Sela (Edom)

Sela (Hebrew: סֶּלַע, transliteration Sela‛, meaning rock; Arabic: السلع, es-Sela‛; Greek: πέτρα, 'Petra'; Latin: petra)[1] is a geographical name encountered several times in the Hebrew Bible.[2] Since, when used with article, it simply translates to "the rock", it is unreasonable to connect it to just one location.[2]

For other uses, see Sela (disambiguation).
Sela (as-Sila') in Jordan
السلع
Sela
Sela (as-Sila') in Jordan
Coordinates: 30°46′17″N 35°34′59″E
CountryJordan
ProvinceTafilah Governorate
DepartmentBusaira Department
Time zoneGMT +2
 • Summer (DST)+3

One site by this name is placed by the Second Book of Kings in Edom.[2] It has been identified with the archaeological site of es-Sela' or as-Sila‛ in Jordan's Tafilah Governorate.

Sela could be identifying different places in different locations in Bible, such as the Edomite Sela, Selaʿ in Judah (Judges 1:36), Moab (Isaiah 16:1) or Sela in Madinah, Saudi Arabia linked to Kedar (Isiah 42), an Ishmaelite Arab.[3] [4] ,

Hebrew Bible

Book of Judges

In the Book of Judges there is a mention of a place called Sela, "the rock", on the southern border of the lands still inhabited by the Amorites after the partial conquest of Canaan by the Israelites (Judges 1:36).

Second Book of Kings

2 Kings sets "Sela" in the great valley extending from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea (2 Kings 14:7). It was near Mount Hor, close by the desert of Zin.[1]

In the story of King Amaziah of Judah, a place called Sela is mentioned. Amaziah is described as throwing 10,000 Edomites to their death from the heights of Sela (2 Chronicles 25:12; 2 Kings 14:7).[5] When Amaziah took Sela he called it Joktheel (also spelled Jokteel (JPS) and Jectehel (DRB)) (q.v.) (Hebrew: יָקְתְאֵל, Yoqtĕ-’Ēl, "the blessedness of God" or "subdued by God";[1] Latin: Jectehel) or Kathoel (Greek: Καθοηλ) in the Septuagint.

Isaiah and Obadiah

Places called Sela are mentioned by the prophets Isaiah and Obadiah (15:1; 16:1; Obadiah 1:3) as to cry in joy in glory of the Lord.

Archaeological site

Sela in Edom is widely identified with the ruins of Sela, east of Tafileh (identified as biblical Tophel) and near Bozrah, both Edomite cities in the mountains of Edom, in modern-day Jordan.

As of 2012 Sela, or as-Sila‛ or es-Sela in Arabic, had not yet been excavated, but surveys of the plateau have produced surface finds from the Early Bronze Age through to the Nabataean period, but mainly from the time of the Edomites of the Hebrew Bible: the early to mid-first millennium BCE.[5] This is the period when Sela was most extensively inhabited.[5]

Archaeologists have found on a rock face at es-Sila' the so-called "Nabonidus Inscription", named after the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire (ruled c. 556–539 BCE).[6][7]

Confusion with Petra

Sela appears in later history and in the Vulgate under the name of 'Petra', the Greek translation of the Semitic word 'Sela', meaning 'rock'.[8] This led to Sela being confused with the Nabataean city of Rekem,[9] known to the Hellenistic world as Petra.

  • Sela in the Nabataean period and photos of the site; at Nabataea.net

References
  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Easton, Matthew George (1897). "Sela". Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons. pp. 611–612.
  1. Meanings from Net Bible Study Dictionary, Joktheel
  2. "Sela". Bible Hub. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  3. Soomro, Taha. "The Prophet Muḥammad and Isaiah 42". Academia. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  4. "Muhammad (pbuh) and Madinah in the Bible". Many Prophets, One Message. {{cite web}}: |first1= missing |last1= (help)
  5. Corbett, Glenn J. (December 2012). "The Edomite Stronghold of Sela: Is this where 10,000 Edomites were thrown to their deaths?". Bible History Daily. Biblical Archaeology Society.
  6. Da Riva, Rocío (March 2019). "New Discoveries at Sela, the Mountain Stronghold of Edom". The Ancient Near East Today. American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR). VII (3). Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  7. Da Riva, Rocío (2020). "The Nabonidus Inscription in Sela (Jordan): Epigraphic Study and Historical Meaning". Zeitschrift für Assyriologie. Berlin: De Gruyter. 110 (2): 176–195. doi:10.1515/za-2020-0018. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  8. Forder, A. (November 1901). "Sela or Petra, "The Strong City." The Ruined Capital of Edom". The Biblical World. 18 (5): 328–337. doi:10.1086/472910. ISSN 0190-3578.
  9. Josephus (1930). Jewish Antiquities. doi:10.4159/DLCL.josephus-jewish_antiquities.1930 – via Loeb Classical Library.
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