Jahaz
“Trodden down”
Summary
A Levitical city in the tribe of Reuben where Israel fought and defeated Sihon king of the Amorites; later reverted to Moabite control and is mentioned in prophetic oracles against Moab.
☩The Battle with Sihon
Jahaz (also Jahaza, Jahazah, or Jahzah) was the site of the decisive battle where Israel defeated Sihon, king of the Amorites, thereby gaining possession of the entire Amorite territory between the Arnon and Jabbok rivers (Numbers 21:23; Deuteronomy 2:32; Judges 11:20). The battle was fought along the slope of a hill still called Shihan, where Josephus says a network of cyclopean walls enabled Israel to dislodge the Amorites with slings and arrows.
☩Later History
After the conquest, Jahaz was assigned to the tribe of Reuben (Joshua 13:18) and given to the Merarite Levites (Joshua 21:36; 1 Chronicles 6:78). The Moabite Stone records that the king of Israel dwelt there when at war with Mesha, king of Moab, who subsequently captured it. By the time of Isaiah and Jeremiah, Jahaz was again a Moabite city, mentioned in oracles against Moab (Isaiah 15:4; Jeremiah 48:21, 34).
Related Verses8 mentions
See Also
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Jahaz," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. IV (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Jahaz," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. III (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 3.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Jahaz," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).