2 Kings 14:7

He slew of Edom in the valley of Salt ten thousand,.... Of which valley, [See comments on 2 Samuel 8:13], the Edomites having revolted from Judah in the days of Joram, 2 Kings 8:20.

He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and called the name of it Joktheel unto this day. He slew of Edom in the valley of Salt ten thousand.

Of Edom, i.e. of the Edomites, or the children of Seir, as they are called, ; either because they dwelt in Seir; see ; or because these people were confederates. And he invaded these people because they were subjects to his kingdom, from which they had revolted in Joram’ s days, . The valley of salt; which was the land of Edom; of which see . Selah, or, the rock; the chief city of that part of Arabia, called by other authors Petra, which signifies a rock, because it was built upon a rock, . Joktheel, which signifies the obedience of God, i.e. given him by God as a reward of his obedience to God’ s message by the prophet, ,9.

2 Kings 14:7 He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and called the name of it Joktheel unto this day.Ver. 7. In the valley of Salt.] Near to the Lake Asphaltites, which yielded much salt. See 2 Samuel 8:13. Ten thousand.] Besides ten thousand more whom he cast down from a rock; not to make himself and the soldiers sport with, as the cruel Spaniards have dealt by the poor Indians, - but because they still stood out, as it is likely. And took Selah.] Or, Petra, the chief city of Arabia Petraea, called afterwards Philadelphia by Ptolemy Philadelph, who repaired it. Amaziah calleth it Jockteel, i.e., obedience to God, or the congregation of God, as Pagnine expoundeth it. Justin. Jun. Lap.

(7) He slew.—Rather, he it was that smote. The valley of salt.—Comp. 2 Samuel 8:13. El-Ghôr, the salt plain of the Dead Sea, which Amaziah would traverse in marching against Edom. Ten thousand.—The number slain in one conflict. Selah.—Heb., the Sèlac, i.e., the crag. The Hebrew name of the famous rock-hewn town of Petra. By war.—Or, in the battle. After the decisive engagement, Amaziah’s troops forced their way through the narrow defile leading to the Edomite capital, probably meeting no great resistance. Joktheel.—A town of Judah bore this name (Joshua 15:38). The name probably means God’s ward, referring to the wonderful strength of the natural position of the town. Others explain, subjugated of God. Unto this day—i.e., unto the time when the original document was written, from which the writer derived this notice. The reduction of the capital implies that of the country. The defeat of Jehoram (2 Kings 8:20, seq.) was thus avenged. Chronicles gives a more detailed account of the re-conquest of Edom, and its consequences (2 Chronicles 25:5-16). it is there related that Amaziah hired a large force of mercenaries from the northern kingdom, but sent them home again at the bidding of a prophet. On their way back they attacked and plundered certain of the cities of Judah. The fall of Selah was followed by a massacre of captives. The gods of Edom, which Amaziah carried off, proved a snare to him. (See the Notes on the passage.)

Verse 7. He slew of Edom to the valley of salt] This war is more circumstantially related in 2 Chronicles 25:5, c. The Idumeans had arisen in the reign of Joram king of Judah, and shaken off the yoke of the house of David. Amaziah determined to reduce them to obedience he therefore levied an army of three hundred thousand men in his own kingdom, and hired a hundred thousand Israelites, at the price of one hundred talents. When he was about to depart at the head of this numerous army, a prophet came to him and ordered him to dismiss the Israelitish army, for God was not with them: and on the king of Judah expressing regret for the loss of his hundred talents, he was answered, that the Lord could give him much more than that. He obeyed, sent back the Israelites, and at the head of his own men attacked the Edomites in the valley of salt, slew ten thousand on the spot, and took ten thousand prisoners, all of whom he precipitated from the rock, or Selah, which was afterwards called Joktheel, a place or city supposed to be the same with Petra, which gave name to Arabia Petraea, where there must have been a great precipice, from which the place took its name of Selah or Petra.

7. He slew of Edom] The Chronicler in 2 Chronicles 25:5-10 gives an account of Amaziah’s military preparations, before the expedition against Edom. He tells us that he gathered and marshalled his men of war, from twenty years old and upward, to the number of 300,000 choice men. To these he hired mercenary troops out of Israel, another 100,000. But a man of God forbade him to take the Israelites with him, as the Lord was not with Israel. Though grieved at the loss of the hundred talents, which he had paid for this body of allies, Amaziah separated them and sent them back again, wherefore their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in great wrath. After this with his own troops only Amaziah undertook the war with Edom, in which he was successful. According to Josephus (Ant. IX. 9. 1) the first planned expedition was against the Amalekites and Gebalites as well as the Edomites. On Gebal, a city of Ph�nicia, see note on 1 Kings 5:18. in the valley of salt] The R.V. prints both ‘Valley’ and ‘Salt’ with capitals to mark it as a proper name. The LXX. has a transliteration of the two words Γεμελέδ. The Valley of Salt lay at the south of the Dead Sea, and was on the border of the Edomite territory. We read that the Edomites had revolted from Judah in the days of Joram (2 Kings 8:20-22), and it seems they had not as yet been reduced to subjection. ten thousand] Beside the 10,000 slain in the battle, the Chronicler mentions 10,000 more who were taken captive, and cast headlong from the rock so ‘that they all were broken in pieces’ (2 Chronicles 25:12). and took Selah [R.V. Sela] by war] Sela which signifies ‘a rock’ is probably the city which was known in later times as ‘Petra’. It was a city of Edom, not far from Mount Hor, about 2 days’ journey northward from the top of the gulf of Akabah. The Chronicler says nothing about Sela, but mentions ‘the rock’ as the place from which the 10,000 captives were cast down. It may have been from the height on which Sela stood and took its name, that the execution of the captives took place. called the name of it Joktheel] This name, which is a trisyllable (Jokthe-ιl) is interpreted by Gesenius as ‘a Deo subactum’. It might with propriety be given by Amaziah to a city won by him after the direction which God had given him to put away the Israelite mercenaries. He would consider that the victory was a direct gift from God. unto this day] That Sela continued to be called Jokteel at the time when the book of Kings was compiled is in the highest degree improbable. We know that Edom reconquered some of the lost territory very soon (2 Chronicles 28:17) and during the captivity made inroads into the south of Judah as far as Hebron (Joseph. Ant. xii. 8.6).

Amaziah’s Idumaean war is treated at length by the writer of Chronicles (marginal reference).

7. Slew of Edom — The Edomites had cast off the yoke of Judah in the days of Jehoram, (2 Kings 8:20,) and had so strengthened themselves that, according to 2 Chronicles 25:5-6, Amaziah considered it