2 Chronicles 25:12

And other ten thousand left alive did the children of Judah carry away captive, and brought them unto the top of the rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, that they all were broken in pieces.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(12) And other ten thousand left alive.—Rather, And ten thousand the sons of Judah took alive. The LXX. renders well: καὶ δέκα χιλιάδας ἐζώγρησαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ιουδα.

And brought them unto the top of the rock.—Or, of Sela. Sela, “the crag,” was the Edomite capital, known to after ages as Petra, “the rock.” The “Head of Sela” may be the name of a cliff overhanging the town. This savage massacre of prisoners is not mentioned in Kings; but it is quite credible, in view of the well-known atrocities of ancient warfare. (Comp. 1Chronicles 20:3; Psalm 137:9; 2Kings 8:12; Amos 1:11; Amos 1:13; 1Kings 11:15-16 : Joab “cut off every male in Edom.”) It is, however, remarkable that the chronicler does not mention the capture of Sela itself. Thenius, therefore, supposes that the statement of this verse is really the result of an attempt to restore an illegible text of 2Kings 14:7.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

25:1-13 Amaziah was no enemy to religion, but cool and indifferent friend. Many do what is good, but not with a perfect heart. Rashness makes work for repentance. But Amaziah's obedience to the command of God was to his honour. A firm belief of God's all-sufficiency to bear us out in our duty, and to make up all the loss and damage was sustain in his service, will make his yoke very easy, and his burden very light. When we are called to part with any thing for God and our religion, it should satisfy us, that God is able to give us much more than this. Convinced sinners, who have not true faith, always object to self-denying obedience. They are like Amaziah; they say, But what shall we do for the hundred talents? What shall we do if by keeping the sabbath holy we lose so many good customers? What shall we do without this gain? What shall we do if we lose the friendship of the world? Many endeavour to quiet their consciences by the pretence that forbidden practices are necessary. The answer is, as here, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this. He makes up, even in this world, for all that is given up for his sake.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The top of the rock - Rather, "the height of Selah" (or, Petra), near which the battle was probably fought. On the cruel features of the Edomite wars, see 1 Kings 11:15; Ezekiel 25:12; Obadiah 1:14.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

11. valley of salt—This ravine lies to the south of the Dead Sea. The arms of Amaziah, in reward for his obedience to the divine will, were crowned with victory—ten thousand of the Edomites were slain on the field, and as many taken prisoners, who were put to death by precipitation "from the top of the rock" [2Ch 25:12]. This rock might be situated in the neighborhood of the battlefield, but more probably it formed one of the high craggy cliffs of Selah (Petra), the capital of the Edomites, whither Amaziah marched directly from the Valley of Salt, and which he captured (2Ki 14:7). The savage cruelty dealt out to them was either in retaliation for similar barbarities inflicted on the Hebrews, or to strike terror into so rebellious a people for the future. The mode of execution, by dashing against stones (Ps 137:9), was common among many ancient nations.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And other ten thousand left alive did the children of Judah carry away captive,.... The rest of the army of the Edomites, which amounted to the same number, fell into their hands, and they took them, and carried them off:

and brought them unto the top of the rock; very probably the same on which the city Petra, the metropolis of Edom, was built, called also Selah, 2 Kings 14:7 both which names signify a rock. Josephus (g) calls it the great rock in Arabia; that is, Arabia Petraea:

and cast them down from the top of the rock, that they were broken all in pieces; burst asunder, bones broken, and limb from limb separated. This sort of punishment was inflicted by the Romans on various malefactors, by casting them down from the Tarpeian rock (h); and in Greece, according to the Delphian law, such as were guilty of sacrilege were led to a rock, and cast down headlong from thence (i): and now in Turkey, at a place called Constantine, a town situated on the top of a great rock, the usual way of executing great criminals is by pushing them from off the cliff (k); see Luke 4:29, but to use captives taken in war after this manner seems cruel and barbarous; and what should be the reason of such treatment of them is not easy to say.

(g) Antiqu. l. 9. c. 9. sect. 1.((h) Liv. Hist. l. 6. c. 20. Patercul. Hist. Roman. l. 2. Aurel. Victor. de Vir. Illustr. c. 27, 70. Vid, Rycquium de Capitol. Roman. c. 4. p. 45, &c. (i) Aelian. Var. Hist. l. 11. c. 5. (k) Pitt's Account of the Mahometans, ch. 1. p. 10.

Geneva Study Bible

And other ten thousand left alive did the children of Judah carry away captive, and brought them unto the top of the {i} rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, that they all were broken in pieces.

(i) In 2Ki 14:7 this rock is called the city Sela.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

12. left alive did the children of Judah carry away captive] R.V. did the children of Judah carry away alive. The “left alive” of the A.V. is misleading, for it suggests that they were prisoners captured in the same battle in which the first ten thousand were slain; a comparison of Kings however suggests that they were the whole (or part) of the garrison of Sela, which fortress was captured by Amaziah after his victory in the valley of salt.

the rock] R.V. mg. Sela; cp. 2 Kings 14:7 and Jeremiah 49:16. Sela is usually identified with Petra (Bädeker, p. 146 ff.), but the identification is by no means certain.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 12. - The top of the rock. The parallel uses the Hebrew word without translation, Selah (הַסֶּלַע). There is little doubt that this is Petra (Conder's 'Handbook to the Bible,' 305; Stanley's 'Sinai and Palestine,' 87-92). The parallel tells us the interesting fact that Amaziah, perhaps under the influence of a spasmodic touch of devout-hess or gratitude, changed the name of Selah, or rather endeavoured to change it, to Joktheel, which Gesenius translates "subjugated of God." This name had already occurred in Joshua 15:38. The new name, however, did not last, as the Edomites recovered soon the country of (2 Chronicles 28:17; Amos 1:11; Isaiah 16:1, 2) Arabia Petraea, of which Selah or Petra was the capital. Left alive. The Revised Version correctly renders, carry away alive. The cruelty of the Edomites receives many illustrations (see last references, and Ezekiel 25:12-14; Obadiah 1:1-15). 2 Chronicles 25:12

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

But Amaziah courageously led his people into the Valley of Salt, and smote the Edomites. התחזק, as in 2 Chronicles 15:8, refers back to חזק, 2 Chronicles 25:8 : he showed himself strong, according to the word of the prophet. As to the Valley of Salt, see on 2 Samuel 8:13 and 1 Chronicles 18:12. Besides the 10,000 slain in the battle, the men of Judah took 10,000 other Edomites prisoners, whom they cast from the top of a rock. This statement is wanting in 2 Kings 14:7, where, instead of it, the capture of the city Sela (Petra) is mentioned. The conjecture of Thenius, that this last statement of the Chronicle has been derived from a text of the Kings which had become illegible at this place, has already been rejected as untenable by Bertheau. Except the word סלע, the two texts have nothing in common with each other; but it does suggest itself that הסּלע ראשׁ, the top of the rock (which has become famous by this event), is to be looked for in the neighbourhood of the city Selah, as the war was ended only by the capture of Selah. Besides the battle in the Valley of Salt there were still further battles; and in the Numbers 10,000, manifestly the whole of the prisoners taken in the war are comprehended, who, as irreconcilable enemies of Judah, were not made slaves, but were slain by being thrown down from a perpendicular rock.