Zuph

Samuel anointed Saul in an unnamed town in the land of Zuph, woodcut from Die Bibel in Bildern

Zuph means honeycomb in Hebrew

• According to the Books of Chronicles, a Kohathite^[1] Levite, a fact not mentioned in the books of Samuel. He was the ancestor of Elkanah and Samuel (1 Samuel 1:1); called also Zophai in the parallel passage, 1 Chronicles 6:26 (or 1 Chronicles 6:11 in Hebrew Bible).^[2]
• Land of Zuph (1 Samuel 9:5, 6), a district in which lay Samuel's city, Ramathaim-Zophim. It was probably so named after Zuph (1 Chronicles 6:26). Zuph and the city of Ramathaim-Zophim are mentioned in the Bible together with Mount Ephraim, suggesting that they shared a similar locality.^[2]

References

1. Hirsch, Emil G. and König, Eduard. "Elkanah", Jewish Encyclopedia, 1906
2. Seligsohn, M., "Zuph", Jewish Encyclopedia, 1906

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Zuph". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.