אוֹפִיר H0211
Ophir — a distant land famed for its gold, reached by Solomon's maritime expeditions
Ophir appears 13 times in the Hebrew Bible as both a personal name (a descendant of Joktan in Gen 10:29) and, far more prominently, as a legendary land of gold. Solomon's fleet sailed from Ezion-Geber to Ophir and returned with gold, almug wood, and precious stones (1 Kgs 9:28; 10:11). The precise location remains one of the Bible's great geographical puzzles — candidates range from southern Arabia to East Africa to western India. In poetic usage, 'gold of Ophir' became a byword for the finest quality (Ps 45:9; Job 28:16; Isa 13:12). The multilingual glosses — Spanish 'Ofir,' French 'Ophir,' German 'Ofir' — treat it uniformly as a proper noun.
Senses
1. Ophir (place name, land of gold) — A proper noun designating (a) a son of Joktan in the Table of Nations (Gen 10:29; 1 Chr 1:23), and (b) the celebrated overseas territory from which Solomon's ships brought gold, precious stones, and almug wood (1 Kgs 9:28; 10:11; 2 Chr 8:18; 9:10). In poetic and prophetic texts, 'gold of Ophir' serves as a superlative for the finest gold available (Ps 45:9; Job 22:24; 28:16; Isa 13:12). All 13 occurrences point to this single geographical-personal referent, with the directional form Ophirah (1 Kgs 9:28) representing a morphological variant rather than a distinct sense. 13×
AR["أوفير", "أوفيرَ", "أُوفيرَ", "أُوفِيرَ", "إِلى-أوفيرَ", "مِن-أوفيرَ", "مِنْ-أُوفِيرَ"]·ben["ওফীর", "ওফীর-থেকে", "ওফীরে", "ওফীরের"]·DE["Ofir", "Ofirah", "Ophir", "[אופיר]", "[אופירה]", "[מאופיר]", "von-Ophir"]·EN["Ofirah", "Ophir", "from-Ophir", "to-Ophir"]·FR["Ofirah", "Ophir", "[אופיר]", "[אופירה]", "[מאופיר]", "de-Ophir", "אופיר"]·heb["אוֹפִירָה", "אופיר", "אופירה", "אופירה-ה", "אופר", "מ-אופיר", "מֵ-אֹפִיר", "מֵ-אוֹפִיר"]·HI["ओपीर", "ओपीर-के", "ओपीर-को", "ओपीर-से", "ओफीर-को"]·ID["Ofir", "dari-Ofir", "ke-Ofir"]·IT["Ofir", "Ofirah", "Ophir", "[אופיר]", "[אופירה]", "[מאופיר]", "da-Ofir"]·jav["Ofir", "dhumateng-Ofir", "saking-Ofir"]·KO["-에서-오빌", "오별", "오보르로", "오보의", "오봉의", "오빌", "오빌-로", "오빌-에서", "오빌에", "오빌을"]·PT["'Ofir-a", "Ofir", "Ofir;", "Ofirah", "de-Ofir", "o-ouro-de-Ofir."]·RU["Офира", "в-Офир", "и-Хавилу", "из-Офира"]·ES["Ofir", "a-Ofir", "de-Ofir", "desde-Ofir", "el-Ofir."]·SW["Ofiri", "kutoka-Ofiri", "ya-Ofiri"]·TR["-den-Ofir", "Ofir'den", "Ofir'e", "Ofir'i", "Ofir'in"]·urd["اوفیر", "اوفیر-سے", "اوفیر-کو", "اوفیر-کے"]
Gen 10:29, 1 Kgs 9:28, 1 Kgs 10:11, 1 Kgs 10:11, 1 Kgs 22:48, 1 Chr 1:23, 1 Chr 29:4, 2 Chr 8:18, 2 Chr 9:10, Job 22:24, Job 28:16, Ps 45:9 (+1 more)
Related Senses
G3588 1. definite article (18298×)H0853 1. definite direct object marker (10915×)G2532 1. (8312×)H3068 1. YHWH (the divine name) (6522×)H0834a 1. relative pronoun (who/which/that) (4839×)H3588a 1. causal: because, for (3498×)G1161 1. and (2806×)H3478 1. Israel (proper name and nation) (2507×)G4771 1. you (plural address) (1853×)H1931 1. personal pronoun he/she/it (1431×)G3739 1. relative pronoun who/which/that (1149×)H1732 1. David (proper name) (1075×)H2088 1. this, this one (demonstrative) (1059×)G1063 1. (1047×)G3778 1. this thing, these things (1003×)H???? 2. (1002×)G2424 1. (924×)G3754 1. that (content clause) (881×)H2009 1. presentative particle: behold, look (881×)H0589 1. I (first person singular pronoun) (874×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
אוֹפִיר n.pr. Ophir—א׳ 1 K 10:11 +; אוֹפִ֫ירָה 9:28 + אוֹפִר †Gn 10:29; אֹפִיר †1 K 10:11— 1. n.pr.m. 11th son of Joktan Gn 10:29 (J) = 1 Ch 1:23; 𝔊 Οὐφειρ, Ὠφειρ, name of an Arabian tribe, vid. Gn 10:30 & Di. 2. n.pr.loc. (land or city S. or SE. from Palestine, exact position unknown, cf. infr.; 𝔊 Σωφηρα, Σωφειρα, Σουφειρ, etc.; Jb 28:16 Ὠφειρ AC, cf. 1 K 22:49 A Ὠφειρδε, B om.) place whither…