2 Chronicles 25:12

12 And the sons of Judah took (an)other ten thousand of men, and brought (them) to the high scarp of a stone; and they cast them down from the highest part into a pit; which all brake (and they were all killed there).

2 Chronicles 25:12 Meaning and Commentary

2 Chronicles 25:12

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 ^F7 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 ^F8; 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 ^F9: 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 ^F11; 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Antiqu. l. 9. c. 9. sect. 1.
F8 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
F9 Aelian. Var. Hist. l. 11. c. 5.
F11 Pitt's Account of the Mahometans, ch. 1. p. 10.

2 Chronicles 25:12 In-Context

10 Therefore Amaziah separated the host that came to him from Ephraim, that it should turn again into his place; and they were wroth greatly against Judah, and they turned again into their country. (And so Amaziah separated out the army that came to him from Ephraim, and told them to return home; and they were greatly angered against the people of Judah, but they returned to their own country.)

11 And Amaziah led out trustily his people, and went into the valley of (the) makings of salt, and he killed of the sons of Seir ten thousand. (And then Amaziah trustily led out his people, and went into the Salt Valley, and he killed ten thousand of the sons of Seir there.)

12 And the sons of Judah took (an)other ten thousand of men, and brought (them) to the high scarp of a stone; and they cast them down from the highest part into a pit; which all brake (and they were all killed there).

13 And that host that Amaziah had sent again, that it should not go with him to battle, was spread abroad in the cities of Judah from Samaria unto Bethhoron; and after (that) the host of Israel had slain three thousand of Judah, it took away a great prey (they took away a great deal of prey).

14 And Amaziah, after the slaying of Idumeans, and after that he had brought thence with him the gods of the sons of Seir, he ordained them to be into gods to himself, and he worshipped them, and burnt incense to them. (And Amaziah, after the slaughter of the Edomites, brought back from there the gods of the sons of Seir with him, and he ordained them to be his gods, and he worshipped them, and burned incense to them.)