Reference: Ophrah
American
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.
2. A town of Manesseh where Gideon resided; and where after his death his ephod was superstitiously adored, Jg 6:11-24; 8:27.
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Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak at Ophrah, which belonged to Jo'ash the Abiez'rite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Mid'ianites. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor." read more. And Gideon said to him, "Pray, sir, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this befallen us? And where are all his wonderful deeds which our fathers recounted to us, saying, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' But now the LORD has cast us off, and given us into the hand of Mid'ian." And the LORD turned to him and said, "Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Mid'ian; do not I send you?" And he said to him, "Pray, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manas'seh, and I am the least in my family." And the LORD said to him, "But I will be with you, and you shall smite the Mid'ianites as one man." And he said to him, "If now I have found favor with thee, then show me a sign that it is thou who speakest with me. Do not depart from here, I pray thee, until I come to thee, and bring out my present, and set it before thee." And he said, "I will stay till you return." So Gideon went into his house and prepared a kid, and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour; the meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the oak and presented them. And the angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them." And he did so. Then the angel of the LORD reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and there sprang up fire from the rock and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight. Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD; and Gideon said, "Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face." But the LORD said to him, "Peace be to you; do not fear, you shall not die." Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it, The LORD is peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiez'rites.
And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah; and all Israel played the harlot after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family.
Easton
a fawn. 1Ch 4:14. (1.) A city of Benjamin (Jos 18:23); probably identical with Ephron (2Ch 13:19) and Ephraim (Joh 11:54).
(2.) "Of the Abi-ezrites." A city of Manasseh, 6 miles south-west of Shechem, the residence of Gideon (Jg 6:11; 8:27,32). After his great victory over the Midianites, he slew at this place the captive kings (Jg 8:18-21). He then assumed the function of high priest, and sought to make Ophrah what Shiloh should have been. This thing "became a snare" to Gideon and his house. After Gideon's death his family resided here till they were put to death by Abimelech (Jg 9:5). It is identified with Ferata.
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Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak at Ophrah, which belonged to Jo'ash the Abiez'rite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Mid'ianites.
Then he said to Zebah and Zalmun'na, "Where are the men whom you slew at Tabor?" They answered, "As you are, so were they, every one of them; they resembled the sons of a king." And he said, "They were my brothers, the sons of my mother; as the LORD lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not slay you." read more. And he said to Jether his first-born, "Rise, and slay them." But the youth did not draw his sword; for he was afraid, because he was still a youth. Then Zebah and Zalmun'na said, "Rise yourself, and fall upon us; for as the man is, so is his strength." And Gideon arose and slew Zebah and Zalmun'na; and he took the crescents that were on the necks of their camels.
And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah; and all Israel played the harlot after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family.
And Gideon the son of Jo'ash died in a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Jo'ash his father, at Ophrah of the Abiez'rites.
And he went to his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brothers the sons of Jerubba'al, seventy men, upon one stone; but Jotham the youngest son of Jerubba'al was left, for he hid himself.
And Meonothai begot Ophrah: and Seraiah begot Joab, the father of the valley of craftsmen; for they were craftsmen.
And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him: Bethel with its dependent villages, and Jeshanah with its dependent villages, and Ephron with its dependent villages.
Jesus therefore walked no longer openly among the Jews, but went away thence into the country near the desert, to a city called Ephraim, and there he sojourned with the disciples.
Fausets
1. In Benjamin (Jos 18:23; 1Sa 13:17). Jerome makes it five miles E. of Bethel. Probably the same as Ephron. (See EPHRON; EPHRAIM.) Taiyibeh is now on its site.
2. Ophrah of the Abiezrites, Gideon's place of birth (Jg 6:11-24; 8:32; 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" (Jg 8:27). In Manasseh, not far from Shechem (Jg 9:1,5). 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 (Nu 26:30; Jos 17:2).
3. 1Ch 4:14, "Meonothai begat (or else founded) Ophrah" of Judah.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
These are the sons of Gilead: of Jeezer, the family of the Jeezerites; of Helek, the family of the Helkites;
There was also a portion for the rest of the children of Manasseh according to their families: for the children of Abiezer, and for the children of Helek, and for the children of Asriel, and for the children of Shechem, and for the children of Hepher, and for the children of Shemida: these are the children of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, the males, according to their families.
Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak at Ophrah, which belonged to Jo'ash the Abiez'rite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Mid'ianites. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor." read more. And Gideon said to him, "Pray, sir, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this befallen us? And where are all his wonderful deeds which our fathers recounted to us, saying, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' But now the LORD has cast us off, and given us into the hand of Mid'ian." And the LORD turned to him and said, "Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Mid'ian; do not I send you?" And he said to him, "Pray, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manas'seh, and I am the least in my family." And the LORD said to him, "But I will be with you, and you shall smite the Mid'ianites as one man." And he said to him, "If now I have found favor with thee, then show me a sign that it is thou who speakest with me. Do not depart from here, I pray thee, until I come to thee, and bring out my present, and set it before thee." And he said, "I will stay till you return." So Gideon went into his house and prepared a kid, and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour; the meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the oak and presented them. And the angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them." And he did so. Then the angel of the LORD reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and there sprang up fire from the rock and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight. Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD; and Gideon said, "Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face." But the LORD said to him, "Peace be to you; do not fear, you shall not die." Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it, The LORD is peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiez'rites.
And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah; and all Israel played the harlot after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family.
And Gideon the son of Jo'ash died in a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Jo'ash his father, at Ophrah of the Abiez'rites.
Now Abim'elech the son of Jerubba'al went to Shechem to his mother's kinsmen and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother's family,
And he went to his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brothers the sons of Jerubba'al, seventy men, upon one stone; but Jotham the youngest son of Jerubba'al was left, for he hid himself.
And he went to his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brothers the sons of Jerubba'al, seventy men, upon one stone; but Jotham the youngest son of Jerubba'al was left, for he hid himself.
And Meonothai begot Ophrah: and Seraiah begot Joab, the father of the valley of craftsmen; for they were craftsmen.
And these were the heads of their fathers' houses: Epher, and Jishi, and Eliel, and Azriel, and Jeremiah, and Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty men of valour, famous men, heads of their fathers' houses.
Hastings
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'
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There was also a portion for the rest of the children of Manasseh according to their families: for the children of Abiezer, and for the children of Helek, and for the children of Asriel, and for the children of Shechem, and for the children of Hepher, and for the children of Shemida: these are the children of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, the males, according to their families.
And the ravagers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies: one company turned the way of Ophrah, into the land of Shual;
And Meonothai begot Ophrah: and Seraiah begot Joab, the father of the valley of craftsmen; for they were craftsmen.
Morish
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. Jg 6:11,24; 8:27,32; 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.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak at Ophrah, which belonged to Jo'ash the Abiez'rite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Mid'ianites.
Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it, The LORD is peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiez'rites.
And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah; and all Israel played the harlot after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family.
And Gideon the son of Jo'ash died in a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Jo'ash his father, at Ophrah of the Abiez'rites.
And he went to his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brothers the sons of Jerubba'al, seventy men, upon one stone; but Jotham the youngest son of Jerubba'al was left, for he hid himself.
And Meonothai begot Ophrah: and Seraiah begot Joab, the father of the valley of craftsmen; for they were craftsmen.
And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him: Bethel with its dependent villages, and Jeshanah with its dependent villages, and Ephron with its dependent villages.
Jesus therefore walked no longer openly among the Jews, but went away thence into the country near the desert, to a city called Ephraim, and there he sojourned with the disciples.
Smith
Oph'rah
(fawn).
1. A town in the tribe of Benjamin.
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
and the scene of his exploits against Baal, ver.
his residence after his accession to power ch.
and the place of his burial in the family sepulchre. ch.
It was probably In Manasseh, ch.
and not far distant from Shechem,
3. The son of Meonothai.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And he said to him, "Pray, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manas'seh, and I am the least in my family."
Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it, The LORD is peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiez'rites.
And Gideon the son of Jo'ash died in a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Jo'ash his father, at Ophrah of the Abiez'rites.
Now Abim'elech the son of Jerubba'al went to Shechem to his mother's kinsmen and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother's family,
And he went to his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brothers the sons of Jerubba'al, seventy men, upon one stone; but Jotham the youngest son of Jerubba'al was left, for he hid himself.
And a certain woman threw an upper millstone upon Abim'elech's head, and crushed his skull.
And Meonothai begot Ophrah: and Seraiah begot Joab, the father of the valley of craftsmen; for they were craftsmen.