Jazer (orJaazer) was a city east of the Jordan River, in or near Gilead,[1] inhabited by the Amorites. It was taken by a special expedition sent by Moses to conquer it towards the end of the Israelites' Exodus journey from Egypt.[2] From the Septuagint (which reads Ἰαζήρ for עז in Numbers xxi. 24) it appears that Jazer was on the border of Ammon.[3] As an important city it gave its name to the whole of the surrounding territory [4] - a "Sea of Jazer" is mentioned in Jeremiah xlviii. 32.[5]
Jazer is stated to have been a fertile land fit for the raising of cattle [6] and a place having many vineyards.[7] It was occupied by the children of Gad,[8] by which tribe it was allotted as a Levitical city to the Merarite Levites.[9] In the time of David it seems to have been occupied by the Hebronites, who were descendants of Kohath.[10] It was chosen as one of the stations by David's officers who were sent to number the children of Israel.[11]
According to 1 Maccabees and Josephus (paraphrasing 1 Maccabees, most likely), Jazer was captured and burned by Judas Maccabeus during the Maccabee campaigns of 163 BC.[12] The site of Jazer was defined by Eusebius and Jerome[13] as being 8 or 10 Roman miles west of Philadelphia, and 15 miles north of Heshbon, and as the source of a large river falling into the Jordan. It is identified by some scholars [14] with the modern Khirbet es-Sar on the road from Iraq al-AmirtoAl-Salt; but this identification has been rejected by Cheyne.[15]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "JAAZER". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.Authority control databases: National  |
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