ZOPHIM

(Zoʹphim) [Heb., tsoh·phimʹ; watchers].

A field on the top of Pisgah where Balaam built seven altars, where sacrifices were offered and where the prophet took up one of his proverbial utterances regarding Israel. (Num. 23:14-24) The name Zophim seems to be preserved at Tela ʽat es-Safa near the suggested location of Pisgah, E of the N end of the Dead Sea. Other scholars, however, translate the word tsoh·phimʹ rather than considering it a proper name, using such expressions as “the field of the watchmen.”—Le; compare JB, NE (1970 ed.).