Hebrew word · H5780

עוּץ

'utz

Uz

A personal name and a region. Genesis 10:23 and 22:21 list Uz among the Aramean (north-eastern) peoples, while Genesis 36:28 gives an Uz among the Horites of Seir, the original population of Edom's territory. 'The land of Uz' is Job's home (Job 1:1).

Appears 8 times in 8 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Uz = "wooded"

the country of Job; probably east and southeast of Palestine somewhere in the Arabian desert

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Lamentations 4:21

Range of meaning

A personal name and a region. Genesis 10:23 and 22:21 list Uz among the Aramean (north-eastern) peoples, while Genesis 36:28 gives an Uz among the Horites of Seir, the original population of Edom's territory. 'The land of Uz' is Job's home (Job 1:1).

Against the English

English simply transliterates it. Most readers know it only from Job and may not see why Edom is linked with it.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jeremiah 25:20 lists 'all the kings of the land of Uz' among the nations that must drink YHWH's cup of wrath, just before Edom (25:21). Job's friend Eliphaz is from Teman, an Edomite place (Job 2:11; Genesis 36:11). Together these suggest that the land of Uz lay in or beside Edom, or at least that Israelite tradition located it there.

From the study of Genesis 22:21

Range of meaning

A personal name and the name of a land and people. In Genesis 10:23 Uz is a son of Aram. In Genesis 36:28 Uz is a Horite descendant of Seir in Edomite territory. Job 1:1 has 'the land of Uz'. Jeremiah 25:20 has 'the kings of the land of Uz'. Lamentations 4:21 links 'daughter of Edom' with the 'land of Uz'.

Against the English

KJV and YLT spell the name 'Huz' here but 'Uz' elsewhere. Readers can easily miss that this is the same name as Job's homeland.

How it drifted

This is a spelling issue, not a change of meaning. The KJV's 'Huz' follows an older way of writing the name.

Used elsewhere in the period

The name occurs in three separate genealogies (Aramean, Nahorite, Horite/Edomite). That spread suggests a region on the desert edge east of the Jordan, possibly between Edom and the Syrian desert. Its exact location is debated.

From the study of Jeremiah 25:20

Range of meaning

A personal name and a place name. Genesis gives three people called Uz: a son of Aram (10:23), a son of Nahor (22:21) and a Horite descendant of Seir in Edom (36:28). As a place it is 'the land of Uz', Job's home.

Against the English

The English versions all agree ('Uz'). Most readers know the name only from Job.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 1:1 places Job in Uz. Lamentations 4:21 says 'daughter of Edom, who lives in the land of Uz', which places it in or next to Edom. Josephus (Antiquities 1.145) places Uz's descendants in the Damascus and Trachonitis region to the north. The Septuagint does not have the phrase here.

Where it appears

Genesis · 3

  1. Genesis 10:23 ע֥וּץ [were] Uz

    The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.

  2. Genesis 22:21 ע֥וּץ Uz

    Uz the firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel (the father of Aram),

    Here: The name of Nahor's eldest son. The same name is used for a people and a region east or south-east of Israel, best known as Job's homeland, 'the land of Uz' (Job 1:1). Its meaning is uncertain.

  3. Genesis 36:28 ע֥וּץ Uz

    These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.

1 Chronicles · 2

  1. 1 Chronicles 1:17 וְע֥וּץ and Uz

    The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech.

  2. 1 Chronicles 1:42 ע֥וּץ Uz

    The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. The sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.

Job · 1

  1. Job 1:1 ע֖וּץ Uz

    There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.

    Here: A region east of Israel, linked in the Bible with Edom and with Aramean clans. It tells the hearer immediately that this hero is not an Israelite.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 25:20 הָע֑וּץ <the> Uz

    all the mixed tribes; all the kings of Uz; all the kings of the Philistines: Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;

    Here: Uz is Job's homeland (Job 1:1). Lamentations 4:21 links it with Edom, so it probably lay in the desert country east or southeast of the Jordan, though its exact location is uncertain.

Lamentations · 1

  1. Lamentations 4:21 ע֑וּץ Uz

    So rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz. Yet the cup will pass to you as well; you will get drunk and expose yourself.

    Here: A region best known as Job's homeland (Job 1:1). Here it is tied to Edom, either as part of its territory or as a poetic name for its eastern desert reaches. Some hear a hint that Edom had spread into lands not originally its own.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.