Valley of Salt

Biblical References

The Valley of Salt appears in the Old Testament in connection with battles from two periods.

• The time of David: 2 Samuel 8:13 records that David made a name for himself when he struck down eighteen thousand enemy soldiers there. The parallel account in 1 Chronicles 18:12 states that Abishai the son of Zeruiah slew eighteen thousand of the Edomites. The superscription of Psalm 60 states that the psalm was composed when Joab returned and smote twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.
• The reign of Amaziah: According to 2 Kings 14:7, Amaziah king of Judah slew ten thousand Edomites there, took Selah, and renamed it Joktheel. 2 Chronicles 25:11-12 adds that Amaziah smote ten thousand of the children of Seir and threw another ten thousand captives down from the top of the rock.

Background

The Hebrew name Ge ha-Melah means "valley of salt." Because the Bible mentions the place only as a site of battles with Edom, it is generally thought to have lain near Judah's southern frontier. Scholars differ on its exact location. One view places it in the Arabah south of the Dead Sea, where the ground is heavily saline; another identifies it with a valley east of Beersheba. Neither identification has been confirmed.

Edom was a people traditionally regarded as the descendants of Esau, and it contended with Israel over borders and trade routes for a long period. The battles fought here are understood as part of Judah's efforts to rule Edom or to bring it back into subjection.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

The victory in David's time is recorded as part of the account of David's kingdom subduing the surrounding nations. The victory in Amaziah's reign is read in light of the events that followed. According to 2 Chronicles 25:14-16, after returning from this battle Amaziah brought back the gods of the children of Seir and worshiped them, and a prophet rebuked him. 2 Kings 14:8-14 relates that, his heart lifted up by this victory, he challenged Jehoash king of the northern kingdom of Israel to battle and was defeated.

The conflict between Edom and Israel is carried forward into the prophetic oracles of judgment against Edom, such as those in Obadiah. The Valley of Salt does not appear in the New Testament.

Interpretation and Issues

• Textual differences: In 2 Samuel 8:13 the Hebrew Masoretic Text reads "Aram" at this point, and the verse is known to pose difficulties in its textual transmission. Because 1 Chronicles 18:12 and the ancient versions read "Edom," translations handle the verse in different ways.
• Commanders and numbers: The same victory is credited variously to David, Abishai, and Joab, and the numbers also differ: eighteen thousand in one account and twelve thousand in another. Several harmonizing explanations have been offered: that the accounts reflect the convention of recording victories in the king's name; that Joab held overall command while Abishai led the actual fighting; or that the accounts reflect different phases of the campaign or different traditions.
• Moral readings: The Amaziah narrative is commonly read as a warning against pride and idolatry after victory. Attaching symbolic meaning to the place name "Valley of Salt" itself, however, goes beyond what the text says.