What does סוּף (sûp) mean in the Bible?
In the selected settings, this word names water plants around a basket or in Jonah's description of distress. Exodus places the infant Moses' basket among the reeds along the Nile's bank.
Hebrew · H5488
סוּף
In the selected settings, this word names water plants around a basket or in Jonah's description of distress. Exodus places the infant Moses' basket among the reeds along the Nile's bank.
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
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Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
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סוּףH5488
Pronunciationsûp
What does סוּף (sûp) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for סוּף (H5488) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H5488?
The BSB source-word alignment has 28 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include the Red (7), of the Red (4), to the Red (4), from the Red (3), into the Red (2).
Where does סוּף (sûp) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Exodus 2:3. Its strongest book concentrations include Exodus (7), Psalms (5), Numbers (4), Deuteronomy (3).
What This Word Actually Means
In the selected settings, this word names water plants around a basket or in Jonah's description of distress. Exodus places the infant Moses' basket among the reeds along the Nile's bank. Pharaoh's daughter sees it there, retrieves it and has compassion upon the crying child. Jonah's prayer describes seaweed wrapping around his head as the waters threaten his life, followed by his acknowledgment that the Lord raised his life from the pit.
The plants provide a physical setting and a vivid detail of danger rather than one independent spiritual symbol. The English wording changes with the scene, and the passages do not require a botanical species identification. Readers should follow the actions involving the basket and the movement of Jonah's prayer before giving the water plants a larger significance.
How the Bible Uses It
Reeds locate the basket's placement and discovery; seaweed gives Jonah's distress a vivid detail. The story and prayer supply the significance of these selected plant settings.
- Exod.2.3
But when she could no longer hide him, she got him a papyrus basket and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in the basket and set it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.
The mother places the coated basket among reeds on the Nile's bank, while the child's sister watches what will happen.
- Exod.2.5
Soon the daughter of Pharaoh went down to bathe in the Nile, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. And when she saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maidservant to retrieve it.
Pharaoh's daughter sees the basket among the reeds and sends for it, followed by her compassion for the crying child.
- Jonah.2.5
The waters engulfed me to take my life; the watery depths closed around me; the seaweed wrapped around my head.
Seaweed wrapping around Jonah's head belongs to the prayer's description of life-threatening waters before the acknowledgment of the Lord's rescue.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itthe Red7×Numbers 14:25, Numbers 33:10, Judges 11:16, Nehemiah 9:9
of the Red4×Deuteronomy 2:1, Deuteronomy 11:4, Joshua 2:10, 1 Kings 9:26
to the Red4×Numbers 21:4, Deuteronomy 1:40, Joshua 4:23, Jeremiah 49:21
from the Red3×Exodus 15:22, Exodus 23:31, Numbers 33:11
into the Red2×Exodus 10:19, Psalms 136:15
. . .1×Joshua 24:6
[there] at the Red1×Psalms 106:7
and rushes1×Isaiah 19:6
in the Red1×Exodus 15:4
it among the reeds1×Exodus 2:3
the reeds1×Exodus 2:5
the seaweed1×Jonah 2:5
toward the Red1×Exodus 13:18
Show sample aligned rows
Exodus 2:3בַּסּ֖וּףtoit among the reedsPreposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singularExodus 2:5הַסּ֔וּףtothe reedsArticle | Noun - masculine singularExodus 10:19סּ֑וּףtointo the RedNoun - masculine singularExodus 13:18ס֑וּףtotoward the RedNoun - masculine singularExodus 15:4סֽוּף׃toin the RedNoun - masculine singularExodus 15:22ס֔וּףtofrom the RedNoun - masculine singularExodus 23:31סוּף֙tofrom the RedNoun - masculine singularNumbers 14:25סֽוּף׃פtothe RedNoun - masculine singularNumbers 21:4ס֔וּףtoto the RedNoun - masculine singularNumbers 33:10סֽוּף׃tothe RedNoun - masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowExodus 2:3
Aligned rows28
Books represented11
Exodus7Numbers4Deuteronomy3Joshua3Judges11 Kings1Nehemiah1Psalms5Isaiah1Jeremiah1Jonah1
Source forms
סֽוּף׃7xsūp̄Exodus 15:4, Numbers 33:10, Deuteronomy 1:40, Joshua 24:6
ס֔וּף4xsūp̄Exodus 15:22, Numbers 21:4, Deuteronomy 2:1, Judges 11:16
ס֑וּף3xsūp̄Exodus 13:18, Numbers 33:11, Psalms 136:15
סוּף֙3xsūp̄Exodus 23:31, Deuteronomy 11:4, Joshua 2:10
ס֖וּף3xsūp̄1 Kings 9:26, Jeremiah 49:21, Jonah 2:5
ס֭וּף2xsūp̄Psalms 106:9, Psalms 136:13
בַּסּ֖וּף1xbas·sūp̄Exodus 2:3
הַסּ֔וּף1xhas·sūp̄Exodus 2:5
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine singular25xExodus 10:19, Exodus 13:18, Exodus 15:4, Exodus 15:22
Article | Noun - masculine singular1xExodus 2:5
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular1xIsaiah 19:6
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular1xExodus 2:3
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Attend to protective action and compassion without promising identical outcomes from similar locations.
- Describe distress carefully rather than assigning hidden meanings to incidental physical details.
Avoid claiming...
- These occurrences do not identify one exact species for all translated water plants.
- The selected plant contexts do not authorize a new translation or geography judgment.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Reed plant marking boundaries: literal (marshes, Red Sea) and figurative (fragility, divine delimitation)
Source Gloss
a reed , especially the papyrus
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Reed plant marking boundaries: literal (marshes, Red Sea) and figurative (fragility, divine delimitation)
a reed, especially the papyrus BDB: reeds Usage: flag, Red (sea), weed. Compare 5489.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Papyrus reeds woven into a waterproof basket for Moses' concealment
Showing 1 selected witness from 28 lexical occurrence verses.
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Exodus places the reeds within a sequence of protective action, watchful attention, discovery and compassion. Their importance comes from where the basket is placed and found, not from a promise attached to every river plant. Jonah's seaweed belongs to a different movement: the prayer describes encroaching waters and descent before naming the Lord's rescue and remembered prayer.
The plant detail intensifies the danger but does not independently explain every part of the experience. Teaching can preserve the vivid physical imagery while allowing the narrative and prayer to supply their own claims. It need not identify an exact species or use the word to adjudicate another geographical setting. Ordinary details become helpful when they remain connected to what the passage actually narrates.
Anchor passage
Exod.2.5
Doctrinal connections
- Exodus 2:3 records practical preparation and placement of the child's basket.
- Exodus 2:4 describes the sister watching from a distance for what would happen.
- Exodus 2:5-7 connects discovery with compassion and the offer of a nurse.
- Jonah 2:3-5 describes the threatening waters through concrete and vivid details.
- Jonah 2:6-7 moves from descent toward acknowledged rescue and remembered prayer.
- Isaiah 19:5-8 includes withering reeds within a larger description of the Nile's distress.
The licensed Hebrew record identifies reeds, while the selected BSB settings use reeds beside the Nile and seaweed in Jonah's prayer. Those contextual renderings remain intact without a species claim or a judgment about a sea name.
From Old to New Testament
Matthew 12:40 explicitly compares Jonah's time in the great fish with the Son of Man's time in the earth. Jesus' stated comparison supplies that connection; it does not arise from the water-plant word or require reeds and seaweed to share one symbolic meaning.