Prophet Job did not belong to the Patriarchal or Judges eras

by Damien F. Mackey Some would have Job as one or other Jobab of Genesis “The evidence we will look at now will … indicate that Job was from the Mosaic period, and the missing temple and Torah will not help us so much because it was not that [Job] was too early but that he was not Jewish that is important”. Antony Michael Hylton While some commentators have argued for the prophet Job to have been the Jobab of Genesis 10:29: “And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan”, not too far removed from Abraham, others think that Job was, instead, the next biblically-mentioned Jobab, one of the kings of Edom (36:33): “When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah succeeded him as king”. Regarding Job as being the first-mentioned Jobab, Creationist Barry Setterfield has written: Jobab (barrysetterfield.org) Are Job and Jobab the Same Person? In Genesis 10: 26-29, Joktan's thirteen sons are listed. Joktan was Peleg's brother, and it was in Peleg's time the continents were divided. Joktan's thirteenth son was Jobab. Later on, in the Bible, we have the earliest completed book of the Bible, Job. Is Job Jobab? The evidence we have found in the Bible says that yes, he is. In the ancient Alexandrian Septuagint, from 300 years before Christ, there is a part of the book of Job that later translators left out. It states that Job lived a total of about 248 years. Although other Jobs and Jobabs are mentioned in the Bible, only someone who lived at approximately the time of Peleg or a little after would have this age expected. Before Peleg (and after Noah's Flood) the age expectancy was more like 400 or 450 years. After the time of Peleg we see a fairly rapid drop in life expectancy from over 400 years (Peleg's father and grandfather, in Genesis 11) to Peleg, 239 years, then Reu at 239 years, then 230 years for Serug, 148 years for Abraham's father, then Abraham's 175 years and finally to Moses' 120 years, which is the maximum life expectancy today. Read something Bildad said about these lifespans in Job 8:8-9: “For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers: (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:) Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart?” In other words, many older people were still around who had very long lifespans, but Bildad knew their own lifespans were not going to be that long. The book of Job states that Job lived in the land of Uz. We find Uz mentioned in Genesis 10:23. He was the son of Aram, and thus a great great uncle to Jobab. There are other Uz's mentioned in the Bible, so let's look at more evidence. If Job lived during the couple of hundred years when the continents were 'unzipping' along the Atlantic rift and other places, there would have been mammoth tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain building and overturning, and other disasters. When we look at the book of Job, we find exactly that mentioned. Here are some examples: Job 9:5-6 (KJV) "God removes the mountains and overturns them in His anger; He shakes the earth out of its place and its core trembles;" Job 1:16, 19 (KJV) "Fire has fallen from heaven and burned up the sheep and servants and consumed them… and suddenly a great wind from the wilderness struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young men... During Eliphaz's first answer, he says something interesting: "By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed. The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken. the old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad." (Job 4:9-11 KJV) We can understand an old lion dying because he cannot catch prey, but when this blast of God also causes the young lions to be scattered away from the pride or the mother, we have to wonder what kind of thing was going on. The fact that the earth was undergoing a number of startling changes, even in the weather systems, is hinted at in Job 6 and is much more explicit later on. Here is the Job 6:15-18 My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away; which are blackish by reason of the ice, wherein the snow is hid: What time they wax warm, they vanish: when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place. The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing, and perish. Many modern translations insert the word 'thawing' before 'ice.' But that word is not there in any of the old manuscripts. What would cause streams to ice over in the Middle East and then not only thaw, but disappear in the heat of summer? There is evidence of an axis tilt of the earth at the time of the splitting of the continents, a tilt even further than what happened at the time of Noah's Flood. The tilt at the time of Peleg (in atomic dating about 65 million years ago, a little more than three thousand years before Christ in terms of orbital years), caused the ice age which crept down over Europe and into the Middle East. This appears to be what Peleg and his contemporaries witnessed. Later, when God answers Job in 38:29-30, God Himself seems to be referring to the advancing ice: Out of whose womb came the ice? And the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it? The waters are hid as a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. In one of Job's earlier responses to his friends, in chapter 9, he refers to something God can do and evidently has done in their lifetimes (verses 5-7) Who removeth the mountains, and they know not; who overturneth them in his anger. Who shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble. Who commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars? Pillars of the earth? Each of our continents is formed around a large granite mass called a craton, or shield area. They extend to depths of ten miles or more. Thus, calling them 'pillars' is not a bad picture. And the fact that whatever is happening is so violent that the cratons themselves are trembling means some kind of massive series of earth movements is taking place. The sun not rising? When the earth wobbles, there are records of very long days in some parts of the world in the past and very long nights in others. Sealing up the stars? Volcanic ash in the air will do that. It is wise to remember that these are not scientific explanations, but descriptions of what had been observed. In 12:15, Job refers to what appears to be tsunami activity: Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth. If we look back to chapter 7, verse 12, suddenly that has new meaning in light of this: Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me? Why a watch on the sea, or a sea monster (a more literal translation)? Because before the tsunami hits, the sea first draws far back, exposing the sea floor. Then the wave hits. If Job/Jobab were living at the time the continents were dividing, during those hundred or two hundred years, the tsunami activity would have been massive and repeated. Men would have to keep watch over the sea; and the evidence of the rapid withdrawal of the water could easily leave some very large creatures stranded, and thus easily seen. In 14:11, there is another reference which may well be to this kind of wave activity: As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up... When Job begins what we have as chapter three, look at what he says: Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it. Job and his friends were eyewitnesses not only to the working of the Lord in the lives of men, which is the primary topic of their discussion, but of the catastrophes they were witnessing in their time. In 14:18-19, we read And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place. The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man. In 18:15, Bildad makes reference to brimstone being scattered upon the habitation of a man. That is a direct reference to volcanism. In chapter 27 there is another interesting comparison Job makes. Look at verses 20-21: Terrors take hold on him [the rich man] as waters, a tempest stealesth him away in the night. The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place. In Job 28:5-6, then 29, we read As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire. The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold. 28:9: He puttest forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots. He cuttest out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing. He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and that which is hid bringeth he forth to the light. In other words, these men were witnesses of the fact that magma was producing precious stones and gold. There were places where they could witness large cracks and see the molten, seething, burning rock below. The evidence mounts. Mentions of cave men in Job 24 and 30 possibly define who they were and places them in this time as well. For all these reasons, and more, we have found ourselves agreeing that Job is indeed the Jobab of Genesis 10. …. Antony Michael Hylton, who has, for his part, attempted to identify: Job as the Edomite King Jobab (1) (DOC) Job as the Edomite King Jobab | Antony M I C H A E L Hylton - Academia.edu that is, the second-mentioned Jobab, is perfectly correct, at least (so I think), in chronologically locating this particular Jobab to the approximate time of Moses. On this, Hylton has written: Job From Moses Time? Fourthly after this we hear that Job gets a great expansion. He gets a double portion having prayed for his friends who had spoken so badly of him. We are not told where the expansion came from. However, if we turn to the story of Jobab we find something very interesting. Jobab the son of Zerach of Botzrah succeeds Bela son of Be’or. This puts us in the time of Moses. Bela son of Be’or is the first king of Edom mentioned in Genesis 36 and is associated with Bilaam son of Beor who was asked to curse Israel (Numbers 22). We notice also a similarity in worship practices. In Job God tells Eliphaz and friends to take seven bulls and seven rams and to offer him sacrifices through Job (Job 42:8). Whilst in Numbers Balaam says to Balak “Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me” (Num 23:1). Thus we have Bela of Beor, and in his time they used to offer seven bulls and seven rams. He is succeeded by Jobab son of Zerach of Botzrah, Job, who has men come to him to offer seven bulls and seven Rams. This puts him in a similar position to Bilaam. Finally Jobab is succeeded by Husham from the land of the Temanites (Gen 36;33). Husham is from the same land as Eliphaz who was the leader of Job three friends. …. That “Bela son of Beor [who] became king of Edom” (Genesis 36:32) was indeed the venal Balaam (“Bilaam”) of the Book of Numbers, the: Baleful Balaam son of Beor (5) (DOC) Baleful Balaam son of Beor | Damien Mackey - Academia.edu accords with my own conclusion. Our second-mentioned Jobab is separated as a king of Edom by his predecessor, Bela (Balaam) and his successor, Husham (Genesis 36:34), who was none other than the oppressive, for Israel, Cushan of the Judges period. On this, see my articles: Cushan rishathaim was king of Edom (5) (DOC) Cushan rishathaim was king of Edom | Damien Mackey - Academia.edu and: Cushan rishathaim was king of Edom. Part Two: Cushan reigned centuries before Hammurabi (5) (DOC) Cushan rishathaim was king of Edom. Part Two: Cushan reigned centuries before Hammurabi | Damien Mackey - Academia.edu All of this serves chronologically to locate the second Jobab rather precisely. Antony Michael Hylton will argue his case as follows: Some scholars date Job to the time of Abraham because of a lack of reference to the Torah and a focus on cattle as wealth. This is a reasonable proposition because indeed Job if Job was from Israel and from after the Temple was built or the Torah was given, we would expect them to get a mention. Secondly other scholars date identify Job with the Jobab of Genesis 10:29 and try to argue from his long life and the references to ice and snow and natural disturbance that he lived during the period of Peleg just after the flood when the earth was divided up. This [includes] Barry Setterfield and Bernard Northrup. They used the LXX to show evidence the names Job and Jobab are related and from the same root despite [their] different spellings. The biggest weakness of this argument is that Eliphaz the Temanite is in all likelihood a descendant of Edom or Esau. The evidence we will look at now will add evidence to that picture and indicate that Job was from the Mosaic period, and the missing temple and Torah will not help us so much because it was not that he was too early but that he was not Jewish that is important. Job was not a son of Jacob and not a Jew in all likelihood he was either an Edomite or an Arab from the region of the Edomites and so never did receive the gift of the Torah nor build a Temple for Yahuwah. Dating Job by the internal evidence and observation of what it fails to refer to is very important. There are however also other internal evidences in the text to help us date Job even more specifically. Job and Jobab Second King of Edom Abraham Abulafia a Jewish Prophet from the middle of the 13th century follows a tradition among Jewish sages that the Job of the book of Job is the Jobab of Genesis 36:33-34 and 1 Chronicles 1:23-24 (Hylton, Solomon's Satans, 2017). This identification is also made by Gibson in his Whence Came the Hyksos, Kings of Egypt (Gibson, 1962). It is also in the traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Slavonic books of Job . Gen_36:33 And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead. This is an interesting proposition and deserves some consideration. The first thing that can identify these two characters is of course the similarity of the two names. In English the only apparent difference is the doubling of the last consonant given Job and Jobab. The names are very similar . The LXX when translating the name only takes into account the difference in the number of Bs or bets. A second factor to take into account is their place of origin. Job is identified as from the land of Utz we are not told his father’s name. Job’s discussion takes place with his friend one of whom is the Eliphaz the Temanite. Teman is one of the cities of Edom and is therefore to the South and East of Judah (Hylton, Hadad: Hero or Satan, 2017) (Hylton, Habita Tzar Maon: The House of Eli Prophecy, 2017a). There is also a place called Utz in the region near Teman or Edom as mentioned in Lamentations: Lam 4:21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked. It is noteworthy that the daughter of Edom (a people who are offspring of Edom) is described as living in the land of Utz. We can add to this identification although it is from a period a lot later than Job’s time. Thirdly we see that the first born son of Edom is Eliphaz. Thus we have Job of Utz from the patriarchal period having a discussion with Eliphaz the Temanite, who may well be a descendant of Esau and his son Eliphaz (Gen 36:4, 36:10, Jer 49:20). Indeed the son of Eliphaz the first born of Edom/Esau is Teman. The Eliphaz in Job is a Temanite. Gen_36:11 And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz. We find that our Eliphaz is the head of the three friends of Job. He is the first to speak and the one who got the first rebuke from Yahuwah [Yahweh]: Job_42:7 And it was so, that after Yahuwah had spoken these words unto Job, Yahuwah said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. Job 42:8 Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job. Job_42:9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as Yahuwah commanded them: Yahuwah also accepted Job. We find then that Eliphaz the Temanite is rebuked and told to go to Job, now their representative before Yahuwah. They are to make their offerings through Job to Yahuwah . Job would pray for them and they would not get what they deserve. They would receive mercy, as Kris Vallotton would put it. …. Conclusion: I suggest Job and Jobab are identical and they lived in the time of Moses. Eliphaz because of the episode of Jobab came under the headship of Job/Jobab. Afterwards the next ruler of Edom and the region was Husham and Temanite like Eliphaz (Hylton, Solomon's Satans, 2017) (Hylton, Hadad: Hero or Satan, 2017). Job lived more than half a millennium after even the second Jobab of Genesis, let alone the first Jobab These two clues, Chaldeans and likeness to Book of Jeremiah, would seem to set the Job incident to much later than most commentators would tend to accept, to the Chaldean era, and, hence, contemporaneous with the prophet Jeremiah. One of the precious few, and clear, historical clues that the Book of Job will offer us pertains to the Chaldeans as an organised fighting force. That piece of information alone is, I think, devastating for claims that Job was the Jobab of Genesis 10:29, or the Jobab of Genesis 36:33. I wrote of this in a recent article on the prophet Habakkuk as Job, to which clue (Chaldeans) I added another one, the likeness of the Book of Job to the Book of Jeremiah: Habakkuk more interesting than he may first appear to be. Part One: Habakkuk was not just like Job, he was Job (2) (DOC) Habakkuk more interesting than he may first appear to be. Part One: Habakkuk was not just like Job, he was Job | Damien Mackey - Academia.edu Habakkuk more interesting than he may first appear to be. Part Two: Belonging to the era of Chaldean ascendancy (2) (DOC) Habakkuk more interesting than he may first appear to be. Part Two: Belonging to the era of Chaldean ascendancy | Damien Mackey - Academia.edu Chaldeans; Jeremiah; Habakkuk (Job’s Akkadian name?); all these witness to a c. C6th BC (conventional dating) era for Job as an aged and grievously afflicted person. The Book of Tobias, on the other hand, provides abundant biographical details (something quite scarce in the Book of Job) for the career of Job’s father, Tobit, and for the blessed youth of Job (= Tobias) himself. The Tobiad family, a Naphtalian family, commenced with father Tobit in the neo-Assyrian era, and continued on, with Tobias-Job, into the Chaldean (and apparently even the Medo-Persian, see Tobit 14:15) era. But the Tobiad ancestry appears to have included the famous prophetess Deborah herself. On this, see e.g. my article: Deborah and a second king Jabin (2) (DOC) Deborah and a second king Jabin | Damien Mackey - Academia.edu Old Tobit intriguingly reminds his son, Tobias (= Job): ‘Above all, marry a woman of our tribe, because we are descendants of the prophets’ (Tobit 4:12). How are Naphtalians, prophets? Prophets customarily are Levites, whether priests or laity. However, as I entitled an article: God can raise up prophets at will - even from a shepherd of Simeon (2) (DOC) God can raise up prophets at will - even from a shepherd of Simeon | Damien Mackey - Academia.edu arguing for the non-traditional type of prophet, Amos, as the Simeonite prophet Zephaniah, God can raise up a prophet from whichever of the tribes of Israel He may so choose. In that same article, Judith, likewise a Simeonite, will be identified with the prophetess Huldah. No doubt Judith-Huldah became a “prophetess” through her marriage to the Levite, Shallum. (Cf. Isaiah 8:3) And the same sort of situation may have been the case with Deborah, thereby making her Naphtalian ancestors “descendants of the prophets”. Job was the Naphtalian, Tobias, who also had the Akkadian name of Habakkuk, living, as an aged man, around 600 BC (conventional dating). Hence, Job could have had nothing whatsoever to do with the Mosaïc era, nor earlier. Prophet Job lived East of the Jordan, not to the South “R.N. Coleman The Poem of Job “Josephus identifies the land of Uz with the territory of Damascus and Trachonitis. …. The habitual residence of Job was in some portion of ancient Bashan. …. ISBE: Uz “A kingdom of some importance somewhere in Southern Syria and not far from Judea, having a number of kings.” Trachonitis was NE of the Jordan (Smith’s Bible Dictionary). Auranitis was in SW Syria, S of Batanea and Trachonitis. Some think the Ausitis in the LXX book of Job was Auranitis or Hauran”. The less than straightforward geography of the Book of Job, and of the man himself, becomes far clearer in the context of the biographically-challenged Job when identified as the Naphtalian Israelite, Tobias, the son of Tobit. Although we must firstly negotiate the obstacle that is the confusion of names in the text of the Book of Tobit as it has been transmitted to us: A Common Sense Geography of the Book of Tobit (2) (DOC) A Common Sense Geography of the Book of Tobit | Damien Mackey - Academia.edu My view of a location for Job’s land of Uz in the Hauran region is supported in the following argument against a southern, Edomite, location for Uz. However, I do not agree at all with the author’s belief that Job was “an ancient gentile/non-Jew Godfearer”: Job and the Land Of Uz (1) – Bible Topic Exposition (wordpress.com) Job and the Land Of Uz (1) The book of Job is said to contain more questions than any other book of the Bible. The struggle and patient endurance (Ja.5:11 & Jb.7:16 LXX) of the man Job argues the question of justice. After reading through the book, we see it is the pride of man which questions an act of God in judging that man. We are to trust God’s wisdom, regardless of our circumstances (cf. Ec.7:12-14, Jb.28:12-28, 42:1-2). However, the purpose of this topic isn’t to discuss the lesson or message of the book of Job. My intention is to locate the ancient land of Uz, and place the patriarch Job in the Bible timeline. Jb.1:1 “There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless, upright, fearing God, and abstaining from evil.” Job was a righteous man (Ezk.14:20), an ancient gentile/non-Jew Godfearer. (see “Ten Commandments in Genesis & Job”.) The Lord questioned the adversary in Jb.1:8, “Have you considered My servant Job? There is none like him.” Job was God’s servant. The book of Job shows that Job practiced the Golden Rule. Jesus said in Mt.7:12, “However you want people to treat you, so treat them.” Job cared for others (ref Jb.31:16-23). {Sidelight: Jb.1-2 is one of the adversary’s three main appearances in the Bible canon. The other two are Ge.3 and Mt.4/Lk.4. He’s in Zec.3:1-2 (to a lesser extent), and in many New Testament references.} There isn’t consensus among Bible historians as to who wrote/compiled the book of Job. Rabbinic tradition ascribes the book of Job to Moses (though the writing style is said to be dissimilar). Chuck Swindoll: Job “The author of the book of Job is unknown. Several suggestions have been put forth as plausible authors: Job himself, who could have best recalled his own words; Elihu, the fourth friend who spoke toward the end of the story; various biblical writers and leaders; or many editors who compiled the material over the years. It was most likely an eyewitness who recorded the detailed and lengthy conversations found in the book. In Old Testament times, authors sometimes referred to themselves in the 3rd person, so Job’s authorship is a strong possibility….Though we cannot be certain, Job may have lived during the time of Jacob or shortly thereafter.” The time of the patriarchs. Mackey’s comment: Contrary to this last suggestion, refer back to the early part of this article. …. Job lived in the “land of Uz”, and was “the greatest of the men of the East” (Jb.1:1-3). Evidently Uz was located E of the ancient land of Canaan/Palestine. Uz is called Ausitis in Jb.1:1 LXX/Septuagint. There are places today which traditionally claim to be the city or region of Job. Many Bible readers think the land of Uz where Job lived was located SE of Canaan, in Edom or Arabia. Edom, Arabia and Midian were the land areas E of the Gulf of Aqaba and the Sinai Peninsula. Midian was E of the Gulf of Aqaba, in the NW of the Arabian desert. Edom lay N of Midian, and across the Sinai Peninsula E of Egypt. (Moab was N of Edom, Ammon was N/NE of Moab.) However, Edom and Midian weren’t part of Mesopotámia (located E of Canaan). Rather, both Edom and Midian lay south of the land of Canaan. Jb.1:3 Job was the greatest of the “men [Strongs h1121, or sons] of the East [h6924]”. What land areas were in the East, where “men of the East” lived? The expression “men of the East” occurs 10 other times in the Old Testament: Ge.29:1, Jdg.6:3, 33, 7:12, 8:10, 1Ki.4:30, Is.11:14, Je.49:28, Ezk.25:4, 10. Ge.29:1 Jacob went to the land of the “men of the East”, to Laban the Araméan/Syrian (Ge.28:5). Nu.23:7 Balak king of Moab brought Balaam “from Arám [Mesopotamia LXX], from the mountains of the East”. Is.9:12 “Arameans [h758] from the east, Philistines from the west.” Arameans or Syrians were “men of the East”. Jdg.6:3 men of the East. Cambridge Bible Jdg.6:3 “Bedouins from the desert E of Moab and Ammon.” Ezk.25:4 the Lord would allow men of the East to settle on Ammonite land. Ellicott Commentary Ezk.25:4 “The various nomadic tribes inhabiting the eastern deserts.” The desert lay E of Ammon. This desert of Syria/N Arabia was inhabited by “men of the East”. In the Old Testament (OT), “men of the East” refers to Arameans/Syrians; also to nomads or Bedouins of the north Arabian & Syrian desert (east of Moab and Ammon); and to Chaldéans. Pulpit Commentary Jb.1:3 “Men of the east’ seems to include the entire population between Palestine and the Euphrates”. Fairbairn’s Bible Dictionary “The East [Jb.1:3] denotes not only the countries which lay directly E of Palestine, but those which stretched also toward the N and E – Armenia, Assyria, Babylonia, Parthia, as well as the territories of Moab, Ammon, and Arabia Deserta.” “Men of the East” didn’t refer to peoples to the South, such as Edomites, Midianites, Amalekites. Barnes Notes Is.11:14 “Edom – Idúmea; the country settled by the descendants of Esau, that was south of Judea.” Ge.36:8 “Esau lived in the hill country of Seir; Esau is Edom.” Since Job was the greatest of the “men of the East”…the land of Uz/Ausitis was in the East. Uz wasn’t in Edom (inhabited by descendants of Esau and Seir the Horite); Uz wasn’t in Midian (where Moses dwelt when he fled Egypt). Descendants of Esau, and the Midianites, mostly lived to the south of Canaan. In the OT, the word Uz (h5780, Hebrew) appears 6 or 8 times, depending on the Bible version. Uz is a man’s name in Ge.10:23, 22:21, 36:28, 1Ch.1:17, 42. Uz is a land in Jb.1:1. Uz as a land also appears in the Masoretic text Je.25:20 and Lam.4:21; but Uz isn’t in the LXX Je.25:20/32:20 or Lam.4:21. We understand that Jeremiah wrote ca 1,000 years after the time of the patriarchs; peoples migrate and boundaries change over the centuries. In Ge.10:23 & 1Ch.1:17, the man Uz, the son of Aram, was a grandson of Shem (and a great-grandson of Noah). Ge.22:21 another man Uz was the firstborn son of Abraham’s brother Nahór. In Ge.36:28 & 1Ch.1:42, yet another Uz is a grandson of Seir the Horite. However, in the LXX Ge.36:28 & 1Ch.1:42, the name of Seir’s grandson is Os/Hos (not Uz). Whereas in the LXX Ge.10:23 & Ge.22:21, the name is Uz. So the name is questionable in Ge.36:28 & 1Ch.1:42…Uz, or Hos? Ge.22:20-23 “Milcah has born children to your [Abraham’s] brother Nahor, Uz [h5780] his firstborn and Buz [h938] his brother, and Kemuél the father of Aram…and Bethuél.” This Uz was Abraham’s nephew. Terah, Abram, and Nahor (later?) moved from Ur to Harán (Ge.11:31) in NW Mesopotamia. Terah died. Nahor then stayed in Haran. (God told Abram to go on to Canaan, Ge.12:1-5.) The city of Nahor (Ge.24:10) was in Padán-Arám in upper Mesopotamia (h763 Aram-naharáim). …. Gill Exposition Ge.22:21 “Uz his [Nahor’s] firstborn…gave name to the land of Uz where Job dwelt, and who seems to be a descendant of this man, Job 1:1.” Perhaps Job did descend from Abraham’s brother Nahor (in the lineage of Shem’s son Arphaxad)! Cambridge Bible Ge.22:21 “Uz as a locality in the Syrian region. It may denote a branch of an Aramean tribe. It appears as the birthplace of Job.” Uz, the firstborn son of Nahor, was the uncle of “Laban the Aramean [h761]” or Syrian (Ge.31:24). …. Job in the land of Uz had heard of YHVH and believed He was God (Jb.42:1, 5). Elihu the Buzite (h940), from the family of Ram, may have descended from Buz and Aram the nephew of Buz (Jb.32:2, Ge.22:20-24). More on Job’s four visitors is in Part 2 of this topic. So the land of Uz most likely was the territory where one (or both?) of those ancients had lived…Uz the son of Shem, Uz the son of Nahor. That land of Uz became known as Ausitis (Jb.1:1 LXX). Josephus op. cit. “Of the four sons of Aram [Ge.10:23], Uz founded Trachonítis and Damascus; this country lies between Palestine and Cele-syria.” (ref Lk.3:1 the Trachonitis province.) R.N. Coleman The Poem of Job “Josephus identifies the land of Uz with the territory of Damascus and Trachonitis. The habitual residence of Job was in some portion of ancient Bashan. Ephraem Syrus, who died AD 379, recorded that the patriarch Job resided in Bashan, having been the predecessor of Og [De.3:10]. He describes Job as a king, a priest, and a prophet of the Gentiles 140 years.” Bashan was east of the Jordan River. ISBE: Uz “A kingdom of some importance somewhere in Southern Syria and not far from Judea, having a number of kings.” Trachonitis was NE of the Jordan (Smith’s Bible Dictionary). Auranitis was in SW Syria, S of Batanea and Trachonitis. Some think the Ausitis in the LXX book of Job was Auranitis or Hauran. (Abraham’s brother Nahor, the father of an Uz, had dwelt in the Syria-Turkey Haran). Wikipedia: Bashan “After the [Babylonian] Exile, Bashan was divided into four districts: Gaulonitis, the most western; Auranitis, the Hauran (Ezk.47:16); Trachonitis; Batanaea.” Jsh.21:27 Golan (part of the modern day Golan Heights) of Bashan was part of the eastern half of Manasseh’s territory. e.g. De.4:43 “Golan in Bashan of the Manassites.” Wikipedia: Hauran “Auranitis (Hauran) is a volcanic plateau, a geographic area, and people located in SW Syria and extending into the NW corner of Jordan. It includes the Golan Heights to the west; also includes Jabal al-Druze in the east and is bounded there by more arid steppe and desert terrains. The Yármouk River drains much of Hauran to the west and is the largest tributary of the Jordan River.” And the Jordan River is mentioned in the book of Job! Jb.40:23 “The Jordan [River] rushes to his mouth.” Therefore, the land of Uz probably wasn’t all that far from the Jordan. Ancient Bashan was east of the Jordan. …. Cambridge Bible Jb.1:1 “The land of Uz probably lay E of Palestine and N of Edom. An interesting tradition places the home of Job in the Nukra, the fertile depression of Bashan at the southeast foot of Hermon. Near the town of Nawa, about 40 miles almost due south of Damascus, and about the latitude of the north end of the sea of Tiberias, there still exist a Makâm; that is, place, or tomb, and monastery of Job. Wetzstein assigns the building to the end of the 3rd century.” Pulpit Commentary Jb.1:1 “Arabian tradition regards the region of the Hauran, northeast of Palestine, as Job’s country.” Franz Delitzsch The Book of Job Commentary “Au’sos [Uz], in Josephus Ant. 1, 6, 4, is described as founder of Trachonitis and Damascus; that the Jakut Hamawi and Moslem tradition generally mention the East Haran fertile tract of country northwest of Têmâ and Bûzân, el-Bethenije, the district of Damascus in which Job dwelt. All these accounts agree that Uz is not to be sought in Idumea [Edom] proper. ….