Ziph
זִיף · “Zif” on the map
Where was biblical Ziph? At Tel Zif, southeast of Hebron by Route 356, about 35 km south of Jerusalem. I mark it certain.
David hid in the desert below Zif. Twice the people of the town went to Saul to hand him over.
By Aaron Shaffier, licensed Israel tour guide and mapmaker · About the mapmaker
- Site today
- Tel Zif, southeast of Hebron by Route 356
- How sure
- Certain The name, the sources and the finds all agree.
- Other names
- Tel Zif, Tell Zif, Khirbet Zif
- Location
- 31.4738° N, 35.1319° E (Google Maps)
How we know where it was
The name never changed. The hill is still called Tell Zif, and the Arab village beside it is Zif. Joshua lists Zif with Maon, Carmel and Yutta, and all four sit within a few kilometers of each other south of Hebron.
The town stands on a high crossroads at the edge of the desert. East of it the land falls away in bare ridges to the Dead Sea. That slope is the wilderness of Zif, where David hid in the strongholds. Zif mattered to the kings of Judah too. It is one of the few place names stamped on Hezekiah's royal "lmlk" jar handles, beside Hebron.
The betrayal makes sense once you see where Zif sits. It was a small town on the edge of Judah's territory. David was from Judah and Saul was from Benjamin, so David thought these people would never give him up. They did. The Zifites sent word to Saul, and David fled down through the desert to the oasis of Ein Gedi. That is about a six-hour climb up the cliffs in the other direction. David wrote a psalm about it, "when the Zifites came and said to Saul, isn't David hiding among us?"
The second time, Saul came down with three thousand men. David crept into his camp at night, took the sleeping king's spear and water jug, and spared his life.
Watch: Ein Gedi - The Hidden Oasis
Walking Tanach. Tells how the Zifites betrayed David and sent him down to Ein Gedi.
Visiting today
Tel Zif is an unexcavated hilltop beside Route 356, with a wide view over the Judean Desert. I tell the story of the Zifites in Ein Gedi - The Hidden Oasis.
Read it in the Bible
Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible. In a handful of chapters English Bibles count one verse off.
See Zif on the interactive map →
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Get the print + free ebookNearby places
- Juttah 5 km southwest
- Carmel in Judah 6 km south
- Hebron 6 km northwest
- Maon 7 km south
- Eshtemoa 10 km southwest
- Debir (Kiriath Sepher) 12 km southwest