Uz

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

UZ . 1 . A son of Aram [Note: ram Aramaic.] , grandson of Shem (  Genesis 10:23 and   1 Chronicles 1:17 [in emended text]). 2. A son of Nahor (  Genesis 22:21 , AV [Note: Authorized Version.] Huz ), whose descendants are placed in Aram-naharaim (  Genesis 24:10 ). 3 . One of the Horites in the land of Edom (  Genesis 36:28 [v. 21 and v. 30],   1 Chronicles 1:42 ). 4. A region which is called the dwelling-place of the daughter of Edom (  Lamentations 4:21 ). 5 . A district containing a number of kings, situated between Philistia and Egypt, or, with a different pointing of the consonants of one word, between Philistia and the country of the Bedouin (  Jeremiah 25:20 : the name not in LXX [Note: Septuagint.] ). 6. Job’s country (  Job 1:1 ). As the first three are probably tribal designations, all may be regarded as geographical terms. It is not certain that they all refer to the same region. Nos. 1 and 2 seem to point to Mesopotamia. Nos. 3 and 4, and perhaps 5 , indicate Edom or its neighbourhood. The locality of No. 6 is obscure. Ancient tradition is threefold. In LXX [Note: Septuagint.] of Job 42:19 Uz is affirmed, on the authority of ‘the Syriac book,’ to lie on the borders of ldumæa and Arabia. In v. 23 it is located on the borders of the Euphrates. Josephus ( Ant. I. vi. 4) associates the Uz of No. 1 with Damascus and Trachonitis. The evidence of the Book of Job itself about its hero’s home seems to favour the neighbourhood of Edom or N. Arabia. Teman (  Job 2:11 ) was an Edomite district containing the city of Bozrah (  Amos 1:12 ), and Eliphaz was an Edomite name (  Genesis 36:4 ). The SabÅ“ans (  Job 1:15;   Job 6:19 ) were a S. Arabian people who had settlements in the north. Tema (  Job 6:19 ) lay in N. Arabia, about 250 miles S.E. of Edom. The description of Job, however, as one of ‘the children of the East’ (  Job 1:3 ) is most naturally understood to refer to the east of Palestine. The cuneiform inscriptions have a name Uzzai , which has been identified with Uz , but the identification is extremely uncertain.

Modern tradition, which can be traced back to early Christian times, locates Job in the Hauran, where the German explorer J. G. Wetzstein found a monastery of Job, a tomb and fountain and stone of Job, and small round stones called ‘worms of Job.’ Another German explorer, Glaser, finds Uz in W. Arabia, at a considerable distance to the N.W. of Medina. Decision at present is unattainable, both on the general question of the signification of Uz in OT and on the special question of its meaning in the Book of Job. All that can be said is that the name points to the E. and S.E. of Palestine, and that the Book of Job appears to represent its hero as living in the neighbourhood of the Arabian or Syro-Arabian desert.

W. Taylor Smith.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

UZ, or more correctly Huz ( Genesis 22:21). A country and a people near the Sabeans and the Chaldees ( Job 1:1;  Job 1:15;  Job 1:17); accessible to the Temanites, the Shuhites ( Job 2:11), and the Buzites ( Job 32:2). The Edomites once possessed it ( Jeremiah 25:20;  Lamentations 4:21). Suited for sheep, oxen, asses, and camels ( Job 1:3). From an inscription of Esarhaddon it appears there were in central Arabia, beyond the jebel Shomer, about the modern countries of upper and lower Kaseem, two regions, Bazu and Khazu, answering to Buz and Huz. Uz therefore was in the middle of northern Arabia, not far from the famous district of the Nejd. Ptolemy mentions the Aesitae (related to "Uz") as in the northern part of Arabia Deserta, near Babylon and the Euphrates. The name occurs

(1) in  Genesis 10:23 as son of Aram and grandson (as "son" means in  1 Chronicles 1:17) of Shem;

(2) as son of Nahor by Milcah ( Genesis 22:21);

(3) as son of Dishan and grandson of Seir ( Genesis 36:28). Evidently the more ancient and northerly members of the Aramaic family coalesced with some of the later Abrahamids holding a central position in Mesopotamia, and subsequently with those still later, the Edomites of the S.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

Land Of the country of Job. As there were three persons of this name, namely, the son of Aram, the son of Nahor, and the grandson of Seir the Horite, commentators are divided in their opinion as to the situation of the country meant by the land of Uz. Bochart, Spanheim, Calmet, Wells, and others, place it in Arabia Deserta. Michaelis places it in the valley of Damascus; which city was, in fact, built by Uz, the grandson of Shem. Archbishop Magee, Bishop Lowth, Dr. Hales, Dr. Good, and others, with more reason, fix the scene of the history of Job in Idumea. This is also the opinion of Mr. Horne, who refers for a confirmation of it to  Lamentations 4:21 , where Uz is expressly said to be in Edom; and to  Jeremiah 49:7-8;  Jeremiah 49:20;  Ezekiel 25:13;  Amos 1:11-12;  Obadiah 1:8-9 , where both Teman and Dedan are described as inhabitants of Edom. In effect, says Mr. Horne, nothing is clearer than that the history of an inhabitant of Idumea is the subject of the poem which bears the name of Job, and that all the persons introduced into it were Idumeans, dwelling in Idumea, in other words, Edomite Arabs.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Uz ( Ŭz ), Light Sandy Soil? 1. A region and tribe in the northeastern part of Arabia deserta, between the Euphrates, Palestine, and Idumea, probably including part of Bashan; called by Ptolemy Ausitis. Job was an inhabitant of "the land of Uz," which was probably an extensive district, and subject to the Edomites.  Job 1:1;  Jeremiah 25:20;  Lamentations 4:21. 2. A son of Aram.  Genesis 10:23;  1 Chronicles 1:17. 3. The son of Dishan, the Horite.  Genesis 36:28;  1 Chronicles 1:42.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

1. Son of Aram, a son of Shem.  Genesis 10:23;  1 Chronicles 1:17 .

2. Son of Dishan, a son of Seir.  Genesis 36:28;  1 Chronicles 1:42 .

3. The native land of Job, perhaps the district peopled by the descendants of one of the above, or of Huz the son of Nahor.   Job 1:1;  Jeremiah 25:20;  Lamentations 4:21 . It is supposed to have been in the south-east of Palestine towards Arabia Deserta, which would lie open to attacks from the Sabeans and the Chaldeans.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

The land in which Job dwelt,  Job 1:1   Jeremiah 25:20   Lamentations 4:21 . The Seventy call it Ausitis. It appears to have been a region in Arabia Deserta, between Palestine, Idumaea, and the Euphrates, and most probably not far from the borders of Idumaea. It is uncertain whether its inhabitants were descendants of Uz the son of Aram, Huz the son of Nahor, or Uz the Horite,  Genesis 10:23   22:21   36:28 . They appear to have had much knowledge of the true God and the principles of virtue and religion.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

The eldest son of Nahor, Abraham's brother ( Genesis 22:21 , RSV).

Copyright Statement These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., DD Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain.

Bibliography Information Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Uz'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/u/uz.html. 1897.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Jeremiah 25:20 Job 1:1 Lamentations 4:21 2 Genesis 10:23 1 Chronicles 1:17 Genesis 22:21 4 Genesis 36:28

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

This was the land made memorable by the dwelling of Job. The name seems to be taken from Hetz, counsel.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Uts, עוּוֹ , Awooded ) , the name of three men, and also of a region.

1.' (Sept. Οὔζ v..r. Ως , Vulg. Us or Fies. ) First named of the four sons of Aram ( Genesis 10:23), and grandson of Shem ( 1 Chronicles 1:17, where the lineage is condensed). B.C. post 2500.

2. (Sept., Οὔζ Vulg. Hus, A.V. "Huz.") The oldest of the eight sons of Nahor by Milcah ( Genesis 22:21). B.C. cir. 2000.

3. (Sept. Ως , Vulg. Ilus. ) First named of the two sons of Dishan the Horite chieftain ( Genesis 36:28;  1 Chronicles 1:42). B.C. post 1950.

4. THE Land Of Uz was the country in which Job lived ( Job 1:1; Sept. Αὐσῖτις Vulg. Hus ) . As the genealogical statements of the book of Genesis are undoubtedly ethnological, and in many instances also geographical, it may fairly be surmised that the coincidence of names in the above cases is not accidental, but points to a fusion of various branches of the Shemitic race in a certain locality. This surmise is confirmed by the circumstance that other connecting links may be discovered between the same branches. For instance, Nos. 1 and 2 have in common the names Aram (comp.  Genesis 10:23;  Genesis 22:21) and Maachah as a geographical designation in connection with: the former ( 1 Chronicles 19:6), and a personal one in connection with the latter ( Genesis 22:24). Nos. 2 and 4 have in common the names Buz and Buzite ( Genesis 22:21;  Job 32:2), Chesed and Chasdim ( Genesis 22:22;  Job 1:17, A.V. "Chaldaean's"), Shuah, a nephew of Nahor, and Shuhite ( Genesis 25:2;  Job 2:11), and Kedem, as the country whither Abraham sent Shuah, together with his other children by Keturah, and also as the country where Job lived ( Genesis 25:6;  Job 1:3). Nos. 3 and 4, again, have in common. Eliphaz ( Genesis 36:10;  Job 2:11), and Temrna an ad Temanite ( Genesis 36:11; Job 2, 11). The ethnological fact embodied in the above coincidences of names appears to be as follows: Certain branches of the Aramaic family, being both more ancient and occupying a more northerly position than the others, coalesced with branches of the later Abrahamids, holding a somewhat central position in Mesopotamia and Palestine, and again with branches of the still later Edomites of the south after they had become a distinct race from the Abrahamids.

This conclusion would receive confirmation if the geographical position of Uz, as described in the book of Job, harmonized with the probability of such an amalgamation. As far as we can gather, it lay either east or south-east of Palestine ( Job 1:3) see BEN E-KEDIEM]; adjacent to the Sabeans and the Chaldaeans ( Job 1:15;  Job 1:17), consequently northward of the Southern Arabians, and westward of the Euphrates; and, lastly, adjacent to the Edomites of Mount Seir, who at one period occupied Uz, probably as conquerors ( Lamentations 4:21), and whose troglodytic habits are probably described in  Job 30:6-7. The position of the country may further be deduced from the native lands of Job's friends, Eliphaz the Temanite being an Idummean, Eliha the Buzite being probably a neighbor of the Chaldeaans, for Buz and Chesed were brothers ( Genesis 22:21-22), and Bilaad the Shuhite being one of the Bene-Kedem. Whether Zophar the Naamathite is to be connected with Naamah in the tribe of Judah ( Joshua 15:41) may be regarded as problematical: if he were, the conclusion would be further established. From the above data we infer that the land of Uz corresponds to the Arabia Desert of classical geography, at all events to so much of it as lies north of the 30th parallel of latitude. This district has in all ages been occupied by nomadic tribes, who roam from the borders of Palestine to the Euphrates, and northward to the confines of Syria. (See Job).

"The land of Uz" is mentioned only in two other passages of Scripture. Jeremiah in one passage (25, 20; Sept. Οὔζ ,Vulg. Ausiis ) groups it with Egypt, Philistia, Edom, and Moab; and in another he appears either to identify it with a portion of Edom, or to affirm that some of the Edomites in his days inhabited Uz ( Lamentations 4:21; Οὔζ , Hus) . These various statements show that Uz was closely connected with Edom, and thus in general corroborate the above position. (See Idumea).

As to later opinions, Joseplus says that Uz founded Trachonitis and Damascus (Ant. 1, 6, 4). The former province lies in Bashan, and extends as far south as Bostra. It may have formed part of the land of Uz. Jerome appears to identify Uz with Damascus and Trachonitis, following Josephus (Quaest. in Genesis 10, 25; comp. Onomast. s.v. "Uz"). Bochart makes no less than three places of this name:

1. The Ghutah of Damascus, confounding the Arabic Ghutah with the Heb. עווֹ , words which are altogether dissimilar;

2. The region of Ausitis, named from Uz, the son of Nahor ( Genesis 22:21);

3. Uz of Edom, the land of the patriarch Job ( Opecra, 1, 80). There seems to be no sufficient authority for this threefold division. The general opinion of Biblical geographers and critics locates "the land of Uz" somewhere in Arabia Petrcea. Whether the name of Uz survived to classical times is uncertain: a tribe named Asitce ( Αἰσῖται ) is mentioned by Ptolemy (5, 19, 2); this Bochart identifies with the Uz of Scripture by altering the reading into Αὐσῖται ( Phaleg, 2, 8); but, with the exception of the rendering in the Sept. ( Ἐν Χώρᾷ Τῇ Αὐσίτιδι ,  Job 1:1; comp.  Job 32:2), there is nothing to justify such a change. Gesenius (Thesaur. p. 1003) is satisfied with the form Lesitee as sufficiently corresponding to Uz; without any such change; as also Winer (Realw. s.v.) and most others. See Spanheim, Hist. Job, 4:10 sq.; Buddei Hist. N.T. 1, 370; Carpzov, Introd. 2, 42; Miller, De Terra Jobi, in the Thes. Vet. Test. 1, 540; Fries, in the Stud. u. Krit. 1854, vol. 2; and the commentaries on Job. (See Arabia).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Uz, a region and tribe named in;;; now generally supposed to have been situated in the south of Arabia Deserta, between Idumea, Palestine, and the Euphrates.