Bozrah

Bozrah is located approximately 47 kilometers north of Petra, 92 kilometers southeast of Beersheba, 87 kilometers southwest of Diban, and about 43 kilometers south of the Dead Sea. It sits at the headwaters of Wadi Hamayided, on a large rocky mountain with cliffs on three sides, making its terrain extremely strategic. It controlled the ancient King’s Highway coming from Ezion-Geber, thus serving as an important military stronghold. Around 800 BC, Bozrah was the capital of Edom. “Bozrah of Edom” symbolizes the stronghold of the LORD’s enemies.

Bozrah is surrounded by copper and iron mines and was renowned for its sheep, with a developed dyeing and weaving industry. Archaeologists conducted excavations between 1971 and 1976. The city of Bozrah covered an area of about 7.8 hectares and was divided into upper and lower sections. It was a very large city built in the 8th century BC, featuring temples, palaces, administrative buildings, and heavily fortified walls, seemingly influenced by Assyrian architecture. Other artifacts from the Persian and Nabataean periods have also been found.

Several prophets in the Bible foretold that this city would be completely destroyed (Genesis 36:33; 1 Chronicles 1:44; Isaiah 34:6; 63:1; Jeremiah 49:13; Amos 1:12). Modern-day Petra, a popular tourist destination in Jordan, may be ancient Bozrah. Though beautiful, it remains desolate and uninhabited, just as the Bible prophesied.

Genesis 36:33; 1 Chronicles 1:44: Jobab of Bozrah succeeded Bela as king of Edom; his capital was Dinhabah.

Isaiah 34:6: “For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.”

Isaiah 63:1: “Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah, this one who is glorious in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength?”

Jeremiah 49:13, 22: “For I have sworn by myself, declares the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a horror, a taunt, a waste, and a curse, and all her cities shall be perpetual wastes… Behold, he shall mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against Bozrah, and the heart of the warriors of Edom in that day shall be like the heart of a woman in her birth pains.”

Amos 1:12: Concerning Edom, “So I will send a fire upon Teman, and it shall devour the strongholds of Bozrah.”

Micah 2:12: “I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob; I will gather the remnant of Israel; I will set them together like sheep in a fold, like a flock in its pasture.”