And other ten thousand left alive. — Rather, And ten thousand the sons of Judah took alive. The LXX. renders well: καὶ δέκα χιλιάδας ἐζώγρησαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ιουδα.
And brought them unto the top of the rock. — Or, of Sela. Sela, “the crag,” was the Edomite capital, known to after ages as Petra, “the rock.” The “Head of Sela” may be the name of a cliff overhanging the town. This savage massacre of prisoners is not mentioned in Kings; but it is quite credible, in view of the well-known atrocities of ancient warfare. (Comp. 1 Chronicles 20:3; Psalms 137:9; 2 Kings 8:12; Amos 1:11; Amos 1:13; 1 Kings 11:15-16 : Joab “cut off every male in Edom.”) It is, however, remarkable that the chronicler does not mention the capture of Sela itself. Thenius, therefore, supposes that the statement of this verse is really the result of an attempt to restore an illegible text of 2 Kings 14:7.