Mozah

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

With the article the. A city of Benjamin ( Joshua 18:26); "spring head", else "place of reeds." The Mishna calls it "Motsa, below Jerusalem, where they descended and gathered willow branches" for the feast of tabernacles. The Gemara says it was a Roman "colony," and exempt from the king's tribute. Probably now Kulonieh , a village four miles W. of Jerusalem, on the Jaffa road, at the entrance of wady Beit Haninah. Doubtless the now dry river bed, when through woods the climate was less arid, was filled with water along which grew willows.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Mo'zah. (Fountain). One of the cities in the allotment of Benjamin,  Joshua 18:26 only, named between hae-Cephirah and Rekem.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Mozah . A town of Benjamin (  Joshua 18:28 ). A possible site is the ruin Beit Mizzeh , close to Kulonieh , west of Jerusalem.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

City in Benjamin.  Joshua 18:26 . Identified with ruins at Beit Mizza, 31 49' N, 35 9' E .

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Joshua 18:26

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Joshua 18:26

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Motsah', מֹצָה , i.q. Moza, an Issuing of water, but with the art.; Sept. Μωσά v.r. Ἀμωσά , Ἀμώκη ),. a city of the tribe of Benjamin, mentioned between Chephirah and Rekem ( Joshua 18:26). A place of this name is mentioned by the rabbins (Mishna, Sukkah, 4:5) as situated below Jerusalem," at a spot whither the worshippers went down for the willow branches used at the feast of Tabernacles (Reland, Palest. page 903). To this the Gemara adds, "the place was a Colonia ( קולניא ), that is, exempt from the king's tribute" (Buxtorf, Lex. Tah. col. 2043), which other Talmudists reconcile with the original name by observing that Motsah signifies an outlet or liberation, e.g. from tribute. Bartenora, who lived at Jerusalem, and now lies in the "valley of Jehoshaphat" there, says (in Surenhusius's Mishna, 2:274) that Motsah was but a short distance from the city, and in his time retained its name of Colonia. Hence 'Schwarz infers (Palest. pages 127, 128) that the site is that of the modern Kulonieh, a village about three miles west of Jerusalem (Robinson, Res. 2:146), containing ancient walls (Scholz, Reise, page 161). "Interpreting the name according to its Hebrew derivation, it may signify 'the spring-head' — the place at which the water of a spring gushes out (Stanley, S. and P. App. § 52). The interpretations of the rabbins, just quoted, are not inconsistent with the name being really derived from its having been the seat of a Roman colonia. The only difficulty in the way of the identification is that Kulonieh can hardly be spoken of as 'below Jerusalem' — an expression which is most naturally interpreted of the ravine beneath the city, where the Bir Eyub is, and the royal gardens formerly were. Still there are vestiges of much vegetation about Kulonieh, and when the country was more generally cultivated and wooded, and the climate less arid than at present, the dry river-bed which the traveller now crosses may have flowed with water, and have formed a not unfavorable spot for the growth of willows. (See Culon).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

mō´za ( המּצה , ha - mōcāh  ; Codex Vaticanus Ἀμωκή , Amōkḗ  ; Codex Alexandrinus Ἀμωσά , Amōsá ): A town in the territory of Benjamin named after Mizpeh and Chephirah   Joshua 18:26 . It may be represented by the modern Beit Mizzeh , the heavy "ts" of the Hebrew letter (tsade) passing into the light "z" of the Arabic, a not unusual change. The name means "place of hard stone." The village lies to the North of Ḳulōniyeh (possibly Emmaus), about 4 miles Northwest of Jerusalem.