Salome was the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Some expositors, reasoning from John 19:25, hold that she was Mary's sister, and they point to her request that her sons sit at Jesus' right hand (Matthew 20:20-21) as evidence, since blood is thicker than water. Comparing Matthew's, Mark's, and John's accounts of those present at the crucifixion makes it more likely that she was Mary's sister. She was also among the women who came to anoint Jesus' body after His death (Mark 16:1). Salome appears to have been a disciple and was active in some of the major events of Christ's life. The gospels indicate that James and John's parents were righteous, or at least that their mother was. Zebedee is not mentioned again after Jesus calls his sons to follow Him.

Salome was the daughter of Herodias, and so the stepdaughter of Herod Antipas, whom Herodias married after he divorced the Nabatean princess. She must be distinguished from Salome the aunt of Antipas, the influential sister of Herod the Great, who advised him to take the offensive rather than defend against Archelaus' accusations before Augustus. That aunt argued before the emperor herself, in many ways costing Antipas the throne, yet she won additional land and a payment from Augustus. The daughter Salome is the one who asked for the head of John the Baptist. At a birthday celebration in honor of Antipas, in AD 31, she was sent to dance before the men, and she performed so well that Antipas granted her a wish. At her mother's bidding, she asked for John's head. Herodias hated John because he publicly denounced her marriage to Antipas as a violation of Leviticus 20:21. Antipas, though saddened and though he had come to befriend John in prison, kept his promise and executed the innocent prophet. His foolish, unconditional promise to his stepdaughter reveals his lack of moral fiber and how easily he was influenced.