What is…
Sela
also known as: Se'lah, Selah, Petra, Joktheel
Hebrew: סֶלַע —transliteration: Sela —meaning: rock
This was once the capital of Edom, situated in the great valley extending from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea (2 Kings 14:7). It is called “the rock.”
It is near Mount Hor, close by the desert of Zin.
When King Amaziah took it, he called it Joktheel.
It is mentioned by the prophets (Isaiah 16:1; Obad. 1:3) as doomed to destruction due to its sins.
It appears in later history and in the Vulgate Version under its Greek name of Petra.
- What is Petra?
- More about Petra (site search)
“The caravans from all ages, from the interior of Arabia and from the Gulf of Persia [aka Persian Gulf, Arabian Gulf), from Hadramaut on the ocean, and even from Sabea or Yemen, appear to have pointed to Petra as a common center; and from Petra the tide seems again to have branched out in every direction, to Egypt, Israel, and Syria, through Arsinoe, Gaza, Tyre, Jerusalem, and Damascus, and by other routes, terminating at the Mediterranean.”
More information
- Edom
- Edom = Esau
- The Edomites, Esau’s descendants, became primarily idolatrous pagans.
- Nabateans
- Hor
- Seir
- Who is Esau?
- About deserts and wilderness in the Bible
What are the cities of the Bible? Names, descriptions, locations and types- Places of the Bible