Where Was The Land Of Uz? - Megepayne

When I first started reading the Book of Job, something in the very first verse caught my attention:

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. (Job 1:1)

Hmm… Land of Uz, huh? First off, the dumb part of my brain said, “Pssh, what kind of name is Uz?” Then, the part of my brain that gets very frustrated if it doesn’t know the correct/accepted pronunciation of something went, “WAIT! Is it ‘ooze’ or ‘uhz’?” But, the most important thing that stood out for me was that Uz was a place, so naturally, my question was: “Where exactly was the Land of Uz?”

It is mentioned in the Bible in these three verses: Job 1:1; Jeremiah 25:20; Lamentations 4:21, and the verses offered some clues about the land, but no specific information as to where it actually was.

“The precise location of the land of Uz is uncertain, although The Bible record does provide some clues. The land may have originally been named after Uz, who was the son of Aram, and grandson of Shem. One of Job’s friends, Eliphaz, came from Teman, which is in Idumea. Uz was subject to attacks from Sabeans and Chaldeans. It had to have fertile pastures, since Job had many thousands of animals. It had at least one major city, since Job sat at the city gate.” 

“An eastern location is supported by the fact that Job was referred to as ‘the greatest of all the people of the East'” 

“The native land and home of Job, and so situated as to be in more or less proximity to the tribe of the Temanites, the Shuhites, the Naamathites, the Buzites, and open to the inroads of the Chaldeans, and the Sabeans, as well as exposed to the great Arabian Desert.”

The two main “suspects” for the location of Uz are: 1) the Land of Aram in present-day Syria, and 2) the Land of Edom, in present-day Jordan.

Aram (Syria):

“Some scholars locate Uz northeast of Palestine in the land of Aram. They do this because Genesis 10:23 states that Uz was the son of Aram.”

Edom (Jordan):

“Biblical scholars have located the Land of Uz in either northern or southern Jordan… the rich biblical description in the Book of Job perfectly describes the varied natural environment, pastoral economy, and patriarchal social structures of ancient southern Jordan, known as Edom in the Old Testament. Job’s three friends are identified as being from Teman, Shuh and Naamah, areas located in and near southern Jordan.”

“Scholars, […] citing Lamentations 4:21, place Uz south of Palestine in Edom. They also point out that Eliphaz, one of Job’s three friends, was from Teman, a city in Edom.”

As usual, there is no way of knowing 100% where Uz was located. It could have been in Aram… or it could very well have been in Edom. But between the two, the evidence does seem to lean more towards the latter, since the descriptions of the land are very similar to that of Edom from the Old Testament.

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