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Ophir

From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science

Ophir (Hebrew: אוֹפִיר, Ofir) was the son of Joktan mentioned in Genesis 10:29. Ophir's descendants are clearly difficult to trace and many of them seem to have disappeared having melted into the local south Arabian population.

Location of Ophir

A potsherd discovered at Tell Qusile has inscribed on it: 'Gold from Ophir for Beth-Horon". This proves that the fabulous land of Ophir existed. This also proves that the Bible does not fabricate places or events. Ophir was real, it existed.

Wherever Ophir was, it was a place of gold mines, various Scriptures point out:

Upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir. Psalm 45:9

...Where shall wisdom be found? ... It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir. Job 22:24

Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. Job 28:16

The above scriptures clearly indicate that "Ophir" was a place abundant in gold. The New Bible Commentary itself mentions south-west Arabia, Punt on the Red Sea, Zimbabwe, and India as possibilities. The three most popular theories for the location of Ophir is south-west Arabia, Zimbabwe, and Afghanistan or north-west India.