Salecah
Salecah is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Transjordan in modern-day Jordan. Known today as Salkhad. It appears across 4 verses in Scripture.
Biblical History
Salecah (also spelled Salcah) appears in Scripture as a border city marking the eastern extent of the kingdom of Og, king of Bashan, and later of Israelite territory in Transjordan. It is first mentioned in Deuteronomy 3:10, where Moses recounts the conquest of Og's kingdom, which included "all the cities of the tableland, all Gilead, and all Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei." Joshua 12:5 similarly describes Og's domain as extending to Salecah. After the conquest, this territory was assigned to the half-tribe of Manasseh (Joshua 13:11). In 1 Chronicles 5:11, Salecah appears again as part of the territory inhabited by the tribe of Gad in Bashan. The city's repeated mention as a boundary marker emphasizes both the vast extent of the land God gave Israel east of the Jordan and the completeness of the victory over the formidable Og, whose kingdom had seemed invincible. Salecah's position at the frontier of Israelite settlement made it a sentinel of God's fulfilled promises regarding the land.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Salecah is confidently identified with modern Salkhad (also spelled Sulkhad), located in southern Syria at the southeastern edge of the Hauran region, on the slopes of Jebel Druze. The site is dominated by an imposing medieval fortress built atop earlier fortifications, suggesting continuous strategic importance. The citadel sits on a volcanic cone, providing commanding views over the surrounding basalt landscape. Archaeological surveys have identified remains from the Bronze Age and Iron Age beneath later structures, consistent with occupation during the biblical period. Roman-era inscriptions and structures have also been found. The volcanic basalt terrain of the region matches ancient descriptions of Bashan as a fertile but rugged land. Salkhad remains a small town in the Druze-inhabited Sweida Governorate of Syria.
Verse Appearances (4)
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]