Bible Encyclopedias
Suph

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

sōōf ( סוּף , ṣūph ; πλησίον τῆς ἐρυθρᾶς ( θαλάσσης ), plēsı́on tḗs eruthrás ( thalássēs ); the King James Version Red Sea ): As the verse stands, the place where Moses addressed the children of Israel is indicated as "beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah over against Suph" ( Deuteronomy 1:1 ). the King James Version, following Septuagint, takes the name as a contraction of yām sūph (see RED SEA ). The abbreviation is not found elsewhere. The name of the sea was not derived from that of a city; so we need not look in that direction. Knobel suggested Naḳb eṣ -Ṣafā , a pass about 25 miles West-Southwest of the Dead Sea. But it is "unsuitably situated; nor does the name agree phonetically" (Driver, "Deuteronomy," ICC , 4). No identification is possible.