International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ze'-fi, ze'-fo (tsephi, perhaps "gaze," or "gazing," in 1 Chronicles 1:36; tspho, the same meaning in Genesis 36:11, 15): A duke of Edom. Septuagint has Sophar, which Skinner (Genesis, 431) says may be the original of Job's kind friend. In Genesis 36:43 the Septuagint has Zaphoei (= tsepho, i.e. Zepho), for Iram. Skinner holds it probable that the two names, Zepho and Iram, were in the original text, thus making the number 12 (compare Lagarde, Septuagint-Stud., II, 10, 1. 178; 37, 1. 270; Nestle, Margin., 12). Lucian has Sophar, in Genesis 36:11, 15; Sepphoue, in 1 Chronicles 1:37, and Saphoin, in Genesis 36:43.

David Francis Roberts