Uz

In the Bible

Uz is the land in which the Book of Job is set. Job 1:1 opens, "There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job." Job 1:3 then introduces Job as "the greatest of all the men of the east." The Book of Job contains no passage that directly describes the location of Uz.

Uz also appears twice in the prophetic books:

• Jeremiah 25:20: Jeremiah lists the nations that are to drink the cup of the Lord's wrath. The list includes "all the kings of the land of Uz."
• Lamentations 4:21: Edom is addressed as "O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz," and the passage declares that the cup of judgment will pass to Edom as well.

Background

The Hebrew name is pronounced approximately Uts. The meaning of the word is uncertain.

Several individuals in Scripture bear the same name:

• Genesis 10:23: Uz, son of Aram, a descendant of Shem. He also appears in 1 Chronicles 1:17.
• Genesis 22:21: Uz (Huz in the KJV), the firstborn son of Nahor, brother of Abraham.
• Genesis 36:28: Uz, son of Dishan, of the Horites who lived in the land of Edom. He also appears in 1 Chronicles 1:42.

It is not known with which of these, if any, the place name is connected.

Views on the location fall broadly into two camps:

• The Edom–northern Arabia view: This view places Uz in the region southeast of the Dead Sea. It appeals to the fact that Lamentations 4:21 mentions Uz together with Edom. A further argument is that Job's friend Eliphaz was a Temanite, from Teman, a place associated with the region of Edom.
• The Aram–Hauran view: This view places Uz in the Aramean region south of Damascus, linking it with Uz the son of Aram.

An addition at the end of the Septuagint version of Job states that Job lived in a land on the border of Edom and Arabia. In later times a tradition also arose that sites associated with Job were located in southern Syria. No location has been confirmed archaeologically.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

Uz is a land outside Israel. Accordingly, the protagonist of the Book of Job is portrayed not as an Israelite but as a God-fearing Gentile. The Book of Job addresses the questions of suffering and divine justice not from the standpoint of Israel's history or law but from that of universal human experience. This approach is consistent with a characteristic feature of wisdom literature.

The place name Uz does not appear in the New Testament. However, the Epistle of James 5:11 mentions "the patience of Job." In this verse, Job of the land of Uz becomes an example of one who endured patiently in the midst of suffering.

Interpretation and Points of Debate

• A real place or a narrative setting? Many interpreters regard Uz as an actual region. Others, however, see Uz as functioning as a literary backdrop, a "distant land of the east." This question is tied to whether Job is regarded as a historical figure or as the protagonist of a story told for instruction. Within Jewish tradition, too, a variety of views are recorded concerning Job's era and whether he actually existed.
• Distinguishing later additions and traditions: The claim that Job was the same person as Jobab, king of Edom, derives from the addition in the Septuagint and is not found in the Hebrew text. Accounts that identify specific sites in Uz are likewise later traditions.