A city of Benjamin, (Josh. 18: 23.) from Haphar, dust.
Ophrah, 1
Oph´rah, a town of Benjamin (Jos 18:23), seemingly in the northeast of that tribe’s domain (1Sa 13:17). Accordingly it is placed by Eusebius and Jerome five Roman miles east of Bethel. This corresponds with the position of a place called et-Taiyibeh, which was visited by Dr. Robinson in his excursion to Bethel. It is now a small village, curiously situated upon a conical hill, on the summit of which is an old tower, whence is commanded a splendid view of the valley of the Jordan, the Dead Sea, and the eastern mountains.
Ophrah, 2
Ophrah, a town in the tribe of Manasseh, to which Gideon belonged, and where he continued to reside after he had delivered Israel from the Midianites, establishing there his ephod, which became a snare to Israel (Jdg 6:11-24; Jdg 8:27).
1. A town of the Benjamites, located by Eusebius five miles east of Bethel; near which site stands the modern village Taiyibeh, on a conical hill, Jos 18:23 ; 1Sa 13:17 .\par 2. A town of Manesseh where Gideon resided; and where after his death his ephod was superstitiously adored, Jdg 6:11-24 ; 8:27.\par
Oph’rah. (fawn).
1. A town in the tribe of Benjamin. Jos 18:23; 1Sa 13:17. Jerome places it five miles east of Bethel. It is perhaps et-Taiyibeh, a small village on the crown of a conspicuous hill, four miles east-northeast of Beitin (Bethel).
2. More fully, Ophrah of the Abiezrites, the native place of Gideon, Jdg 6:11, and the scene of his exploits against Baal, Jdg 6:24, his residence after his accession to power, Jdg 9:5, and the place of his burial in the family sepulchre. Jdg 8:32. It was probably In Manasseh, Jdg 6:15, and not far distant from Shechem, Jdg 9:1; Jdg 9:5.
3. The son of Meonothai. 1Ch 4:14.
1. In Benjamin (Jos 18:23; 1Sa 13:17). Jerome makes it five miles E. of Bethel. Probably the same as Ephron.
2. Ophrah of the Abiezrites, Gideon’s place of birth (Jdg 6:11-24; Jdg 8:32; Jdg 9:5), residence, and burial. He put the ephod here which he had adorned with the Midianites’ gold, and to it all Israel resorted in pilgrimage for worship, a spiritual "whoring" (Jdg 8:27). In Manasseh, not far from Shechem (Jdg 9:1; Jdg 9:5). Now Erfai (Van de Velde); Erafa (Schwartz). Epher a head of Manasseh probably gave the name (1Ch 5:24), migrating there with Abiezer and Shechem (Num 26:30; Jos 17:2).
3. 1Ch 4:14, "Meonothai begat (or else founded) Ophrah" of Judah.
Ophrah (ŏf’rah), female fawn. 1. A town in Benjamin toward which an invading company of Philistines went. Jos 18:23; 1Sa 13:17. Some suppose it is identical with Ephrain or Ephron, 2Ch 13:19, and with the city of Ephraim, to which our Lord retired after raising Lazarus. Joh 11:54 Eusebius and Jerome located it about five Roman miles east of Bethel. 2. Ophrah of the Abi-ezerite. Jdg 6:11; Jdg 6:24. This was the place where Gideon saw the angel, erected an altar, and where he was buried. Jdg 8:27; Jdg 8:32. Here Abimelech slew 70 of his kindred, and the town appears to have been near Shechem, in the territory of Manasseh. Jdg 9:1; Jdg 9:5-6; Jdg 9:15. The Palestine Memoirs suggest as its site the village of Ferata, near Shechem.
[Oph’rah]
1. City in Benjamin. Jos 18:23; 1Sa 13:17. Perhaps the same as EPHRAIN in 2Ch 13:19 and EPHRAIM in Joh 11:54. Identified with et Taiyibeh, 31° 57’ N, 35° 18’ E.
2. City in Manasseh, the native place of Gideon. Jdg 6:11; Jdg 6:24; Jdg 8:27; Jdg 8:32; Jdg 9:5. Identified by some with Fer’ata, the old name of which was Ophrah. It is six miles west of Shechem.
3. Son of Meonothai. 1Ch 4:14.
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By: Emil G. Hirsch, Schulim Ochser
1. A town in Benjamin (Josh. xviii. 23) situated, according to Eusebius, five miles northeast of Beth-el, and probably identical with the modern Al-Ṭaiyyibah. According to I Sam. xiii. 17, it must have been a few miles north of Michmash; for one of the three expeditions of the Philistines against Saul, who was in Gibeah of Benjamin, went thither.
2. Family seat of the Abiezrites, where an angel appeared to Gideon, and where he built an altar for a thank-offering (Judges vi. 11, 24). There, too, he brought the earrings of the conquered Midianites, and made an ephod of them, "which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house" (ib. viii. 27); and there he died and was buried (ib. verse 32).Ophrah was taken from Jeroboam by Abijah (II Chron. xiii. 19), and was later conquered by Vespasian during his expedition against Jerusalem (Josephus, "B. J." iv. 9, § 9). The town lay west of the Jordan, not far from the plain of Jezreel, and is, according to Conder, identical with the modern Far'ata.
3. Son of Meonothai, head of a Judahite family.
Bibliography:
Schwarz, Descriptive Geography of Palestine, pp. 126, 158;
Robinson, Researches, ii. 121;
Sepp, Jerusalem und das Heilige Land, ii. 27, Regensburg, 1876;
Hamburger, R. B. T. i. 810.
OPHRAH.—1. A town in Benjamin (Jos 18:23) which was somewhere near Michmash, and is only once elsewhere referred to, as an indication of the direction of a Philistine raid (1Sa 13:17). The data for its identification are insufficient: Jerome states that it was 5 Roman miles east from Bethel. 2. Ophrah ‘that pertaineth unto Joash the Abiezrite’—i.e. to a member of a sept of the tribe of Manasseh (Jos 17:2), was the native village of Gideon. It is not mentioned except in connexion with the history of him and of his son Abimelech (Jdg 6:1-40; Jdg 7:1-25; Jdg 8:1-35; Jdg 9:1-57). No satisfactory identification has been proposed. 3. A name in the genealogy of the tribe of Judah (1Ch 4:14).
R. A. S. Macalister.
(1) A town in the territory allotted to Benjamin named between Parah and Chephar-ammoni (Jos 18:23). It is mentioned again in 1Sa 13:17. The Philistines who were encamped at Michmash sent out marauding bands, one of which went westward, another eastward, down “the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness”; the third “turned unto the way that leadeth to Ophrah, unto the land of Shual.” This must have been northward, as Saul commanded the passage to the South. Eusebius, Onomasticon places it 5 Roman miles East of Bethel. A site which comes near to fulfilling these conditions is
(2) A city in the tribal lot of Manasseh West of Jordan. It is mentioned only in connection with Gideon, whose native place it was, and with his son Abimelech (Jdg 6:11, etc.). It was, indeed, family property, belonging to Joash the Abiezrite, the father of Gideon. It was apparently not far from the plain of Esdraelon (Jdg 6:33 f), so that Gideon and his kinsmen smarted under the near presence of the oppressing Midianites. Manasseh, of course, as bordering on the southern edge of the plain, was in close touch with the invaders. At Ophrah, Gideon reared his altar to Yahweh, and made thorough cleansing of the instruments of idolatry. After his great victory, he set up here the golden ephod made from the spoils of the enemy, which proved a snare to himself and to his house (Jdg 8:27). Here he was finally laid to rest. It was at Ophrah that Abimelech, aspiring to the kingdom, put to death upon one stone three score and ten of his brethren, as possible rivals, Jotham alone escaping alive (Jdg 9:5). Apparently the mother of Abimelech belonged to Shechem; this established a relationship with that town, his connection with which does not therefore mean that Ophrah was near it.
No quite satisfactory identification has yet been suggested. Conder (PEFS, 1876, 1971) quotes the Samaritan Chronicle as identifying
(3) A man of the tribe of Judah, son of Meonothai (1Ch 4:14).