RED SEA - The body of water, over 1200 miles in length, which divides Africa from Arabia, and whose two northern projections or arms, the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of 'Aqaba, embrace the Sinai Peninsula. Its width varies from about 250 miles in the S. half to 130 miles at the N. where it divides. The mean depth of the Red Sea is about 1600 feet, varying from the shallow depth of the Gulf of Suez to a maximum of 7200 feet in the main basin. This is formed structurally by a system of rift valleys, the best known of which represents the Gulf of 'Aqaba in the great depression extending from the Lebanon mountains, through the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea, the Wadi 'Arabah, and into Africa.
The origin of the Hebrew name, Yam Suph, 'sea of reeds' (Ex.10.19, 15.4 etc.) which is usually rendered in English as 'Red Sea' is uncertain. Some scholars have thought that Yam Suph was originally a designation of the region of lakes where reeds thrive at the N. of the Gulf of Suez, through which the Hebrews passed in their flight from Egypt (see Wright and Filson, The Westminister Historical Atlas to the Bible [1956] pp. 38 f). On this supposition, the designation later came to be applied to the present Gulf of 'Aqaba (Nu.21.4), and possibly also to the entire body of water now known as the Red Sea, stretching from the Ras Muhammad southward to the straits, and perhaps even to the Persian Gulf (Ex.23.31). Yam Suph was translated into Greek by erythra thalassa, literally Red Sea (LXX, Ex.15.4, 22; Herodotus, Josephus, He II.29; Lat. Rubrum). No satisfactory explanation of the term 'red' (erythra) has been found. Two proposals have been made: (1) the name came from the red or copper-skinned people such as the Edomites and others who lived near the Red Sea; (2) it was descriptive of the reddish colour of the corals and weathered limestone along its shores and may have suggested to early voyagers the name Red Sea.
The Gulf of Suez, or some part or ancient projection of it at the N. figures in the accounts of the Exodus which refer to Yam Suph. It was formerly thought that the Gulf extended further N. in Moses' time, but with the discovery of an Egyptian settlement on the shore of the Sinai Peninsula near Abu Zeneimeh, and the excavation of Ezion-geber (q.v.), modern Tell el-Kheleifeh, near modern 'Aqaba, near the shore of the Gulf of 'Aqaba, it became certain that the water level has not receded appreciably in the last 3000 years. However, since the construction of the Suez Canal, one lake in the region has disappeared, and it is possible that the Yam Suph crossed by the Israelites was a lake near the present Lake Menzaleh. In such a case, the 'exodus' would not involve the present Red Sea except as the stations on the early part of the journey to Mount Sinai may have been located near its shore (see EXODUS, SINAI).
The Gulf of 'Aqaba, about 100 miles in length and about 15 miles in width, must have been known to the Hebrews both before and after the conquest of Canaan. According to Nu.33.35-36, Dt.2.8 the Hebrews under the leadership of Moses encamped at Ezion-geber which, with Elath, was located near the northern shore of the Gulf of 'Aqaba. The former has been excavated by the American Schools of Oriental Research (see Nelson Glueck, The Other Side of the Jordan [1940], pp. 89-113) and proved to be not only an important seaport, but also a thriving copper-smelting centre in the time of Solomon. The latter operated a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber (1 K.9.26) with the help of Phoenician seamen, and it is thought that his navy may have made it possible for him to carry on commercial relations with India. Jehoshaphat attempted to revive this use of the Red Sea, but the ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber (1 K.22.48), doubtless by the periodic violent winds which blow down the Arabah from the N. creating insufferable sand-storms in the vicinity of the ancient Hebrew seaport.
Later references to the Red Sea, without designating any specific region of it, make mention of it in connexion with a denunciation of Edom (Jer.49.21, literally 'Reed Sea'), and in recalling the marvellous deliverance at the time of the Exodus (Neh.9.9, Ps.106.7, 9, 22, 136.13, 15, Ac.7.36, He.11.29). [Article: Dictionary of the Bible, J.Hastings, 2nd Ed., T&T.Clark, 1963. - H.L.W. - W.L.R.]