Difference between revisions of "Ophir"

<p> &nbsp;Genesis 10:29. [[Placed]] between [[Sheba]] and Havilah, [[Ophir]] must be in Arabia. Arrian in the Periplus calls Aphar metropolis of the Sabeans. [[Ptolemy]] calls it Sapphara, now Zaphar. Eleventh of Joktan's sons. [[Gesenius]] explains Ophir, if Semitic, "fruitful region." The Himyaritic ofir means "red". The Mahra people call their country "the ofir country" and the "Red Sea" Βahr Οfir . Αphar means "dust". In &nbsp;1 Kings 9:26-28; &nbsp;1 Kings 10:11, Solomon's navy on the Red Sea fetched from Ophir gold and almug trees; and in &nbsp;1 Kings 10:22, once in three years ''(Which Included The [[Stay]] In Ophir As Well As The Long Coasting Voyage)'' [[Tarshish]] ships ''(I.E. Like Our Term For Far Voyaging Ships, "Indiamen")'' brough; "gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks." Mauch, an African traveler, found at latitude 20 degrees, 15 minutes S.l longitude 26 degrees 30 minutes E., ruins resembling Solomon's temple, which he connects with Ophir. </p> <p> The gold of western Asia was anciently obtained principally from Arabia. Saba in the southwestern part of [[Yemen]] is the only other place for gold besides Ophir mentioned in [[Scripture]] (&nbsp;Isaiah 60:6). Strobe, 16:777, 778, 784, [[Diodorus]] Siculus, 2:50; 3:44, describe [[Arabia]] as rich in gold. No gold is now found there; whether it has been exhausted as in Spain, or we know not the interior sufficiently to be sure there is no gold left. (See [[Paran]] .) The "al " in almug or algum is the Arabic article "the," and mica is "sandalwood" (Gesenius), so that that wood must have come to the [[Hebrew]] through Arabic merchants. But Lassen derives it from [[Sanskrit]] valgu or valgum , "sandalwood." The wares and animals, from India or Africa, if such was their source (as the Sanskrit, Tamil, and Malay origin of the words ivory, peacocks, and apes respectively implies), came through Arabia. </p> <p> Ophir probably therefore was the entrepot there. In [[Palestine]] and [[Tyre]] the articles even of India and Africa would be designated from Ophir, from which they more immediately came. The indigo used in [[Egyptian]] dyeing from of old must have come from India; muslins of Indian origin are found with the mummies; [[Josephus]] (Ant. 8:6, section 4) connects Ophir with India (Malacca, so Sir J. E. Tennant); Chinese porcelain vases have been found in the tombs of kings of the 18th dynasty, i.e. before 1476 B.C. Gold of Ophir was proverbial for fineness (&nbsp;Psalms 45:9; &nbsp;Job 28:16; &nbsp;Job 22:24; &nbsp;Isaiah 13:12; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 29:4; &nbsp;1 Kings 22:48). The [[Ishmaelites]] abounded in gold: &nbsp;Numbers 31:22; &nbsp;Judges 8:24-26; &nbsp;Psalms 72:15 "gold of Sheba (Arabia)." Agatharchides in the second century B.C. (in [[Photius]] 250, and Hudson's Geograph. Minores, 1:60), living in Egypt, and guardian to a Ptolemy in his minority and so familiar with the commerce between Egypt and Arabia, attests that gold was found in Arabia. Two of his statements have been confirmed: (1) that there were gold mines in Egypt, Linant and Bonomi found theta (?) in the Bisharce desert (Wilkinson, Ant. Egypt. 9); (2) that there were large gold nuggets. </p>

<li> Some region famous for its gold (&nbsp;1 Kings 9:28; &nbsp;10:11; &nbsp;22:48; &nbsp;Job 22:24; &nbsp;28:16; &nbsp;Isaiah 13:12 ). In the LXX. this word is rendered "Sophir," and "Sofir" is the [[Coptic]] name for India, which is the rendering of the Arabic version, as also of the Vulgate. Josephus has identified it with the [[Golden]] Chersonese, i.e., the Malay peninsula. It is now generally identified with Abhira, at the mouth of the Indus. Much may be said, however, in favour of the opinion that it was somewhere in Arabia. <div> <p> '''Copyright Statement''' These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by [[Thomas]] Nelson, 1897. Public Domain. </p> <p> '''Bibliography Information''' Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Ophir'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/o/ophir.html. 1897. </p> </div> </li>

<p> [[Ophir]] (''Ô'Fir'' ), ''Abundance.'' 1. One of the sons of Joktan. &nbsp;Genesis 10:29; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 1:23. 2. A seaport or region from which the Hebrews in the time of Solomon obtained gold. The gold was proverbial for its fineness, so that "gold of Ophir" is several times used as an expression for fine gold, &nbsp;1 Chronicles 29:4; &nbsp;Job 28:16; &nbsp;Psalms 45:9; &nbsp;Isaiah 13:12; and in one passage, &nbsp;Job 22:24, the word Ophir by itself is used for gold of Ophir and for gold generally. In addition to gold the vessels brought from Ophir almug wood and precious stones. The precise situation of Ophir has long been a subject of discussion. It is safe to conclude that Ophir was in southern Arabia, upon the border of the Indian Ocean; for even if all the things brought over in Solomon's ships are not now found in Arabia, but are found in India, yet there is evidence that they once were known in Arabia. </p>

<p> (Heb. Ophir', אוֹפַיר and אוֹפַר ), the name of a man and of a country. "There is apparently no sufficient reason to doubt that the word Ophir is Shemitic, although, as is the case with numerous proper names known to be of Hebrew origin, the precise word does not occur as a common name in the Bible. See the words from אפר and עפר in Gesenius's: ''Thesaurus,'' and compare Ἀφάρ, the metropolis of the Sabaans in the Periplus, attributed to Arrian. Gesenius suggests that it means a ‘ fruitful region,' if it is Shemitic. Baron von Wrede, who explored Hadhramaut, in Arabia; in 1843 (Journal of the [[Royal]] Geographical Society, 14:110); made a small vocabulary of Himyaritic words in the vernacular tongue, and among these he gives ofir as signifying red. He says that the Mahra people call themselves the tribes of the red country (ofir), and call the Red Sea bahr ''Ofir.'' If this were so, it might have somewhat of the same relation to aphar, ‘ dust' or ‘ dry ground' ( א and ע being interchangeable) that ''Adorn,'' ‘ red,' has to ''Adamah,'' ‘ the ground.' Still it is unsafe to accept the use of a word of this kind on the authority of any one traveler, however accurate." </p> <p> '''1.''' (אוֹפֹר; Sept. Οὐφείρ '';'' Vulg. ''Ophir.'' ) The eleventh named of the thirteen sons of Joktan, the son of Eber, a great-grandson of [[Shem]] (&nbsp;Genesis 10:26-29; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 1:23). B.C. post 2450, Many Arabian countries. are believed to have been peopled by these persons, and to have been called after their respective names, as Sheba, etc., and among others Ophir (Bochart, ''Phaleg,'' 3:15). (See Arabia). </p> <p> '''2.''' (אוֹפַיר; Sept. Οὐφίρ Οὐφείρ '','' v. r. Σουφίρ; etc.; Vulg. [[Ophir]] )''.'' A region, famous for its gold, which the ships of Solomon and of the Phoenicians visited. It is difficult to ascertain its situation, the Scripture indications being few and indefinite. By comparing the passages in which it is mentioned (&nbsp;1 Kings 9:26; &nbsp;1 Kings 9:28; &nbsp;1 Kings 10:11; &nbsp;1 Kings 22:49; so &nbsp;2 Chronicles 8:18; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 9:10), we learn that it was reached by fleets fitted out in [[Ezion-Geber]] (q.v.), on the Gulf of Akabah — the eastern arm of the Red Seain the territory of the Edomites; that the ships made the voyage once in three years (comp. &nbsp;1 Kings 10:22), bringing large amounts of gold to Palestine, besides silver, precious stones, red sandal-wood, ivory, apes, and peacocks. We know further, from various allusions in the poetical and prophetical books, that Ophir produced the purest and most precious gold then known (&nbsp;Job 20:11; &nbsp;Job 20:24; &nbsp;Job 28:16; &nbsp;Psalms 45:9; &nbsp;Isaiah 13:12; &nbsp;Ecclesiastes 7:18; ton which may be added &nbsp;Jeremiah 10:9; &nbsp;Daniel 10:5, if, with many interpreters, we understand Uphaz, אוּפָז, to be simply a varied orthography of Ophir' אוֹפַר; but (See [[Uphaz]]) ). </p> <p> It is evident that any attempt to determine the precise region intended must be more or less uncertain; but the extreme latitude which conjecture has taken on this question seems hardly justifiable. Nearly every place where gold has ever been found is understood by some writer or another as Ophir. "Calmet (''Diet. Of The Bible,'' s.v.) regarded it as in ''Armenia; —'' Sir [[Walter]] Raleigh (''Hist. Of The World,'' bk. 1, ch. 8) thought it was one of the Molucca Islands; and Arias [[Montanus]] (Bochart, Phaleg, Pref. and ch. 9), led by the similarity of the word Parvaim, supposed to be identical with Ophir (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 3:6), found it in Pert. But these countries, as well as [[Iberia]] and Phrygia, cannot now be viewed as affording matter for serious discussion — on this point, and the three opinions which have found supporters in our Own time were formerly represented, among other writers, by Huet (Sur le Commerce et la [[Navigation]] des Anciens, — p. 59), by Bruce (Travels, bk. 2, ch. 4), and by the historian Robertson (Disquisition respecting Ancient India, sec. i), who placed Ophir in Afirica; by Vitringa (Geograph. Sacra, p. 114) and Reland (Dissertatio de Ophir), who placed it in Indic; and by Michaelis (Spicilegium, 2:184), Niebuhr, the traveler (Description de l'A rabie, p. 253), Gossellin (Recherches sur la Geographie des Anciens, 2:99), and Vincent (History of the Commerce and Navigation of the Ancients, 2:265-270), who placed it in Arabia. Of other distinguished geographical writers, Bochart (Phaleg, 2:27) admitted two Ophirs, one in Arabia and one in India, i.e. at Ceylon; while [[D'Anville]] (Dissertation sur le Pays d'Ophir, Memoires de la Litterature, 30:83), equally admitting two, placed one in Arabia and one in Africa. In our own days the discussion has been continued by Gesenius, who in articles on Ophir in his Thesaurus (p. 1141), and in Ersch and Gruber's Encyklopadie (s.v.), stated that the question lay between India and Arabia, assigning the reasons to be urged in favor of each of these countries, but declared the arguments for each to be so equally balanced that he refrained from expressing any opinion of his own on the subject. M. Quatremere, however, in a paper on Ophir which was printed in 1842 in the Memoires de l'institut, again insisted on the claims of Africa (Academie des [[Inscriptions]] et Belles Lettres, t. 15, 2:362); and in his valuable work on [[Ceylon]] (pt. vii, ch. i) Sir J. Emerson Tennant adopts the opinion, sanctioned by Josephus, that [[Malacca]] was Ophir. [[Otherwise]] the two countries which have divided the opinions of the learned have been India and Arabia — Lassen. Ritter, Bertheau (Exeget. Handbuch, &nbsp;2 Chronicles 8:18), Thenius (''Exeget. Handbuch,'' &nbsp;1 Kings 10:22), and Ewald (Geschichte, 3:347, 2d ed.) being in favor of India, while Winer (Realw.s.v.), First (Hebr. und Chald. Handw. s.v.), Knobel (Vletcafel der Genesis, p. 190), Forster (Geogr. of Arabia, 1:161-167), Crawfurd (Descriptive Dictionary of the Indian Islands, s.v.), and Kalisch (Commentary on Genesis, chap. ‘ The [[Genealogy]] of Nations') are in favor of Arabia. The fullest treatise on the question is that of Ritter, who in his Erdkunde (vol. 19, published in 1848) devoted eighty octavo pages to the discussion (p. 351-431), and adopted the opinion of Lassen (Inud. Alt. 1:529) that Ophir was situated at the mouth of the Indus." Melind'dh, on the coast of Africa, Angola, Carthage, San Domningo Mexico, New Guinea, Uiphe, an island in the Red Sea, Ormuz, in the [[Persian]] Gulf, and especially Peru, have had their several advocates; but the opinions likely to be embraced at this day may be enumerated very briefly: </p> <p> '''1.''' Some suppose Ophir to be a general name for lands abounding in gold, used with the vagueness of ''Thule'' in the classics, or [[El Dorado]] in the Middle Ages. In support of this view, it has been observed that, in Arabic, the word Ophir means simply ''Rich Country,'' or perhaps ''Dust,'' i.e. ''Gold-Dust,'' and may therefore have easily passed into a generic name for the sources of valuable articles of commerce; especially in an age when the geographical views, even of the best informed, were very vague. But the definiteness of the allusions' in the Scripture history to Ophir as a well-known trading place are quite sufficient to refute this view. </p> <p> '''2.''' Some seek it on the eastern coast of Africa, opposite the island of Madagascar. This supposition has found many and able supporters (see Quatremere, ''Mim. De L'' '''Acad. Des Inscrip.'' XV, ii [1845, 349-402; Heeren, ''Researches,'' 2:73, 74' [Eng. ed.]; Huetius, ''De Navig. Salom.'' ch. ii, in Ugolini, ''Thes.'' vol. vii; Bruce, p. 479 sq.; Ritter, ''Erdk,'' 1:118 sq.; Weston, in the ''Classic. Jour.'' 1821, No. 47), having been first advanced by one friar John don Sanctos, who was a resident of Sofala, in Monomotopa, and found in that vicinity a mountain with ancient ruins on its summit. According to friar John, this mountain still contains "much fine gold," and is called ''Fura,'' which he thinks to be evidently a corruption of Ophir. (See this view confuted by Tychsen, Anmerk. zu Bruce R. V. p. 327 sq.; and esp. Salt, [[Voyage]] to Abyssinia [Lond. 1814], p. 99 sq.) But Huetius (as cited above) has argued the question on more general grounds, deriving the name Africa itself from Ophir, and making no doubt that the inscriptions said to have been found at Sofala, but never read, were a record or kind of log-book of the fleets of Solomon. The name Sofala, again, has been urged in favor of this view, as akin with Ophir; but [[Sofala]] in the Shemitic languages means the low country, the coast-land (Heb. Shephelah, שְׁפֵלָה; similarly the [[Chaldee]] and Arabic), ‘ and has nothing to do with Ophir (אוֹפַר ). </p> <p> '''3.''' A much more probable view-is that which refers Ophir to Arabia. This has been advanced in a variety of forms, but usually placing the port visited by Solomon's ships near the western extremity of the southern coast, bordering on the Erythrsean-Sea. In &nbsp;Genesis 10:29, Ophir is mentioned among the sons of Joktan, who peopled various Arabian countries. (See Ophir, 1, above.) Yet Gesenius supposes that it is here the name of an Arabian tribe who colonized some foreign land. Again, though gold is not now found in Arabia (Niebuhr, ''Description De L'' '''Arabie'' [Copenhagen, 1773], p. 124), yet the ancients ascribe it to the inhabitants in great plenty (&nbsp;Judges 8:24; &nbsp;Judges 8:26; 2 Chronicles 1; &nbsp;1 Kings 10:1-2; &nbsp;Psalms 72:15). This gold, Dr. [[Lee]] thinks, was no other than the gold of Havilah (&nbsp;Genesis 2:11), which he supposes to have been situated somewhere in Arabia and refers to &nbsp;Genesis 10:7; &nbsp;Genesis 10:29; &nbsp;Genesis 25:18; &nbsp;1 Samuel 15:7; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 1:9 (Translation of the Book of Job, etc. [Lond. 1837], p. 55). But Diodorus Siculus ascribes gold-mines to Arabia (2:50). He also testifies to the abundance of "precious stones" in Arabia (2:54), especially among the inhabitants of Sabas (3:46; comp. &nbsp;Genesis 2:12; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 9:1; &nbsp;1 Kings 10:1-2). Pliny also speaks of the wealth of Sabea in gold (''Hist. Nat.'' 6:32). Others suppose that, though Ophir was situated somewhere on the coast of Arabia, it was rather an emporium. (see Beke, ''Source Of The Nile,'' p. 64), at which the Hebrews and Tyrians obtained gold, silver, ivory, apes, almugtrees, etc., brought thither from India and Africa by the Arabian merchaits, and even from Ethiopia, to which [[Herodotus]] (3:114) ascribes gold in great quantities, elephants' teeth, and trees and shrubs of every kind. Apes, properly speaking, are likewise ascribed to it by Pliny (8:19), who speaks also of the confluence of merchandise in Arabia (ut sup.; comp. Strabo, xvi; 2 Chronicles 9; &nbsp;Ezekiel 27:21-22; Diod. Sic. 2:54). It has further been insisted that the classical name of the Arabian port ''Aphar'' varies much as the Septuagint translation of Ophir. Thus it is called by Arrian ''Aphar,'' by Pliny ''Saphar,'' by Ptolemy ''Sapphera,'' and by Stephanus ''Saphirini.'' (Comp. the Sept. ''Ut Sup.'' ) It is a serious objection to this view, however, that [[Land]] carriage, by caravans, would have been easier and safer if Ophir were in Arabia (comp. ''Encyclop. Londin.'' s.v.), while the etymological arguments, so often and earnestly pressed as conclusive, could at best only serve to create a presumption, in the absence of all direct evidence. The considerations above mentioned, however, in connection with the strong reasons for placing Ophir in India, weighed so strongly with Bochart (''Phaleg,'' 2:27) and Michaelis (Spicil. 2:185) that they suppose two countries of that name, one in Arabia and one in India. This conjecture, however, is unsupported and unnecessary (Gesen. Thes. p. 141). </p> <p> '''4.''' On the whole, then, India must be adopted as the most probable region of the Ophir of Solomon. The Sept. translators also appear to have understood it to be India, from rendering the word Σωφίρ, Σουφίρ, Σωφιρά '','' which is the Egyptian name for that country. Champollion says that in the Coptic vocabularies India bears the name ''Sophir'' (''L'' '''Egypte Sous'' ''Les Pharaons'' [Paris, 1814], 1:98; Jablonskii Opuscula [Lug. Bat. 1804], 1:336, etc.). Josephus also gives to the sons of [[Joktan]] the locality from Cophen, an Indian river, and in part of Aria adjoining it (Ant. 1:6, 4). He also expressly and unhesitatingly affirms that the land to which Solomon sent for gold was "anciently called Ophir, but now the [[Aurea]] Chersonesus, which belongs to India" (Ant. 8:6, 4). The [[Vulgate]] renders the words "the gold of Ophir" (&nbsp;Job 28:16) by "tiictis Indiae coloribus." [[Hesychius]] defines ''Sophir'' (''Eovaeip'' ) "a place in India where gems and gold are found." So [[Suidas]] (s.v.; comp. Eusebius, ''Onomast.'' p. 146, ed. Clerici). But the controlling argument for this view is that all the productions referred to Ophir ‘ may be procured in India, and in India alone. Gold, silver, jewels, sandal-wood, ivory, apes, and peacocks are there all articles of commerce, and are found side by side in no other part of the world; while the last is believed to be an exclusively Indian bird, and the very name by which it is denoted in the Hebrew text (tukiyim, תּוּכַיַּים [see Gesen. ''Thes.'' s.v.]) is an Indian, not a Hebrew word. (See [[Peacock]]). Yet the exact locality must ever remain conjectural. There are several places comprised in that region which was actually known as India to the ancients, any of which would have supplied the cargo of Solomon's fleet: for instance, the coast of Malabar, where the name togoei is still applied to the peacock; and Malacca, which is known to have been "the golden Chersonesus" of the classic writers, and where gold-mines are still called ophirs. (See P. Poivre, Voyage d'un Philosophe, OEuvres Completes, 1797, p. 123.) </p> <p> See further, Humboldt, Cosmos, 2:132 sq.; C. Varrer, in Crit. Sacr. 6:459; A. G. Wahner, De regione Ophir (Helmst. 1714); Tychsen, De commerc. — Hebr. in the Comment. Gott. 16:164 sq.; Gesenius, in the Hall. Encycl. vol. iii, sect. iv, p. 201 sq., and Thesaur. 1:141 sq.; Rosenmü ller, Alterth. 3:177 sq.; Ritter, Erdk. 2:201 sq.; Keil, in the Ddrpt. Beitrig. 2:233 sq.; Tuch, in the Hall. Lif. — Zeit. 1835, No. 80 sq.; Lassen, Ind. Alterthumsk. 1:538 sq.; Kitto, [[Daily]] Bible Illust. Solomon, p. 103 sq.; Htillman, Staatsverf. d. Israel. p. 220; Hardt, Diss. Regionem Ophir esse Phrygiam (1746). (See Tarshish). </p>

<p> ''''' ō´fẽr ''''' , ''''' ō´fir ''''' ( אופיר , <i> ''''' 'owphiyr ''''' </i> (&nbsp; Genesis 10:29 ), אופר , <i> ''''''owphir''''' </i> (&nbsp;1 Kings 10:11 ), אפיר , <i> ''''''ōphı̄r''''' </i> ): </p> 1. Scriptural References: <p> The 11th in order of the sons of Joktan (&nbsp;Genesis 10:29 = &nbsp; 1 Chronicles 1:23 ). There is a clear reference also to a tribe Ophir (&nbsp;Genesis 10:30 ). Ophir is the name of a land or city somewhere to the South or Southeast of Palestine for which Solomon's ships along with Phoenician vessels set out from Ezion-geber at the head of the Gulf of Aqabah, returning with great stores of gold, precious stones and "almug"-wood (&nbsp;1 Kings 9:28; &nbsp;1 Kings 10:11; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 9:10; &nbsp;1 Kings 22:48; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 8:18 ). We get a fuller list of the wares and also the time taken by the voyage if we assume that the same vessels are referred to in &nbsp;1 Kings 10:22 , "Once every three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks." The other products may not have been native to the land of Ophir, but it is certain that the gold at least was produced there. This gold was proverbial for its purity, as is witnessed by many references in the Old [[Testament]] (&nbsp;Psalm 45:9; &nbsp;Job 28:16; &nbsp;Isaiah 13:12; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 29:4 ), and, in &nbsp;Job 22:24 , Ophir is used for fine gold itself. In addition to these notices of Ophir, it is urged that the name. occurs also in two passages under the form "Uphaz" (&nbsp;Jeremiah 10:9; &nbsp;Daniel 10:5 ). </p> 2. Geographical Position: <p> At all times the geographical position of Ophir has been a subject of dispute, the claims of three different regions being principally advanced, namely (1) India and the Far East, (2) Africa, (3) Arabia. </p> <p> <b> (1) India and the Far East. </b> </p> <p> All the wares mentioned are more or less appropriate to India, even including the fuller list of &nbsp;1 Kings 10:22 . "Almug"-wood is conjectured to be the Indian sandal-wood. Another argument is based on the resemblance between the Septuagint form of the word ( <i> '''''Sōpherá''''' </i> ) and the Coptic name for India ( <i> '''''Sophir''''' </i> ). A closer identification is sought with Abhira, a people dwelling at the mouths of the Indus. Supara, an ancient city on the west coast of India near the modern Goa, is also suggested. Again, according to Wildman, the name denotes a vague extension eastward, perhaps as far as China. </p> <p> <b> (2) Africa. </b> </p> <p> This country is the greatest gold-producing region of the three. Sofala, a seaport near [[Mozambique]] on the east coast of Africa, has been advanced as the site of Ophir, both on linguistic grounds and from the nature of its products, for there all the articles of &nbsp;1 Kings 10:22 could be procured. But Gesenius shows that Sofala is merely the Arabic form of the Hebrew <i> '''''shephēlāh''''' </i> . [[Interest]] in this region as the land of Ophir was renewed, however, by Mauch's discovery at [[Zimbabye]] of great ruins and signs of old Phoenician civilization and worked-out gold mines. According to Bruce (I, 440), a voyage from Sofala to Ezion-geber would have occupied quite three years owing to the monsoons. </p> <p> <b> (3) Arabia. </b> </p> <p> The claim of Southeastern Arabia as the land of Ophir has on the whole more to support it than that of India or of Africa. The Ophir of &nbsp;Genesis 10:29 beyond doubt belonged to this region, and the search for Ophir in more distant lands can be made only on the precarious assumption that the Ophir of Ki is not the same as the Ophir of Gen. Of the various products mentioned, the only one which from the Old Testament notices can be regarded as clearly native to Ophir is the gold, and according to Pliny and [[Strabo]] the region of Southeastern Arabia bordering on the Persian Gulf was a famous gold-producing country. The other wares were not necessarily produced in Ophir, but were probably brought there from more distant lands, and thence conveyed by Solomon's merchantmen to Ezion-geber. If the duration of the voyage (3 years) be used as evidence, it favors this location of Ophir as much as that on the east coast of Africa. It seems therefore the least assailable view that Ophir was a district on the Persian Gulf in Southeastern Arabia and served in old time as an emporium of trade between the East and West. </p>