Bible Dictionary
BOZEZ
The northern of two cliffs beside the gorge of Michmash. Its sunlit appearance probably gave it the name “shining,” and it was visible during Jonathan's attack on the Philistines.
Definition
Bozez was the name of the northern of two cliffs standing on opposite sides of the gorge of Michmash. The cliff catches the sun for much of the day, and its name probably means “shining.”
Biblical Usage
Bozez appears in 1 Samuel 14:4 in the account of Jonathan’s attack on the Philistines. Jonathan looked across the gorge toward the Philistine camp.
Historical Background
The northern cliff contrasts with the shaded southern cliff. Its ruddy or tawny rock and gleaming upper chalk strata make the contrast conspicuous and picturesque.
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>bo'-zez (botsets; Bazes, probably from an obsolete root batsats, corresponding to the Arabic batstsa, "to shine" or "to ooze"): The name of the northern of the two cliffs that stand one on each side of the gorge of Michmash (1Sa 14:4). It catches the sun during most of the day, while the southern cliff is in the shade. To this circumstance it may owe its name, "shining." "The contrast is surprising and picturesque between the dark coal color of the south side, and the ruddy or tawny tints of the northern cliff, crowned with the gleaming white of the upper chalky strata. The picture is unchanged since the day when Jonathan looked over to the white camping ground of the Philistines, and Bozez must have then shone as brightly as it does now, in the full light of an eastern sun" (Conder, Tent Work, 256).</p><p>W. Ewing</p>