26 
roads, which take him to the Land of Zuph, obviously beyond 
the Land of Benjamin, and therefore in the tribal territory of 
Judah. 
Znph, as the name of a place, occurs in the Bible only in 
this passage. In the plural form it occurs twice, but joined 
with different words and differently spelt.* As the name of a 
man it occurs twice in one form and twice in others, but the 
root of the words is the same. The meaning has puzzled the 
lexicographers ; but the word always implies something over , as 
overwhelming, overflowing, overseeing, and hence seeing 
beyond, both with reference to a fine view or prospect, and 
also as a seer or prophet. 
The land of Zuph, which Saul was entering on his ascent 
from the plain to the highland, is still an emphatic example of 
the appropriateness of the Hebrew names of natural features. 
The present Arab occupants of the country have changed the 
Hebrew name for an Arabic word of the same meaning, and 
el Muntar, the watching-place or look-out, is the name of the 
dominant height on the route which we believe that Saul was 
taking. At different points along the highland road from 
its commencement in the plain of Jericho upwards, the road 
branches off towards Jerusalem and Gibeah on the right hand, 
and towards Bethlehem on the left. In the land of Zuph, 
Saul intimated to the servant with him his intention to return 
home. But the man said that in the city, this city, that is 
near at hand, there was a man of God of high repute who 
might show them the way that they should go. That city 
was Ramah, or Ramathaim-Zophim, the birthplace and 
residence of Samuel the Seer, identified by the Prophet 
Jeremiab, and in the New Testament with Bethlehem, f At 
the present time, about a mile eastward of Bethlehem, is 
the hamlet of Beit Sahur, a name which means “ The House 
of the Seer or Magician”; and this name not unreasonably 
suggests a reminiscence of the great prophet Samuel. The 
identification of Ramah with the neighbourhood of Bethlehem, 
but in a different direction near Rachel's Tomb, was made by 
Dr. Bonar, and by other authorities noticed by Dr. Robinson, 
but not confirmed by him. Dr. Stewart objects to such a 
position, as being too near Rachel's Tomb, in which I agree. 
The same objection is not applicable to Beit Sahur. 
The next point in Saul's progress homeward from the City 
of Samuel is Rachel’s Tomb, the place of which, about a mile 
* It is only necessary to mention one instance of it now, namely, 
Ramathaim=Zophim, or Ramah, the birthplace of Samuel the prophet, 
t Jeremiah, xxxi. 15; Matt. ii. 18. 
