OPHIR ō’ fər, Heb. אﯴפִ֥יר, and on an ostracon from Tell Qasile as אפר, in LXX as Gr. οὔφειρ (1 Chron 1:23); however, the LXX tradition is confused (infra no. 2).

1. Ophir, one of the sons of Joktan, grandson of Eber, great grandson of Shem, mentioned in the table of nations (Gen 10:26-29) quoted in 1 Chronicles 1:23. A folk etymology ascribing the notion of “fat,” “rich” to the name grew in favor in the Medieval period.

2. Ophir, a place name, mentioned as the origin of a variety of rare and precious items particularly gold (Heb. זָהָב, H2298), and sandal-wood (Heb. אַלְמֻגִּים, H523, [1 Kings 10:11 et al.]). These items along with others mentioned less frequently such as precious stones (Heb. אֶ֥בֶן יְקָרָֽה, [2 Chron 9:10]), indicate an African or South Arabian location. Many theories concerning the actual location of the place have been proposed over the centuries. Most of them based upon etymological constructions of modern Arab. place names such as Yemenite Ma’āfīr or Central Arabian U’āyfīrah have been rejected on philological as well as geographical grounds. Special confusion has been introduced by the variant spellings of the name within the LXX tradition. Frequently the more correct Gr. οὔφειρ/οὔφιρ, ὤφιρ, was spelled with an initial sigma as Gr. σούφιρ, σώφειρ, and even Gr. σώφειρα, as in 1 Kings 9:28. This led to the location of OT Ophir in India as an earlier form of the place name Supara, a city in the area of modern Bombay. This tradition gained further support from the quotation found in Jos. Antiq. VIII. vi. 4, which states that the destination of Solomon’s maritime expedition mentioned in 1 Kings 9:28, et al., was Indian Sophereth. On the basis of this Jerome read “Ophir” in Job 28:16 and tr. it as “India” in the Vul. This notion of the trade of Solomon with India greatly influenced Medieval and Renaissance artistic representations of the Solomonic court. The only non-Biblical citation of the term extant occurs on an offering tally inscribed on an ostracon excavated from the area of Tel Aviv and written no later than the 8th cent. b.c. It simply states, “Gold-of Ophir to Beth Horon, shekels thirty.” This does not necessarily imply, however, that the weight of gold was actually mined in Ophir; it may well be that the association of a type or alloy of metal with gold mixed in was associated with the place of Ophir, in the same way as tin, copper ores appear as “Eilat stone.” The confusion over the actual founding of the mines at Timna, near the Gulf of Aqabah, has affected the proposals of Ophir’s location. The time honored association of the Timna site with Solomon has been shown recently to be erroneous, and its origins must be set back in the Egyp. Middle Kingdom a full millennium before the house of David. A location in the Red Sea area still has much to commend it, and it has been pointed out that the port known to the Egyp. scribes as “Punt” vaguely resembles the description of goods coming from Ophir.

Of special interest is the association of the Queen of Sheba with Ophir (1 Kings 10:10-12). This might be made even more certain if indeed the Queen of Sheba ruled over the Sabeans (q.v.) as is usually supposed. The fact is that little consistent archeological work has been expended upon the coast lands of the southern Red Sea basin and almost no records of the East African peoples of antiquity have survived. Undoubtedly the riches of the Solomonic kingdom were immense and goods were imported from far places and notable peoples. The confusion concerning the name is seen in the fact that it appears in Jeremiah 10:9 in a context similar to Isaiah 13:12 in that both passages have the parallelism of “adj. plus gold”//“gold of Ophir” (1 Chron 29:4).

Many authorities have suggested emending the MT reading of Jeremiah 10:9, Heb. אוּפָ֔ז, to the more common Ophir, but the term also occurs in Daniel 10:5 and may, in fact, be another location. The earliest mention of the location Ophir is Job 22:24; 28:16. It is next noted as the origin of David’s gifts to the Temple (1 Chron 29:4) and the destination of Solomon’s expedition (1 Kings 9:28; 10:11; 2 Chron 8:18; 9:10). It is used in poetic passages by Isaiah (13:12) and the psalmist (45:9). An expedition to Ophir sent by Jehoshaphat was wrecked near Ezion-geber in the Gulf of Aqabah. It prob. was overrun by the late Sem. dynasties that arose after the collapse of Egyp. influence and the rise of the Neo-Assyrian empire, all traces of which were swept into oblivion by the domination of Graeco-Roman civilization.

Bibliography B. Maisler, “Two Hebrew Ostraca from Tell Qasile,” JNES, X (1951), 265-267, pl. xi B; G. W. Van Beek, “Frankincense and Myrrh in Ancient South Arabia,” JAOS, 78 (1958), 141-152; G. Ryckmans, “Ophir” Supplément au Dictionnaire de la Bible (1959), cols. 744-751; GTT (1959), 48, 70.