אוֺפִיר proper name Ophir —
א׳ 1 Kings 10:11 +;
אוֺפִ֫ירָה 1 Kings 9:28 +
אוֺפִר Genesis 10:29;
אֹפִיר 1 Kings 10:11 —
2. proper name, of a location (land or city south or southeast from Palestine, exact position unknown, compare below;
Σωφηρα,
Σωφειρα,
Σουφειρ, etc.;
Job 28:16 Ὠφειρ AC, compare
1 Kings 22:49 A
Ὠφειρδε, B omitted) place whither Solomon's ships went from Ezion Geber, bringing thence gold
1 Kings 9:28 — compare
1 Kings 22:49 —
2 Chronicles 8:18; gold, almug- (sandal-?) wood & gems
2 Chronicles 10:11 (twice in verse), compare
2 Chronicles 9:10; probably
1 Kings 10:22 reference to same ships; they came once in three years with gold, silver, ivory, apes & peacocks (all from Ophir ?);
2 Chronicles 9:21 makes these ships go to Tarshish (but on Tarshish-ships, i.e. large, sea-going vessels, merchantmen, see
1 Kings 22:49 & below
תַּרְשִׁישׁ).
4. hence for fine gold itself
Job 22:24 (||
בֶּצֶר). — (If
2 =
1, then southern, probably south-eastern, Arabia (compare Di
Genesis 10:29) furnished the gold; and other articles, which point farther east (e.g. to India, toward which the words
קוֺפִים apes &
תֻּכִּיִּים peacocks seem to lead), were either brought to Ophir by traders, & so found there by Solomon's men, or were found elsewhere by the latter, whose cruise may have taken them beyond Ophir, the name of Ophir alone, as source of gold-supply, being preserved. If (less likely)
1 &
2 are not the same, the only data for determining location of
2 are the articles brought, & one may look toward India, Ceylon or other islands, or even lower Africa. Particular theories have as yet no adequate support; e.g.
(a) old city
Supara, or
Uppara, in the region of Goa, Malabar coast (compare
![Greek Version of the LXX](/assets-v3/images/lexicon/bdb/bdb_g.svg)
above
2, but also
1; form with
Σ said on Coptic authority to denote India, see Jablonskii
Opusc. ed. te Water i. 337; compare also Jos
Ant. viii. 6. 4; in that case its use by
![Greek Version of the LXX](/assets-v3/images/lexicon/bdb/bdb_g.svg)
may indicate a theory of the location of Ophir);
(b) peninsula Malacca;
(c) island Sumatra;
(d) Sofâla, with city Zimbabye (southeast Africa);
(e) west coast of Arabia (where gold & silver formerly found), etc. On these & other theories, see Di
Genesis 10:29 Ri
HWB, Herzog, Smith
Dict. Bib.; compare Glas
Skizze ii. 367 ff.)
**WMM
As.u.Eur.111 identifies with Egyptian
Punt, on western coast of Red Sea.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Unabridged, Electronic Database.
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