Zuph צוּף
Levite ancestor of Samuel the prophet
Biography
Zuph/Zophai Zuph, also called Zophai in 1Ch.6.26, was a Levite of the Kohathite clan. He was an ancestor of Elkanah, the father of the prophet Samuel (1Sa.1.1). In the genealogy of the Kohathites, he is listed as the son of Elkanah and father of Toah (1Ch.6.35). Zuph lived in the hill country of Ephraim, where his descendant Samuel was born (1Sa.1.1).
Family
In Scripture
2 biblical books1 Samuel 1 verse
- 1 Samuel 1:1
"Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite."
1 Chronicles 2 verses
- 1 Chronicles 6:35
"the son of Zuph, the son of Elkanah, the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai,"
- 1 Chronicles 6:26
"As for Elkanah, the sons of Elkanah: Zophai his son, Nahath his son,"
Names & Aliases
| Form | Language | Script | Strong's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Named | Hebrew | צוּף | H6689G |
| (same form as previous) | Hebrew | צוּף | H6689G |
| (same form as previous) | Hebrew | צוּף | H6689G |
Zuph
> (Hebrew verse 20) = "Zophai" of 1Ch 6:26 (11), an ancestor of Elkanah and Samuel. But Budde and Wellhausen take it to be an adjective, and so read tsuphi, in 1Sa 1:1 b: "Tohu a Zuphite, an Ephraimite." It should probably be read also in 1:1a: "Now there was a certain man of the Ramathites, a Zuphite of the hill-country of Ephraim," as the Hebrew construction in the first part of the verse is otherwise unnatural. The Septuagint's Codex Alexandrinus has Soup; Lucian has Souph in 1Sa 1:1 b; 1Ch 6:26 (11); Codex Vaticanus has Souphei; Codex Alexandrinus and Lucian have Souphi; 6:35 (20), Codex Vaticanus and Codex Alexandrinus have Souph; Lucian has Souphi; and the Kethibh has tsiph.
(2) The Septuagint's Codex Vaticanus and Codex Alexandrinus have Seiph; Lucian has Sipha, "the land of Zuph," a district in Benjamin, near its northern border (1Sa 9:5).
David Francis Roberts