Original Word: סַלְכָה
Part of Speech: Proper Name Location
Transliteration: Calkah
Pronunciation: sal-KAH
Phonetic Spelling: (sal-kaw')
KJV: Salcah, Salchah
NASB: Salecah
Word Origin: [from an unused root. meaning to walk]

1. walking
2. Salcah, a place East of the Jordan

Salcah, Salchah

From an unused root. Meaning to walk; walking; Salcah, a place East of the Jordan -- Salcah, Salchah.

Word Origin
of uncertain derivation
Definition
a city on the E. border of Bashan
NASB Translation
Salecah (4).

סַלְכָה proper name, of a location city on east border of Bashan, Deuteronomy 3:10; Joshua 12:5; Joshua 13:11 (all D), 1 Chronicles 5:11; = Nabataean עלתד (Lzb³⁵⁸ Cook¹⁰¹), modern ‚al—ad, ‚ar—ad, on southern spur of Jebel Hauran, approximately 63 miles due east of Jordan; compare Buhl^{Geogr. 252} Dr^{Deuteronomy 3:10}; ᵐ5 Σελχα, Ελχα, etc. (Σ lost often after ἔως).

Geographical Setting

Salcah (present-day Salkhad in southern Syria) stood on the extreme south-eastern spur of Bashan, where the fertile plateau of the Hauran rises toward the volcanic hills of Jebel el-Druze. Its elevation (over 4,000 feet) afforded a natural fortress controlling caravan routes that linked the heartland of Bashan with the Arabian deserts to the east. Ancient ruins, basalt ramparts, and a high keep that dominates the modern town bear witness to its long-lived strategic importance.

Biblical Record

1. Deuteronomy 3:10 places Salcah among “all the cities of the plain, all Gilead and all Bashan, as far as Salecah and Edrei,” summarizing the territory God delivered to Israel from Og king of Bashan.
2. Joshua 12:5 reiterates that Og “reigned over Mount Hermon, Salecah, all Bashan,” underlining the scope of his dominion and the completeness of Israel’s victory east of the Jordan.
3. Joshua 13:11 cites Salcah as the eastern limit of the Bashan allotment to the half-tribe of Manasseh, fixed “as far as Salecah,” securing the tribe’s southern border.
4. 1 Chronicles 5:11 locates the tribe of Gad “in the land of Bashan as far as Salecah,” indicating that Gad’s territory abutted the Manassite frontier at this city.

Thus all four passages present Salcah as a border-marker: first of Og’s kingdom, later of Israel’s eastern inheritance.

Historical Significance

• Conquest Testimony: Salcah’s capture confirmed the divine promise that Israel would possess lands held by seemingly invincible foes (Numbers 21:33-35). Og’s defeat, memorialized by political outposts such as Salcah, became a benchmark of God’s faithfulness (Psalm 135:11).
• Tribal Boundary Stone: By designating Salcah in boundary formulae, Scripture safeguards the exactness of God’s grant. The detail reveals a covenant Lord who is precise in His giving and expects corresponding faithfulness from His people in occupying and stewarding the land.
• Military Bastion: Positioned on the desert rim, Salcah served as a sentinel against nomadic incursions. For the half-tribe of Manasseh and their Gadite neighbors, holding the city required vigilance—an earthly illustration of the watchfulness to which believers are exhorted (1 Peter 5:8).

Ministry Implications

1. Assurance of Promised Victory

Salcah, once under Og, came under Israel “not by sword or by bow” alone but by the Lord’s pledge (Joshua 24:12). The city reminds Christians that spiritual strongholds fall through reliance on divine power (2 Corinthians 10:4).

2. Stewardship of Inheritance

Biblical geography is theology in landscape. Salcah’s role as a landmark calls the Church to guard the boundaries of apostolic truth “entrusted to the saints” (Jude 3) with equal clarity and resolve.

3. Kingdom Horizon

Set on the edge of desert emptiness, Salcah pictures the outreach of God’s kingdom to the margins. Just as the eastern tribes extended covenant blessing into frontier zones, modern missions press the gospel to the unreached, confident that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord” (Habakkuk 2:14).

Prophetic Echoes

Although no direct prophetic oracle centers on Salcah, the broader region of Bashan features repeatedly in eschatological and restorative visions (e.g., Micah 7:14; Ezekiel 39:18). The inclusion of Bashan imagery signals the Lord’s intention to redeem and renew all territories once associated with proud opposition—territories in which cities like Salcah once stood as symbols of giant-dominated kingdoms.

Archaeology and Modern Identification

Nineteenth-century explorers such as Edward Robinson identified ruins at Salkhad matching the biblical site. Massive basalt architecture, Nabataean and Roman inscriptions, and a well-preserved citadel display cycles of occupation stretching from the Iron Age through Byzantine times. These findings corroborate the biblical portrait of Salcah as both ancient and formidable, while also illustrating the enduring imprint of the biblical narrative on the physical landscape.

Concluding Reflection

Across only four verses, Salcah supplies a vivid lesson in covenant geography, demonstrating how God’s redemptive work reaches every corner of the promised territory and setting before His people an enduring call to vigilant stewardship and missional advance.

וּבְסַלְכָה֙ ובסלכה סַלְכָ֖ה סַלְכָֽה׃ סלכה סלכה׃ sal·ḵāh salChah salḵāh ū·ḇə·sal·ḵāh ūḇəsalḵāh uvesalChahInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts