SALATHIEL (Heb. Še'altî'el — “asked of God”). — Zorobabel (v.) in Esd. 3:2; 5:2; Neh. 12:1; Agg. 1:1, 12, 14; 2:3, 24; I Par. 3:17, and in the genealogies of Jesus (Mt. 1:12; Lc. 3:27).
Since in I Par. 3:19 Zorobabel is called the son of Phadaia, brother of S., the question arises whether S. is the natural or merely legal father (by the law of levirate [v.], or for other reasons) of Zorobabel (several Greek manuscripts, however, have S. in place of Phadaia in I Par. 3:19). A similar question arises from the fact that in Lc. 3:27 S. is called the son of Neri, whereas in Mt. 1:12 he is called the son of Iechonia (as in I Par. 3:17). In this case also, one may be the natural father and the other the legal father. The opinion of Cornelio a Lapide, who distinguishes the S. of the Gospels from that of the Old Testament, is unlikely. In Indt. 8:1, in the Vulgate, S. is read among the ancestors of Giuditta; but this is a variant of Salamiel.