Place · Region
Ophir
Named in 10 verses across 6 books, first in 1 Kings 9:28.
In the Bible
All 3 verses in 1 Kings, in Bible order. Text from the Berean Standard Bible; verse numbers follow the KJV.
1 Kings
- 1 Kings 9:28
They sailed to Ophir and imported gold from there—420 talents —and delivered it to Solomon.
- 1 Kings 10:11
(The fleet of Hiram that brought gold from Ophir also brought from Ophir a great cargo of almug wood and precious stones.
- 1 Kings 22:48
Jehoshaphat built ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they never set sail, because they were wrecked at Ezion-geber.
Dictionary
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), as attached to this record by Theographic. Its geography and “modern” descriptions date from the 1890s. Easton wrote in 1897, and some of his views are now debated.
Read Easton’s entry
Some region famous for its gold (1 Kings 9:28; 10:11; 22:48; Job 22:24; 28:16; Isa. 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.