Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
Flowing. ) A son of Jehaleleel (1 Chr. 4:16). ) A city in the south of Judah (Josh. 15:24), probably at the pass of Sufah. ) A city in the mountains of Judah (Josh. 15:55), identified with the uninhabited ruins of Tell ez-Zif, about 5 miles south-east of Hebron. Here David hid himself during his wanderings (1 Sam. 23:19; Ps. 54, title).
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1863)
(battlement), the name of two towns in Judah.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898)
ZIPH (a flowing), a descendant of Judah. 1 Chr 4:16.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898) & Schaff's Bible Dictionary
ZIPH (a flowing), a name for two places. A city in the South of Judah. Josh 15:24. A town in the highlands of Judah, Josh 15:55; fortified by Rehoboam. 2 Chr 11:8. " 1 Sam 23:14-15, 1 Sam 23:24; 1 Sam 26:2. The site is Ziph ia a hill about 4 miles south-east of Hebron, on the road to En-gedi. It is a conspicuous mound, and shows at the present day no trace of buildings, but there are large Jewish tombs and a quarry. On a low hill half a mile east are the remains of a town.
As to the "wood of Ziph," 1 Sam 23:15, Conder asserts that in all probability it never had any real existence as a "wood," but was rather a town. "The existence," he says, "at any time, of a wood in this part of the country is geologically almost an impossibility. From Hebron to Beersheba not a single spring of any importance exists in the eastern hills. . . . The country is emphatically a dry land. Looking down on the barren wastes which lie above the Dead Sea between Masada and En-gedi, there is no moisture capable of supporting vegetable growth.
" The translation in Josephus is said to be "in the new place belonging to Ziph," and the Vatican and Alexandrine manuscripts support this. " Tristram, however (Land of Moab, pp.
Hitchcock's Bible Names (1869)
this mouth or mouthful; falsehood