Asphar

ASPHAR ăs’ fär (̓Ασφάρ). A pool in the wilderness of Tekoa where Jonathan and Simon Maccabeus encamped after fleeing from Bacchides (1 Macc 9:33). The location is uncertain; a plausible site is the modern Bir Selhub, six m. SW of Engedi.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)

as’-far, (lakkos Asphar): When Jonathan and Simon fled from Bacchides they encamped by this pool in the wilderness of Tekoa (1 Macc 9:33; Ant, XIII, i, 2). It is probably identical with Ez-Za`feraneh, a ruined site with an ancient cistern, to the South of Tekoa, and East of Chalchul. Bir Selhub about 6 miles Southwest of `Ain Jidy is favored by some (EB, under the word), the hills around it being known as Cafra, in which there may be a survival of the old name.