Sela (Edom)

Coordinates: 30°46′17″N 35°34′59″E / 30.77139°N 35.58306°E / 30.77139; 35.58306
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Sela (disambiguation).
Sela (as-Sila') in Jordan
السلع
Busaira Department
Time zoneGMT +2
 • Summer (DST)+3

Sela (

Latin: petra)[1] is a geographical name encountered several times in the Hebrew Bible, and applicable to a variety of locations.[2]

One site by this name is placed by the

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

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

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

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

Nabataean period, but mainly from the time of the Edomites of the Hebrew Bible: the early to mid-first millennium BCE.[3] This is the period when Sela was most extensively inhabited.[3]

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).[4][5]

Confusion with Petra

Sela appears in later history and in the

Hellenistic world as Petra
.

External links

Look up Sela in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

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. ^ a b c Meanings from Net Bible Study Dictionary, Joktheel
  2. ^ a b "Sela". Bible Hub. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  3. ^ a b c 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.
  4. ^ Da Riva, Rocío (March 2019). "New Discoveries at Sela, the Mountain Stronghold of Edom". The Ancient Near East Today. VII (3). American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR). Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  5. doi:10.1515/za-2020-0018
    . Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  6. ISSN 0190-3578
    .
  7. doi:10.4159/DLCL.josephus-jewish_antiquities.1930 – via Loeb Classical Library
    .
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