BOZEZ

(Boʹzez) [perhaps, shining].

One of two rocks or toothlike crags associated with Jonathan’s victory over the Philistines recorded at 1 Samuel 14:4-14. Jonathan, looking for a passage to cross over to attack the Philistine outpost, saw the two crags, one on the N facing Michmash (where the Philistines were encamped), the other on the S facing Geba. (1 Sam. 13:16; 14:5) Between these two cities the Wadi Suweinit descends toward the Jordan and becomes a deep gorge with nearly vertical cliffs somewhat to the E of the cities. The location of the two crags is considered to have been at the point where the wadi makes a sharp bend, though the precise identification of the crags is conjectural. Nevertheless, in the book The Romance of the Last Crusade, by Major Vivian Gilbert of the British Army, the author presents the account of a brigade major in General Allenby’s army in Palestine who, upon receiving orders to take the village of Michmash, successfully employed the information in 1 Samuel chapters 13 and 14 regarding these two crags to locate a pass up to the rocky prominence on which Michmash lay.