Land of Uz
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The Land of Uz is a place mentioned in the Old Testament, most prominently in the Book of Job, which begins, "There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job." [1]
[edit] Name
The name may refer to one of the three men named Uz who are mentioned in the Bible.[2]
The word may also be related etymologically to the word oz, meaning 'east'. In the Book of Job (1:3), Job is described as "the greatest of all the people of the East."
[edit] Location
Uz is sometimes identified with the kingdom of Edom, roughly in the area of modern-day southwestern Jordan and southern Israel. [3] Lamentations 4:21 reads, "Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz."[4]
Other locations proposed for Uz include Bashan in modern-day southern Syria/western Jordan, Arabia east of Petra, [5] or even modern-day Uzbekistan. [6]
However, some scholars caution against the idea that Uz refers to a specific real-world location. Writes Thomas G. Long of Princeton Theological Seminary:
- Efforts to locate Uz on the map are vain, for this is not a historical chronicle. The narrative effect of the opening lines, like the opening credits of the movie Star Wars, is to say this is a story which happened "long ago and far away".[7]
[edit] References
- ^ Job 1:1
- ^ Gen. 36:28; Gen. 22:21; Gen. 10:23
- ^ "The Land of Uz" WebBible Encyclopdia
- ^ ls. 4:21
- ^ "Where Was Uz?" by Wayne Blank, Daily Bible Study
- ^ [http://dancingfromgenesis.wordpress.com/2007/09/15/uzbekistan-is-book-of-job-land-of-uz-where-ice-age-climate-explains-the-environment-described/ "Uzbekistan Is Book of Job Land of Uz Where Ice Age Climate Explains the Environment Described"] by James I. Nienhuis, Dancing from Genesis
- ^ "Job: Second Thoughts in the Land of Uz" by Thomas G. Long, Theology Today, Vol. 45 No. 1 (April 1988)
