Tophel

Tophel (meaning "ruin" or "without understanding" in Hebrew) was a place in the wilderness of Sinai referenced in the opening verse of Deuteronomy (1:1) as one of the locations near which Moses delivered his farewell speeches to Israel: "These are the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over against the Suph, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab." The verse is essentially establishing the geographic setting for the entire book of Deuteronomy. The exact location of Tophel is uncertain, though some scholars have identified it with Tafileh, a site in modern Jordan east of the Arabah valley, southeast of the Dead Sea. It is mentioned only this once in the Bible.