Bible Dictionary
Gozan
Gozan was a region in Assyria, associated with the Habor River, to which Israelites were deported after the fall of Samaria. It is also mentioned in accounts of Assyrian threats against Judah.
Definition
Gozan was an Assyrian region associated with the Habor River. It was one of the places to which Israelites were deported after the fall of Samaria and was named in accounts of Assyrian threats against Judah.
Biblical Usage
Israelites were carried captive to Gozan by Assyrian rulers. Gozan is also mentioned in the Assyrian message concerning the threatened destruction of nations, addressed to Hezekiah.
Historical Background
The district was watered by the Habor, the modern Khabur, a major tributary of the Euphrates. It is associated with the Assyrian Guzana and Ptolemy’s Gauzanitis, west of Nisibis, and became an Assyrian province after being subdued.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
A region in Central Asia to which the Israelites were carried away captive (2 Kings 17:6; 1 Chr. 5:26; 2 Kings 19:12; Isa. 37:12). It was situated in Mesopotamia, on the river Habor (2 Kings 17:6; 18:11), the Khabur, a tributary of the Euphrates. The “river of Gozan” (1 Chr. 5:26) is probably the upper part of the river flowing through the province of Gozan, now Kizzel-Ozan.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
seems in the Authorized Version of (1 Chronicles 5:26) to be the name of a river, but in (2 Kings 17:6) and 2Kin 18:11 It is evidently applied not to a river but a country. Gozan was the tract to which the Israelites were carried away captive by Pul, Tiglathpileser and Shalmaneser, or possibly Sargon. It is probably identical with the Gauzanitis of Ptolemy, and I may be regarded as represented by the Mygdonia of other writers. It was the tract watered by the Habor, the modern Khabour, the great Mesopotamian affluent of the Euphrates.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>go'-zan (gozan; Gozan, Codex Vaticanus, Gozar in 2Ki 17:6, Chozar in 1Ch 5:26): A place in Assyria to which Israelites were deported on the fall of Samaria (2Ki 17:6; 18:11; 1Ch 5:26). It is also mentioned in a letter of Sennacherib to Hezekiah (2Ki 19:12; Isa 37:12). The district is that named Guzana by the Assyrians, and Gauzanitis by Ptolemy, West of Nisibis, with which, in the Assyrian geographical list (WAI, II, 53, l. 43), it is mentioned as the name of a city (alu Guzana; alu Nasibina). It became an Assyrian province, and rebelled in 759 BC, but was again reduced to subjection.</p><p>See HABOR; HALAH.</p><p>James Orr</p>