ZIPH, ZIPHITES zĭf, zĭf’ īt (זִ֣יף, זִיפִי, KJV once ZIPHIMS, Ps 54 superscription). 1. A man (or tribe) of Judah (1 Chron 4:16), son of Jehaleleel.

2. A town in the Negeb (q.v.) area of Judah (Josh 15:24; 1 Chron 2:42; 4:16) where Ziph is a clan or family affiliated with Caleb. No doubt the family gave its name to the town. Probably modern Khirbet ez-Zeifeh SW of Kurnub near the old Edomite border.

3. A town in the hill country of Judah (Josh 15:55). David hid from Saul in the open country near Ziph (1 Sam 23:14, 15; Ps 54 superscription). In the same region David later took Saul’s spear and water jar and spared his life (1 Sam 26, note vv. 1, 2, 7, 12). The same town was fortified by Rehoboam after the secession of the northern kingdom (2 Chron 11:5, 8). It is prob. at the site of the modern Tell Zif, four m. SE of Hebron on a hill some 2,890 ft. above sea level commanding the open country around, about level with En-gedi (q.v.) on the Dead Sea.

Bibliography F. M. Abel, Géographie de la Palestine (1938), 490.