SALOME  , in Jewish

history the name borne by several women of the Herod dynasty . (I) Sister of Herod the Great, who became the wife successively of Joseph, Herod's uncle, Costobar, governor of Idumaea, and a certain Alexas . (2) Daughter of Herod by-SALONICA 8 5 Elpis, his eighth wife . (3) Daughter of Herodias by her first husband Herod Philip . She was the wife successively of Philip the Tetrarch and Aristobulus, son of Herod of Chalcis . This Salome is the only one of the three who is mentioned in the New Testament (Matt. xiv . 3 sqq.; Mark vi . 17 sqq.) and only in connexion with the execution of John the Baptist . Herod Antipas, pleased by her dancing, offered her a reward " unto the half of my kingdom "; instructed by Herodias, she asked for John the Baptist's " head in a charger "1 (see HEROD H . ANTIPAS) . Salome is also the name of one of the women who are mentioned as present at the Crucifixion (Mark xv . 40), and afterwards in the Sepulchre (xvi .

I) . Comparison with Matt.

xxvii . 56 suggests that she was also the wife of Zebedee (cf . Matt. xx . 20-23) . It is further conjectured that she was a sister of Mary the mother of Jesus, in which case James and John would be cousins of Jesus . In the absence of specific evidence any such identification must be regarded with suspicion .