Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Where did Job Live?

Job 1. the Land of Uz

Job chapter one opens up with this man, Job, living in the land of Uz.  Uz sounds like something out of a Dr. Suess book.  It's a real place but where is it?  Some say it is just east of the Jordan River - I have my doubts about that!  But there is another theory that relates more closely to the Genesis table of nations in Genesis 10.

Genesis 10 reveals the list of patriarchs from which came the nations of the world.  Some of these nations may still contain remnants of the original name (patriarch's names often attached themselves to clans, then tribes, and even nations).  "Mizraim" is one of those names that you can still see today.  Genesis 10:6 lists Mizraim as a grandson of Noah.  " The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan."  Mizraim has its modern day connection to Egypt - "Mizr."  Look up Egypt on Wikipedia and you get Mizr (Arabicمصر‎ Miṣr).


What about the land of Uz?  If you direct a look to the area of the world with all the "Stan" countries, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkemenistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, you might pick up that the last one mentioned has "Uz" hanging on to the front end.  Is it possible that this guy, "Uz" mentioned in Genesis 10 (The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether. . . ) became the leader of a clan, then the clan became a tribe, then the nation?  It's worth some consideration.