JAAZER and JAZER (n!t1), and113.7,, ` Jehovah helps ;"IaNp; yiner), a town of Gilead (i Chron. xxvi. 31), situated near Heshbon (vi. St [66]). It was originally occupied by the Amorites, and was taken by the Israelites after the defeat of Sihon (Num. xxi. 31-32). It must have been a place of importance, for it gave its name to a large section of country. The ` land of Jazer ' was fertile, and its rich pastures attracted the attention of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh (xxxii. 1). It was within the allotted territory of Gad (ver. 35 ; Josh. xiii. 25); and as it is mentioned between Dibon and Nimreh, it appears to have stood on the high plain north of Heshbon (Num. xxxii. 3). It was one of the four cities out of Gad assigned to the Levites (Josh. xxi. 39) ; but on the decline of the Jewish power it fell into the hands of the Moabites. Isaiah connects it with Heshbon and Elealah in the prophetic curse pronounced upon Moab, predicting its utter ruin, and the destruction of its fields and vineyards by the wild hordes of the desert (xvi. 7- to). The parallel passages in Isaiah and Jeremiah are rendered somewhat obscure by refer ence to ` the sea.' Isaiah says of the vine, for which that region was celebrated Its branches were stretched out, they reached to (or over) the sea ;' and Jeremiah says—` Thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach to the sea of 7azer' ; xlviii. 32). What sea is here referred to ? Some have supposed it a noted ` pool ' or ` lake ' in the vicinity of Jazer ; but there is no lake in that district, and the word n+ could scarcely be applied with propriety to a mere poi. We learn from Num. xxxii. that the whole country around
Heskbon and Jazer was called 'the land of Yazer.' That land must have extcnded to the shore of the Dead Sea. May not that sea, therefore, have been called by the inhabitants of the district the Sea of Jazer,' just as the northern lake took the name of Tiberias,' and Genesaret,' and Chinnereth ?' Gesenius questions the integrity of the text in Jere miah, but without sufficient reason (Comment. iib. y'es. xvi. 8). The Sept. reads 7r6Xets ; this version, however, is here far from being trustworthy.
Jazer was taken by Judas Maccabus from the Ammonites (r Maccab. v. 8 ; cf. Joseph. Antiq. xii. 8. Eusebius and Jerome describe it as a city of the Amorites tcn miles west of Philadelphia, and fifteen from Heshbon ; they also state that a large stream rose beside it and flowed into the Jordan (Onomast. s. v. yazer). Burckhardt in travelling from Es-Salt to Heshbon passed a ruined town called Sir ( situated on the side of a hill, and immediately below it was the source of a stream which ran down to thc Jordan (Trav. in Syria, 364). The ruins lie four hours north of Heshbon, and thus correspond to the position of Jazer as given by Jerome. There can be little doubt that this is thc Jazer of the Bible (Van de Velde, Memoir, 323). The prophecies of Scripture are fulfilled. The city and country are alike desolate. The vine yards that once covered the hill sides are gone ; and the wild Bedawin from the eastern desert make cultivation of any kind impossible.—(Handbook for S. and P., 298, sq.)—J. L. P.