Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898)
ZUPH, THE LAND OF, the farthest point of the journey of Saul, and where he encountered Samuel at a certain city, the name of which is not given. 1 Sam 9:5-6. The whole of this journey has been a curious puzzle in Scripture topography, "for the starting-point is unknown, the point to which he returned doubtful," and the intermediate places have not been satisfactorily identified. Some resemblance to Zuph was thought to be found in Sola, 7 miles west of Jerusalem and 5 miles southwest of Neby Samwil.
" In other Targums the words "Zophira " and "Mizpeh" are used indiscriminately in speaking of one place, both words being applicable to a "watch-tower" or city in an elevated situation. "Zuph" was, however, also the name of a man, and it is not impossible that the land of Zuph may have been named after him. 1 Sam 1:1. In the first case the city in the land of Zuph would possibly be Shufa: in the second it would be Bethlehem, the home of Zuph. See Mizpeh.