Jahzah

Jahzah is a city east of the Jordan, in the tribal allotment of Reuben. The site is named under two spellings in UPDV — Jahzah (1Ch 6:78; Je 48:21) and Jahaz (Nu 21:23; De 2:32; Jos 13:18; Jdg 11:20; Is 15:4) — for the same place. It appears in three settings: the battle in which Sihon king of the Amorites was defeated, the Levitical city-list, and the prophetic oracles against Moab.

The Battle Where Sihon Was Defeated

Jahzah is first the place of an engagement on Israel's wilderness approach. Sihon king of the Amorites refuses passage and meets Israel in the open: "And Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and came to Jahaz; and he fought against Israel" (Nu 21:23). Moses retells the same engagement in Deuteronomy with a one-line compression: "Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz" (De 2:32). Generations later, Jephthah cites the same battle in his diplomatic message to Ammon: "But Sihon didn't trust Israel to pass through his border; but Sihon gathered all his people together, and encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel" (Jud 11:20). Across all three notices, Jahaz is the site of Sihon's defeat — the engagement that opened trans-Jordan to Israelite settlement.

A Levitical City in Reuben

After the conquest, Jahzah is enrolled in the trans-Jordan share of the Levites. The Chronicler's allotment to the sons of Merari names it directly: "and beyond the Jordan at Jericho, on the east side of the Jordan, [were given them], out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer in the wilderness with its suburbs, and Jahzah with its suburbs," (1Ch 6:78). Joshua's tribal list names it (under the Jahaz spelling) inside Reuben's allotment: "and Jahaz, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath," (Jos 13:18). The pairing with Bezer, Kedemoth, and Mephaath places Jahzah on the southern tableland of Reuben's territory, in the cluster of cities given to the Merarite Levites.

In the Prophetic Oracles Against Moab

Centuries later, when Moab has reclaimed much of the trans-Jordan plain, Jahzah reappears in the oracles against that nation. Isaiah's lament for Moab reaches the city: "And Heshbon cries out, and Elealeh; their voice is heard even to Jahaz: therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud; his soul trembles inside him" (Is 15:4). Jeremiah's parallel oracle names it among the cities under judgment: "And judgment has come upon the plain country, on Holon, and on Jahzah, and on Mephaath," (Je 48:21). In both, the city is paired with the same set of plateau towns — Heshbon, Mephaath, Holon — and stands as a fixed marker on the Moabite plain whose fate registers the wider judgment falling on the country.