Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
2 Kings 14:7 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 7. 7He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and called the name of it Joktheel unto this day.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse closes the thought unit with its stated result or transition: “He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and called….” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “Amaziah's mixed reign includes bounded justice.”
Amaziah does right, not like David, and limits the revenge
This verse is one part of that explanation in 2 Kings 14:1–7. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- 2 Kings 14:1–7
Read 2 Kings 14:7 with 14:1–7. The selected wording supplies one closing in the thought unit with its stated result or transition; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: Amaziah does right but not like David, leaves high places, executes his father's killers, and spares their children in stated obedience to Torah before defeating Edom.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Amaziah's mixed reign includes bounded justice,” 2 Kings 14:7 closes the thought unit with its stated result or transition through the wording “He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and called….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: 2 Kings 13:22–25 establishes this prior movement: Hazael oppresses Israel, the LORD shows compassion because of the ancestral covenant, Hazael dies, and Jehoash recovers cities three times. 2 Kings 14:1–7 continues the same royal, prophetic, household, military, reform, or exile movement; that evidenced relationship, rather than database adjacency alone, explains its placement.
Read 2 Kings 14:1–7 together
Why these verses belong together: 2 Kings 14:1–7 forms one scene or regnal notice: Amaziah does right but not like David, leaves high places, executes his father's killers, and spares their children in stated obedience to Torah before defeating Edom.
Verse 1. 1 In the second year of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel reigned Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah.
Verse 2. 2 He was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.
Verse 3. 3 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, yet not like David his father: he did according to all things as Joash his father did.
Verse 4. 4 Howbeit the high places were not taken away: as yet the people did sacrifice and burnt incense on the high places.
Verse 5. 5 And it came to pass, as soon as the kingdom was confirmed in his hand, that he slew his servants which had slain the king his father.
Verse 6. 6 But the children of the murderers he slew not: according unto that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the LORD commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin.
Verse 7. 7 He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and called the name of it Joktheel unto this day.
Follow the Context
- Amaziah does right but not like David, leaves high places, executes his father's killers, and spares their children in stated obedience to Torah before defeating Edom.
- The unit closes by establishing the result or tension named in “Amaziah's mixed reign includes bounded justice” before the next narrated movement.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
2 Kings 14:7 does not permit the wording “He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and called…” to be read apart from the selected verse's context. The Torah limit on intergenerational punishment does not legitimate execution without due process, conquest, or modern territorial claims.
What Remains True
Faithful interpretation protects the dignity, agency, safety, grief, and material needs of people whom leadership-centered readings can overlook. This unit tests that truth through the narrated movement: Amaziah does right but not like David, leaves high places, executes his father's killers, and spares their children in stated obedience to Torah before defeating Edom. In 2 Kings 14:7, the concrete line “He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and called…” keeps that truth accountable to narrated evidence.
Teach It Back
In 70–220 words, explain 2 Kings 14:7's role in 14:1–7. Paraphrase “He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and called…,” identify one agent or affected person, state one material source or historical limit, and name one conclusion the context does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read 2 Kings 14:1–7 — Amaziah's mixed reign includes bounded justiceSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Kings and Chronicles differ in selected details, and the place-name Joktheel's later status is not a modern border claim.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: 2 Kings 14:1–7, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 2 Kings
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, royal formulas, clause relationships, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/2Kgs.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 14:1–7
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: 2 Kings with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: A unit-bounded translation comparison plus only the lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, or older-English notes actually printed for these verses; silence is not treated as evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible 2 Kings PDF, printed pp. 648–649, translation and translator notes for 14:1–7
Open source ↗