The Hebrew word yam means 'sea', and the word suph by itself means 'reed', e.g. in ; hence, a literal translation of yam suph—with the two words combined in construct state—yields 'sea of reeds'. This was pointed out as early as the 11th century by Rashi, who nonetheless identified the yam suph mentioned in the locust plague as the saltwater inlet located between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula—known in English as the Red Sea.