41).
Below is a comprehensive overview of the references, historical background, and cultural significance surrounding the women identified by or commonly referred to as “Salome.” The name “Salome” is related to the Hebrew word “shalom,” meaning “peace” or “well-being.”
Salome is the daughter of Herodias, the wife of King Herod. She is unnamed in the biblical text but named by Josephus in the Jewish Antiquities (18.5.4).
Explore the biblical account of Salome, a figure closely tied to Jesus and the early Christian community; understand who was Salome in the Bible.
Published in French in 1893 and translated into English the following year, Salome is a one-act tragic play that arguably expands the horizons of its main character more than any other cultural...