Jahaz

Jahaz was a town east of the Dead Sea, in what is now Jordan. There the Israelites defeated Sihon, king of the Amorites, after he refused to let them pass through his land (Numbers 21:23; Deuteronomy 2:32; Judges 11:20).

Later, Moses gave Jahaz to the tribe of Reuben as part of its land (Joshua 13:18). The town and its surrounding pasturelands were later assigned to the Merarite Levites, one of the family groups of the tribe of Levi (Joshua 21:36; 1 Chronicles 6:78).

In later times, the prophets Isaiah (Isaiah 15:4) and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 48:21) refer to Jahaz as a city in the land of Moab. This may indicate that Moab captured it from Israel. It seems that Jahaz belonged to Moab before Sihon conquered it.

The Moabite Stone mentions the town. It is also known as the Dibon Stele and dates to around 845 BC. It was the place where Mesha, King of Moab, had lived while at war with Israel. According to Mesha, he captured Jahaz from Israel and added it to his own territory.