Our Name

Wondering about our name, Melach Tov?

Curious about our name? 

Melach (technically melaḥ - H4417 - מֶלַח ) is the Hebrew word for “salt”, and Tov (technically ṭôḇ - H2896 - טוֹב ) is the Hebrew word for “good”/”desirable”/”pleasing”. 

So “Melach Tov” means, “Good Salt”! Jesus warned us to not lose our saltiness. Let’s take him seriously and pursue saltiness together! 

How to pronounce it?

The "ch" is a gutteral "h", so phonetically it sounds something like this:

"meh-laachh toe-ve"

or according to the Blue Letter Bible experts:

"meh'-lakh tobe"

If you have trouble remembering it, then just remember "Good Salt". That'll work, too. You can use goodsalt.life to get to us as well!

Why did we choose Hebrew for our name?

Dan has a particular love for the Hebrew language and historical Jewish culture because of how intimately it is tied in with the story of our Messiah. He digs how Hebrew sounds. He finds it beautiful in written form. He is impressed with how much more deeply it can conveys meaning with just one single word than English.

You see, while English is a very precise language when articulated well, it lacks some depth that Hebrew possesses. Here's an example:

The word "Tov" used in our name (H2896 in the Strong's concordance) is translated to "good" in English, but it means so much more than the English word "good" when used in common parlance. It means "good" in the standard sense, like, "Yeah, that's a good job!" Or, "your essay was good." 

It also means the "desireable" form of good, like "Man, that latte was goooood!" Or, like a husband may say to his wife, "Honey, you look really goood tonight! Wow! You're stunning!" 

It also means the "pleasing" form of good, like "I am really happy with my team this year; they are really good." Or, "Oh wow. That massage was so good. My body is so relaxed now. I forgot what I had even been stressed about it was so good!"

So you see, that one word packs within it many dimensions of meaning, and it's the same word that God used in Genesis 1 when he reflects on each day of creation and calls it, "good" (tov). (Example, Gen 1:12)

Let's put it in food and beverage terms. For Dan, English is good, like a well-made black coffee from a great medium to light roast. But Hebrew is really good, like a finely made latte with perfectly formed, rich milk foam that still holds after several minutes, espresso pulled to perfection with a nice, sweet finish and butterscotch crema, and latte art on the top.

(Can you tell Dan likes lattes and cappucinos? If you ever want to thank him, buying him craft lattes/cappucinos is a great "thank you" gift for him... they're about $7-$8 each these days lol!)

Now, in English you'd put the object (or noun) after the adjective -- "Good Salt". In Hebrew, though, you'd place the object/noun first, and then the adjective that describes it: "Salt Good".

Hopefully that helps you understand why the Hebrew form of "Good Salt" was chosen.