Suph is a place name that appears in
Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy ( grc, Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronómion, second law) is the fifth and last book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called (Hebrew: hbo, , Dəḇārīm, hewords Moses.html" ;"title="f Moses">f Moseslabel=none) and th ...
1:1 (R.V. marg. "some ancient versions have the
Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...
," as in the A.V.).
Some scholars (Patrick,
Rosenmüller, and others)
Pulpit Commentary
on Deuteronomy 1, accessed 24 October 2015 identify it with Suphah (Numbers
A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers ca ...
21:14, quoting the lost Book of the Wars of the Lord
The Book of the Wars of the Lord () is one of several non-canonical books referenced in the Bible which have now been completely lost. It is mentioned in Numbers 21:13–14, which reads:
David Rosenberg suggests in ''The Book of David'' that ...
) as probably the name of a place. Others identify it with es-Sufah i.e. Maaleh-acrabbim (Joshua
Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. ' Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...
15:3), and yet others with Zuph
Zuph meaning '' honeycomb'' in Hebrew
* According to the Books of Chronicles, a Kohathite Levite, a fact not mentioned in the books of Samuel. He was the ancestor of Elkanah and Samuel ( 1 Samuel 1:1); called also Zophai in the parallel passa ...
(1 Samuel
The Book of Samuel (, ''Sefer Shmuel'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Josh ...
9:5). It is most probable, however, that, in accordance with the ancient versions, this word is to be regarded as simply an abbreviation of Yam Suph
In the Exodus narrative, Yam Suph ( he, יַם-סוּף, ''Yam-Sūp̄'', Reed Sea) or Reed Sea, sometimes translated as Sea of Reeds, is the body of water which the Israelites crossed following their exodus from Egypt. The same phrase appears in o ...
i.e. the "Red Sea".
References
Torah places
{{Tanakh-stub