Who and what is…
Buz

Meaning: contempt, or despised

This is the name of 2 biblical men and a district.

  1. Buz, son of Nahor

    This is the 2nd son of Nahor II (brother of Abraham) and Milcah, and brother of Huz (Genesis 22:21).

    Elihu was one of his descendants (Job 32:2).

    Relatives

    Many of Nahor’s descendants link to Aramean groups (e.g., via Kemuel and Aram). This ties into later Israelite history, as Arameans were both relatives and occasional rivals.

    Q & A

  2. Buz, a chief Gadite

    He is one of the chiefs of the Tribe of Gad (1 Chronicles 5:14).

    Q & A

  3. Buz, a district

    This was an area in Arabia Petrea (literally Rocky Arabia) (Jeremiah 25:23). Arabia Petraea was an ancient Roman province in the rocky northern/western part of Arabia, encompassing parts of modern Jordan, southern Syria, northwest Saudi Arabia, and Sinai). It was formerly Nabataean territory.

    Inhabitants were likely involved in caravan trade, herding, and oasis agriculture—typical of North Arabian tribes. The region was a crossroads for incense, spice, and goods routes connecting South Arabia (Sheba) to the Levant, Egypt, and Mesopotamia.

    Jeremiah lists Buz among various other places and kings to be judged by God. The prophecy in Jeremiah 25 emphasizes God’s sovereignty over all nations, including distant or marginal desert tribes. No one escapes accountability. This fits the chapter’s theme of universal judgment before restoration.

    For thus Yahweh, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it. They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.”

    Then I took the cup from the hand of Yahweh and made all the nations to whom Yahweh sent me drink it:

    Jerusalem and the cities of Judah and its kings and its princes, to make them a waste place, an object of horror, an object of hissing, and a curse, as it is this day;

    Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes, and all his people,

    and all the foreign people, all the kings of the land of Uz,

    all the kings of the land of the Philistines (even Ashkelon, Gaza, EkronEkron, and the remnant of Ashdod),

    Edom,

    Moab,

    and the sons of Ammon,

    and all the kings of Tyre,

    all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastlands which are beyond the sea,

    and Dedan,

    Tema,

    Buz,

    and all who cut the corners of their hair,

    and all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the foreign people who dwell in the desert,

    and all the kings of Zimri,

    all the kings of Elam,

    and all the kings of Media,

    and all the kings of the north, near and far, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the earth which are upon the face of the ground,

    and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. —Jeremiah 25:23 LSB

    The phrase about “cutting the corners of their hair” (or temple hair) likely refers to a cultural or religious practice among certain Arabian or desert peoples, possibly a mourning ritual or distinctive hairstyle (compare Leviticus 19:27 and Jeremiah 9:26).

    Buz is not as archaeologically prominent as Tema or Dedan, which have clearer oasis and inscriptional evidence.

    Some scholars link biblical Buz to “Bazu” (or Bazza) mentioned in Assyrian records, particularly under King Esarhaddon (r. 681–669 BC). Esarhaddon’s inscriptions describe campaigns against Bazu and Chazu (possibly linked to biblical Hazo, Nahor II’s son), described as arid regions full of snakes and scorpions in the Arabian desert. These areas were east or southeast of more settled regions, fitting a North Arabian context.

    Some older sources suggest connections to places like Basta in Arabia Petraea or Busan (a Roman fort), though these are phonetically weak.

    Some debate whether the Jeremiah Buz is the same as the Nahor descendant or a separate group that migrated south. A southern migration is plausible given Aramaean movements.

    Q & A

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Article Version: May 27, 2026