SUCCOTH
(Sucʹcoth) [booths, covered stalls].
1. A place where, after his meeting with Esau, Jacob built himself a house and made covered stalls for his herd; hence the name Succoth. (Gen. 33:16, 17) The statement that his next stopping place, Shechem, was “in the land of Canaan” implies that Succoth was not in Canaan proper.—Vs. 18.
Other references also indicate a location E of the Jordan River, since they likely refer to the same place. Thus, Succoth is named as one of the cities in the inheritance of the tribe of Gad E of the Jordan. (Josh. 13:24, 25, 27) Gideon, pursuing remnants of Midianite forces, crossed the Jordan and came to Succoth, where the city princes refused his request for food for his troops, as did the men at nearby Penuel. On his return trip, Gideon obtained the names of seventy-seven princes and elders of Succoth (indicating that it was a city of considerable size) and punished them for their failure to support his God-directed military action. (Judg. 8:4-16) When the temple was built by Solomon, the copper items were cast in the District of the Jordan, between Succoth and Zarethan.—1 Ki. 7:46.
On the basis of these references, Succoth is generally identified with a site at or near Tell Deirʽalla, about three miles (4.8 kilometers) E of the Jordan River and just a little N of the Jabbok River at the point where it issues forth from the hills. The nearby Tell el-Ekshas may perpetuate the original name, for it is the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew Succoth. Tell Deirʽalla overlooks a fertile plain that may be the “low plain of Succoth” spoken of at Psalms 60:6; 108:7.
2. The first stopping point mentioned in the Israelite march toward the Red Sea. (Ex. 12:37) Since the location of Rameses, the starting point of the march, and that of Etham, the camping site after Succoth, are both unknown today, the location of Succoth is also uncertain. (Ex. 13:20) Some scholars have endeavored to connect it with Thuku (Egyptian Tkw), tentatively placed as at Tell el-Maskhutah, about fifty miles (80.5 kilometers) S of the Mediterranean coastal city of Port Said. This identification of Succoth, however, would bring the Israelites right to the border of the wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula, whereas the record shows that it was not until the next stage, at Etham, that they were on the ‘border of the wilderness.’ (Ex. 13:20) As others have pointed out, it seems unusual that a Hebrew word as common as Succoth (booths or covered stalls) should be used to transliterate the Egyptian Thuku. Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible (Vol. IV, p. 626) states: “. . . whether the name was used by [the Israelites] in imitation of a similarly sounding Egyptian word, or because they then began to dwell in booths, may be left an open question.” At best, it can be said that Succoth was evidently about a day’s journey (twenty to thirty miles [c. 32 to 48 kilometers]) away from the wilderness of Etham, which is believed to extend along the northwestern side of the Sinai Peninsula.