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BOZRAH

(Heb. boṣrâ; Gk. Bosorra)

1. The capital of Edom, modern Buseirah (208018) W of the King’s Highway in Jordan. Situated close to both valuable copper mines and the border with Judah, Bozrah’s position was one of great strategic significance. Presumably owing to prior confrontations, various OT prophets predicted Bozrah’s doom at the hands of God’s vengeance (Isa. 34:6; 63:1; Jer. 49:13; Amos 1:12). Excavations at Buseirah have uncovered occupation strata dating approximately no earlier than the 8th century b.c.e. The upper city has yielded large public buildings, monumental architecture, impressive casemate defenses, and a possible temple complex. The bearing of the chronological findings on the Edomite king lists (Gen. 36:31; 1 Chr. 1:44) remains a matter of dispute among scholars.

Bibliography. C.-M. Bennett, “Excavations at Buseirah, Southern Jordan, 1971,” Levant 5 (1973): 1-11.

2. A city listed among Moabite settlements in a polemic prophesying doom and destruction (Jer. 48:24). Bozrah may refer to bṣr in the Moabite Stone or Bezer, the city of refuge (Deut. 4:43; Josh. 20:8; 21:36). Despite many possible locations, a compelling archaeological identification for Bozrah remains undetermined.

3. A city in Gilead conquered by Judas Maccabeus (1 Macc. 5:26-28), identified with modern Buṣra aš-Šām. The Nabateans informed Judas that many Jews were being held captive at Bozrah. He promptly marched to their aid, slaughtered their captors and sacked the town. Trajan renamed the Nabatean town Noba Trajana Bostra during his Arabian reorganization of 105 c.e., making it the provincial capital.

Ryan Byrne

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BOZRAH

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)