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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comFausset Bible Dictionary: Salutation
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In meeting, "God be gracious unto thee," "the Lord bless thee," etc. (; ; ; ; ). Thus "bless" came to moan salute ( 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. -2; "greeting ... joy," only found elsewhere in the apostolic letter probably composed by James (), an undesigned coincidence. "Hail": . 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 ( margin; margin). "Peace" was used also in encouraging (); at parting a blessing was pronounced (). Latterly () "go in peace": no empty form in Christ's mouth (; ; ; ; ). ; "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 (; ).
"Live for ever" was the salutation to the Babylonian and Persian kings (; ). "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 (; ; ). Paul added to the epistles written by an amanuensis the salutation with his own hand, "grace" to all (-23; ; -18). The greeting forbidden toward a false teacher in is of that usual among Christian brethren, a token of Christian brotherhood; this would be insincerity.