Bozrah

(sheepfold) (Gen. 36:33) — a famous city of Edom, 24 English miles southeast of Edrei. It is often mentioned in Holy Scripture as the chief city of Edom (Isa. 34:6; 63:1; Jer. 48:24; 49:13–22; Amos 1:12). The prophet Jeremiah calls it a city of Moab, and it was probably taken from the Ammonites by the Edomites, then taken from the Edomites by the Moabites. In the prophetic books it is spoken of as one of the richest and most fortified cities of Edom; it is formidable and impregnable by its position — situated in the clefts of the rocks, and occupying, like an eagle, the tops of the hills.

But “though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence,” saith the Lord (Jer. 49:16). Nevertheless its land is fat, it has numerous flocks and splendid halls (Isa. 34:6, 7; Amos 1:12; Micah 2:12). At present this is probably the settlement el-Busaireh, in the mountains of Seir, southeast of the Dead Sea. The numerous ruins around this settlement show that in antiquity a great city stood here. Goats, which the prophet Isaiah mentions in connection with Bozrah, are still very numerous in this place.