Yam Suph
/jɑːm suːf/noun
A Hebrew biblical place-name traditionally translated as the Red Sea, though many scholars interpret it as the Sea of Reeds.
Did you know?The Hebrew phrase יַם־סוּף (Yam Suph) was translated into Greek as Erythra Thalassa, “Red Sea,” creating the enduring geographical identity used in many later traditions.
Etymological Timeline
Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew
יַם־סוּף (Yam Suph)
“Sea of Reeds; literally, yam “sea” plus suph, commonly understood as “reeds” or “rushes””
3rd–2nd Century BCE
Koine Greek
Ἐρυθρὰ Θάλασσα (Erythra Thalassa)
“Red Sea; the translation used in the Septuagint”
4th–5th Century CE
Latin
Mare Rubrum
“Red Sea; the Latin rendering found in biblical and geographical tradition”
Medieval English
English
Red Sea
“The established English name inherited through Latin and French-influenced biblical usage”
Modern scholarship
English
Yam Suph
“A transliterated Hebrew name whose precise location and meaning remain debated; proposed settings include marshy waters near the northeastern Nile Delta”