Suph

From Bible Exegesis

(Deu_1:1, R.V.; marg., “some ancient versions have the Red Sea,” as in the A.V.). Some identify it with Suphah (Num_21:14, marg., A.V.) as probably the name of a place. Others identify it with es - Sufah = Maaleh-acrabbim (Jos_15:3), and others again with Zuph (1Sa_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, i.e., the “Red Sea.”

sōōf (סוּף, ṣūph; πλησίον τῆς ἐρυθρᾶς (θαλάσσης), plēsíon 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” (Deu_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.