Easton's Bible Dictionary

Uphaz Probably another name for Ophir (Jer 10:9). Some, however, regard it as the name of an Indian colony in Yemen, southern Arabia; others as a place on or near the river Hyphasis (now the Ghana), the south-eastern limit of the Punjaub.

Ur Light, or the moon city, a city "of the Chaldees," the birthplace of Haran (Gen 11:28, Gen 11:31), the largest city of Shinar or northern Chaldea, and the principal commercial centre of the country as well as the centre of political power. It stood near the mouth of the Euphrates, on its western bank, and is represented by the mounds (of bricks cemented by bitumen) of el-Mugheir, i.e., "the bitumined," or "the town of bitumen," now 150 miles from the sea and some 6 miles from the Euphrates, a little above the point where it receives the Shat el-Hie, an affluent from the Tigris. It was formerly a maritime city, as the waters of the Persian Gulf reached thus far inland. Ur was the port of Babylonia, whence trade was carried on with the dwellers on the gulf, and with the distant countries of India, Ethiopia, and Egypt. It was abandoned about 500 B.C., but long continued, like Erech, to be a great sacred cemetery city, as is evident from the number of tombs found there. (See ABRAHAM.) The oldest king of Ur known to us is Ur-Ba'u (servant of the goddess Ba'u ), as Hommel reads the name, or Ur-Gur , as others read it. He lived some twenty-eight hundred years B.C., and took part in building the famous temple of the moon-god Sin in Ur itself. The illustration here given represents his cuneiform inscription, written in the Sumerian language, and stamped upon every brick of the temple in Ur. It reads: " Ur-Ba'u , king of Ur, who built the temple of the moon-god." "Ur was consecrated to the worship of Sin, the Babylonian moon-god. It shared this honour, however, with another city, and this city was Haran, or Harran. Harran was in Mesopotamia, and took its name from the highroad which led through it from the east to the west. The name is Babylonian, and bears witness to its having been founded by a Babylonian king. The same witness is still more decisively borne by the worship paid in it to the Babylonian moon-god and by its ancient temple of Sin. Indeed, the temple of the moon-god at Harran was perhaps even more famous in the Assyrian and Babylonian world than the temple of the moon god at Ur. "Between Ur and Harran there must, consequently, have been a close connection in early times, the record of which has not yet been recovered. It may be that Harran owed its foundation to a king of Ur; at any rate the two cities were bound together by the worship of the same deity, the closest and most enduring bond of union that existed in the ancient world. That Terah should have migrated from Ur to Harran, therefore, ceases to be extraordinary. If he left Ur at all, it was the most natural place to which to go. It was like passing from one court of a temple into another. "Such a remarkable coincidence between the Biblical narrative and the evidence of archaeological research cannot be the result of chance. The narrative must be historical; no writer of late date, even if he were a Babylonian, could have invented a story so exactly in accordance with what we now know to have been the truth. For a story of the kind to have been the invention of Palestinian tradition is equally impossible. To the unprejudiced mind there is no escape from the conclusion that the history of the migration of Terah from Ur to Harran is founded on fact" (Sayce).

Uriah The Lord is my light. (1.) A Hittite, the husband of Bathsheba, whom David first seduced, and then after Uriah's death married. He was one of the band of David's mighty men." The sad story of the cruel wrongs inflicted upon him by David and of his mournful death are simply told in the sacred record (2 Sam. 11:2 - 12:26). (See BATH-SHEBA; DAVID.) (2.) A priest of the house of Ahaz (Isa 8:2). (3.) The father of Meremoth, mentioned in Ezr 8:33.

Uriel God is my light. (1.) A Levite of the family of Kohath (Ch1 6:24). (2.) The chief of the Kohathites at the time when the ark was brought up to Jerusalem (Ch1 15:5, Ch1 15:11). (3.) The father of Michaiah, one of Rehoboam's wives, and mother of Abijah (Ch2 13:2).

Urijah The lord is my light. (1.) A high priest in the time of Ahaz (Kg2 16:10), at whose bidding he constructed an idolatrous altar like one the king had seen at Damascus, to be set up instead of the brazen altar. (2.) One of the priests who stood at the right hand of Ezra's pulpit when he read and expounded the law (Neh 8:4). (3.) A prophet of Kirjath-jearim in the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah (Jer 26:20). He fled into Egypt from the cruelty of the king, but having been brought back he was beheaded and his body "cast into the graves of the common people."

Urim Lights (Vulg."doctrina;" LXX. "revelation"). See THUMMIM.

Usury The sum paid for the use of money, hence interest; not, as in the modern sense, exorbitant interest. The Jews were forbidden to exact usury (Lev 25:36, Lev 25:37), only, however, in their dealings with each other (Deu 23:19, Deu 23:20). The violation of this law was viewed as a great crime (Psa 15:5; Pro 28:8; Jer 15:10). After the Return, and later, this law was much neglected (Neh 5:7, Neh 5:10).

Uz Fertile land. (1.) The son of Aram, and grandson of Shem (Gen 10:23; Ch1 1:17). (2.) One of the Horite "dukes" in the land of Edom (Gen 36:28). (3.) The eldest son of Nahor, Abraham's brother (Gen 22:21, R.V.).

Uz, The Land of Where Job lived (Job 1:1; Jer 25:20; Lam 4:21), probably somewhere to the east or south-east of Palestine and north of Edom. It is mentioned in Scripture only in these three passages.

Uzal A wanderer, a descendant of Joktan (Gen 10:27; Ch1 1:21), the founder apparently of one of the Arab tribes; the name also probably of the province they occupied and of their chief city.