Bible Dictionary
Hosah
Hosah was both a city on the border of Asher near Tyre and a Merarite Levite appointed among the doorkeepers of the ark in David’s time.
Definition
Hosah is the name of a city on the border of Asher near Tyre and of a Merarite Levite. The city was associated with the boundary toward Tyre, while the Levite served among the doorkeepers of the ark.
Biblical Usage
The Levite Hosah was appointed in David’s time as one of the doorkeepers after the ark came to Jerusalem. The city Hosah appears in the territorial description of Asher.
Historical Background
Hosah the city was near Tyre and slightly south of Zidon. It has been associated with Kefr Yasif or with Usu, but these identifications are uncertain.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Refuge. (1.) A place on the border of the tribe of Asher (Josh. 19:29), a little to the south of Zidon. (2.) A Levite of the family of Merari (1 Chr. 16:38).
Smith's Bible Dictionary
a Merarite Levite, chosen by David to be one of the first doorkeepers to the ark after its arrival in Jerusalem. (1 Chronicles 16:38) (B.C. 1014.) (refuge), a city of Asher, (Joshua 19:29) The next landmark on the boundary to Tyre.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>ho'-sa (chocah): A city on the border of Asher, in the neighborhood of Tyre (Jos 19:29). Septuagint reads Iaseiph, which might suggest identification with Kefr Yasif, to the Northeast of Acre. Possibly, however, as Sayce (HCM, 429) and Moore (Judges, 51) suggest, Hosah may represent the Assyrian Usu. Some scholars think that Usu was the Assyrian name for Palaetyrus. If "the fenced city of Tyre" were that on the island, while the city on the mainland lay at Ras el-`Ain, 30 stadia to the South (Strabo xvi.758), this identification is not improbable.</p>