Specific Bible References

Ophir (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English" title="Help:IPA for English" >/</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >ˈ</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >oʊ</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >f</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >ər</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English" title="Help:IPA for English" >/</a>;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophir#cite_note-1" >[1]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language" title="Hebrew language" >Hebrew</a>: אוֹפִיר, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Israeli_Hebrew" title="Modern Israeli Hebrew" class="mw-redirect" >Modern</a> Ofir <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberian_vocalization" title="Tiberian vocalization" >Tiberian</a> ʼÔp̄îr) is a port or region mentioned in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible" title="Bible" >Bible</a>, famous for its wealth. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Solomon" title="King Solomon" class="mw-redirect" >King Solomon</a> received a cargo of gold, silver, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandalwood" title="Sandalwood" >sandalwood</a>, precious stones, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivory" title="Ivory" >ivory</a>, apes and<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacock" title="Peacock" class="mw-redirect" >peacocks</a> from Ophir, every three years.

<h2 >Biblical references[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ophir&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Biblical references" >edit</a>]</h2>

Ophir in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Genesis" title="Book of Genesis" >Genesis</a> 10 (the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_Nations" title="Table of Nations" class="mw-redirect" >Table of Nations</a>) is said to be the name of one of the sons of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joktan" title="Joktan" >Joktan</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophir#cite_note-2" >[Note 1]</a> The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Books_of_Kings" title="Books of Kings" >Books of Kings</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Books_of_Chronicles" title="Books of Chronicles" >Chronicles</a> tell of a joint expedition to Ophir by King Solomon and the Tyrian king <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiram_I" title="Hiram I" class="mw-redirect" >Hiram I</a>from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eziongeber" title="Eziongeber" class="mw-redirect" >Eziongeber</a>, a port on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Sea" title="Red Sea" >Red Sea</a>, that brought back large amounts of gold, precious stones and '<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algum" title="Algum" >algum wood</a>' and of a later failed expedition by king <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehoshaphat" title="Jehoshaphat" >Jehoshaphat</a> of Judah.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophir#cite_note-3" >[Note 2]</a> The famous 'gold of Ophir' is referenced in several other books of the Hebrew Bible.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophir#cite_note-4" >[Note 3]</a>

<h3 >Early Christian traditions[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ophir&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Early Christian traditions" >edit</a>]</h3>

Details about the three of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joktan" title="Joktan" >Joktan</a>'s sons, Sheba, Ophir and Havilah, were preserved in a tradition known in divergent forms from three early Christian (pre-Islamic) sources: the Arabic Kitab al-Magall (part of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clementine_literature" title="Clementine literature" >Clementine literature</a>), the Syriac <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_Treasures" title="Cave of Treasures" >Cave of Treasures</a>, and the Ethiopic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_of_Adam_and_Eve_with_Satan" title="Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan" >Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan</a>.

The Kitab al-Magall states that in the days of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reu" title="Reu" >Reu</a>, a king of Saba (Sheba) named "Pharoah" annexed Ophir and Havilah to his kingdom, and "built Ophir with stones of gold, for the stones of its mountains are pure gold."

In the Cave of Treasures, this appears as: "And the children of Ophir, that is, Send, appointed to be their king Lophoron, who built Ophir with stones of gold; now, all the stones that are in Ophir are of gold."

The version in the Conflict of Adam and Eve says: "Phar’an reigned over the children of Saphir [Ophir], and built the city of Saphir with stones of gold; and that is the land of Sarania, and because of these stones of gold, they say that the mountains of that country and the stones thereof are all of gold."