For a while, the wilderness of Ziph was where David hid from Saul. It lay in the hill country of Judah, a town in the list of Judah’s inheritance and a stretch of rough ground. In 1 Samuel 23 David “abode in the wilderness in strong holds,” and “Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand.” Some people of the area told Saul where David was, and Saul came back with “three thousand chosen men of Israel.” Read 1 Samuel 23 and 26 to see how each ended.
7 verses
Ziph, and Telem, and Bealoth,
Maon, Carmel, and Ziph, and Juttah,
And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand.
And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life: and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood.
And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon.
Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.
And the sons of Jehaleleel; Ziph, and Ziphah, Tiria, and Asareel.
Matthew George Easton, 1897
Flowing. (1.) A son of Jehaleleel (1 Chr. 4:16).
(2.) A city in the south of Judah (Josh. 15:24), probably at the pass of Sufah.
(3.) A city in the mountains of Judah (Josh. 15:55), identified with the uninhabited ruins of Tell ez-Zif, about 5 miles south-east of Hebron. Here David hid himself during his wanderings (1 Sam. 23:19; Ps. 54, title).
William Smith, 1884
(battlement), the name of two towns in Judah.
(1.) In the south, named between Ithnan and Telem. (Joshua 15:24) It does not appear again in the history, nor has any trace of has been met with.
(2.) In the highland district, named between Carmel and Juttah. (Joshua 15:55) The place is immortalized by its connection with David. (1 Samuel 23:14,15,24; 26:2) These passages show that at that time it had near it a wilderness (i,e, a waste pasture-ground) and a wood. The latter has disappeared but the former remains. The name of Zif if, found about three miles south of Hebron, attached to a rounded hill of some 100 feet in height, which is called Tell Zif .
(3.) Son of Jehaleleel. (1 Chronicles 4:16)