GREET, GREETING, a salutation on meeting or an opening address in a letter or message. Heb. שָׁלﯴם, H8934, has been a traditional greeting in the Near E. The term is cognate to meaning “completeness,” “welfare” and secondarily “peace.” Although this is the common traditional tr. the word has come to mean in its modern semantic range something like “hello.” Although popular colloquial speech rarely is recorded in the OT, the passage in 1 Samuel 25:5 seems to contain a commonplace phrase of greeting, Heb. לֶחָ֑י וְאַתָּ֤ה שָׁלﯴמ׃֙, however the actual meaning is obscured. It should be tr. as, “Long life to you and peace,” but this is admittedly conjectural—(KJV) “greet,” (RSV) “salute.” In a similar greeting instance in 1 Samuel 1:17 šālōm also appears, but in a possible greeting situation in Ruth 4:1 it is not used. However the NT utilizes the Gr. equivalent of the Heb. expression εἰρήνη, G1645, (Mark 5:34; Luke 10:5, 6). The terms in both OT and NT mean much more than a simple social convention. Like the OT šālōm, as in 2 Samuel 8:10; 11:7 where it is used to inquire after someone’s health and welfare, the NT uses eirēnē, following the LXX (Acts 16:36; James 2:15, 16).

Another aspect of greeting in the ancient Near E and the Hel. age was the effusion of natural emotions. In the W since the 18th cent. this practice has been frowned upon but no such false stoicism existed in Bible times. So men are often mentioned in both the OT and NT hugging, kissing and embracing upon meeting (Gen 27:26; Exod 4:27; 1 Sam 10:1, et al.; Luke 7:38; Rom 16:16, et al.). In the OT the word šālōm is associated by the earliest Messianic prophecies with the coming of the “servant of the Lord.” The first overt use is in Genesis 49:10, “the peace bringer comes” (KJV), “Shiloh” (RSV), “to whom it belongs.” In the famous passage, Isaiah 9:6, “Prince of Peace” is one of the divine titles of the Messiah, Heb. שַׂר־שָׁלֹֽום. Obedience before the coming of the Messiah is a sign of peaceful participation in His kingdom (Isa 60, et al.). The salutation to the Messiah is of profound religious importance. “Serve the Lord with fear, with trembling, kiss his feet, lest he be angry” (Ps 2:12, RSV)—“kiss his feet,” reprehensible and inexcusable. This religious meaning makes the mockery of Judas even more horrible (Matt 26:49; Mark 14:45; Luke 22:47). The authors of the epistles thus commend the “peace” of God through the Messiah Christ to their readers (Rom 1:7, et al.).