SUPH

[reed(s)].

One of the locations mentioned to indicate where Moses spoke to the Israelites in the fortieth year of their wilderness wandering. (Deut. 1:1) Instead of “Suph,” the Greek Septuagint Version (as well as the Latin Vulgate) reads “Red sea,” perhaps because it was thought that the Hebrew word yam (meaning “sea”) had been dropped, leaving suph as an abbreviation for yam suph (“Red Sea”). In such a case, the reference would be to that part of the sea called the Gulf of Aqabah. However, taken as it stands, the Hebrew Masoretic text says that Moses spoke to Israel “on the desert plains in front of Suph.” And verse 5 adds that this was “in the region of the Jordan in the land of Moab.” Therefore, though its exact site is unknown, Suph apparently was a place E of the Jordan. It is sometimes identified with Khirbet Sufa, about four miles (c. 6 kilometers) S-SE of Madaba.