UZ (PLACE) [Heb 'us]. A country in NW Arabia (Jer 25:20; Job 1:1; Lam 4:21), which various geographical lists in the OT connect with either Aram (Gen 10:23; Gen 22:21; 1 Chr 1: 17) or Edom (Gen 36:28; 1 Chr 1:42).

Jer 25:20 places "all the kings of the country of Uz (MT ha'us), and all the kings of the Philistine country" between Egypt (v 19) and Edom (v 21). The passage, which is missing in the LXX, i.s probably a gloss referring to Edom according to Lam 4:21 ("daughter Edom, that you dwellst in the country of Uz"). Geographically, Jer 25:20 shares the concept of the LXX of Job: Job lived on the border between Idumea and Arabia (42: l 7b). According to Jer 25:20 and Job 42: l 7b (LXX), Uz would be located in the S of Palestine, between the Negeb and the Sinai peninsula. This, however, is a geographical speculation of the late Persian or early Hellenistic period. Then, Edom was confined to Idumea W of Wadi Arabah. Originally, the country of Uz was situated in NW Arabia, between Dedan (see DEDAN) and Edom.