The majority of modern critics regard the consonants as corrupt (btade, Uriggs, ("ornill ; cf. Oxf. Heb. Lex. s. p)) ; and in CumiU's edition pnKi is substituted for the consonants of the text, on the authority of a wine-list of Nebuchadnezzar (Delitzsch, Assijrische Lesestiicke, 1875, p. 63), in which a country of that inune {A -m-na-ba-nun) is mentioned with two others which bear some re- semblances to places named in v." as 8endin<j wine to Tyre. Though striking parallels to Ezekiel are found in the cuneiform inscriptions (D. II. Miiller, Ezechicl-studicn, 1895, pi>. 56-62), the legitimacy of such a correction seems questionable.
D. S. Margoliouth. JAVELIN.— See Spear.
JAWBONE (Jg IS'""-).— See Lehi, Samson.
JAZER (-"V^Tiy:, 'Iafr)p ; A Vof Nu 21»» 32» Jaazer ; meaning of name uncertain). — A town E. of the Jordan, in Gilcad, and belonging to the tribe of Gad (Jos 13^, 1 Cli 26»').* The in<lications given in the Onomastiron by Eusebius and Jerome, viz. 10 (or 8) miles W. of Philadelphia and 15 N. of Heshlion, are approximately correct. It was a Lewtical city (Jos 21^), was evidently a place of more than usual importance, and is mentioned in various connexions. The 'villagot' or f/ntuj/i/er towns of J. are spoken of in Nu 21 '-, sliowing that the dis- trict was thickly inhabited, and that neighbouring places were grouped about it as their political iiead. It was chosen as one of the stations of David's census officers (2 S 24°), and, seven cen- turies after the conquest of the countiy under Moses, it was famous for its vineyards anil fruitful fields (Is lO""'", Jcr 48^-). t Jazcr is mentioned also in connexion with the wars of the Maccabees, hav- ing been, according to.Io^cphus {Attt. XII. viii. 1), captured and burnt by Judas Maccabeus, after the latter liad inflicted a crushing defeat upon the AiriMuiiutc's under Timotheus.
Whi'U the Hebrews reached Ileshbon, they dis- covered, lying not far to the north of it, an ex- tensive and fertile region whiih they sjicak of as 'the land of Jazer' (Nu 32'). Against this a special expedition (Nu 21'^) was fitted out by Mo.ses (1) hecause of its own importance, and (2) because it lay in the line of marcli to the conquest of ilashan. 'I'his region at once attracted the attention of the Ilibrcws, and the contrast he- twcen its hroiid aiul fertile expanse and the desert which they liad left made them feel that they
• In Nu 21" DiUiii. and others rca<l 111'" lniit<!«<l ot SIT IV, ftod Ir. * the border of Uie children of Amnion waa Jozer.'
t In Jer 4SSJ 'they readied even unto the »c% of Jawr,' c; *fen' Is a t«xtuat error, due to an arridetital repetition of tfto O; of the preceding ctaufl« (»o Ormf, Omtr., Choyno, Uleacbrecht).
had reached a paradise. ' It is not to be won- dered at that the two and a half tribes were per- fectly willing to stay on this side of the Jordan. Juda?a has no land to compare with it, neither has Samaria, except in very limited portions. The surface of the country is slightly rolling and com- paratively free from stone. Here common Arab trails broaden out into fine roads. Here are wide pasture lands and luxuriant fields of wheat and Imrley, and the ignorant Bedawin «ho own the soil point with pride to the green acres that are spread out beneath the sun.'
Jazer, now called Khurbet Sar, has extensive remains of antiiiuity, but those above ground are chielly of the Koman period. It possesses a curi- ous tower formed of ma.ssive blocks of unhewn stone, which could have been put into position only at the cost of immense labour. Sar is about three thousand four hundred feet aliove the sea- level, and in the wide view to the W. and S. the Dead Sea is embraced. On the south, Wady osh- Shita begins to ilescend rapidly towards the Jordan Valley, and in the opposite direction not far from the ruins are two large pond.s, near to but entirely distinct from each other, peculiar and attractive objects in the landscape. The great plateau about this ancient ruin has for generations been the battle-ground of the Arab tribes in that region, and quantities of skulls are piled under the fallen arches of a once magnificent building (Merrill, East of t/te Jordan, pp. 405, 485).
S. MEitniLL.
JAZIZ (t'l;). — A Hagrite who was 'over the flocks ' of king David, 1 Ch 27". See GENEALOGY.
JE. — The symbol used by biblical critics for the combination in one whole of the Jahwistic and Elohistic documents. See Hexateucii.
JEALOUSY. — There is no more striking example of the anthroiiomorphic way of siieaking of God characteristic of OT than the l^requent ascrip- tion to Him of jealousy, associated as that idea is in our minds with an evil meaning. ' I am a jealous God ' (njiJ Vx Ex 20» 34", Dt 4" 5', Jos 24", Nail 1-). Two things may help to remove the feeling of st rangene.s.s. The phrase is probably taken from the marriage relation which is so often u.Hcd in OT to describe the relation between .1" and the people of I.srael(ls 54'62\ Hos2'"etc.). Again, although tlie word is now generally used in a bad .sense, it has a good side, as in the case of the marriage relation in question ; and it is only in this sense, of course, that it is u.sed in the present connexion. Just as jealousy in husband or wife is the energetic a.sscrfion of an exclusive right, so (bid asserts and vindicates His claim on those who belong to Him alone. The use of the ligure is much bolder and more |iicturcsi|ue than the bare a.ssertion of right would he. If God is the husband and Israel the wife, then idolatry and wickedness of every kind are spiritual adultery. Israel is often represented as thus provoking God to jealousy (Dt .32", 1 K 14°'etc. ). Tlie phraseologj- occurs with special frequencj" in I'./.k (5" I6*'-'' 23" .36''- • 38'" 39*'); but it is found in other iirophets also ( Is passim, J 1 2i", Zcph 1 '», Zee 1 " 8'^ Ifos 2=- '«).