OPHIR. — Region reached by the fleet of Solomon (I Reg. 9: 28; 10: 22), which King Iosaphat attempted to restore (ibid. 22: 49)—with its Asiongaber (v.) in the Gulf of Elaniticus—in order to load various goods (ibid. 10: 11), especially gold, the characteristic product of the place (Is. 13: 12; Iob 28: 16; Ps. 45: 10; I Par. 29: 4; Eccli. 7: 18; in Iob. 22: 29, O. in the sense of “gold”).
Attempts have been made to identify the place along the entire route that the fleet might have covered: on the Eritrean-Ethiopian, South Arabian, South African coasts, and even in India, wherever the presence of veins of the precious metal has been reported. Southern Arabia in particular seems to be indicated by Gen. 10: 29 (an ancient list of the East bearing the names of the founding ancestors), which places O. among the “sons of Ioctan,” almost all of whom can be identified with South Arabian groups (e.g. Hadramūt and Saba). The resemblance between the name O. and Jpir-ti (Elamite inscriptions) in Elam (Hüsing) has been shown to be accidental (Cheyne).
Giovanni Rinaldi
OPHNI and PHINEES (Hebr. Hophnī, Pīnhās; etymologies uncertain, perhaps Egyptian). — Eli (v.), in the eleventh century B.C., and his assistants in the exercise of worship; their sacrilegious and immoral conduct is described in I Sam. 2: 12–17, 22–25.
By their greed they drove the people away from the sacrifices and had illicit relations with the women serving at the tabernacle. Unconcerned by their father’s reproaches and the divine punishments that had been threatened (ibid. 2: 34), they continued in their wickedness. Compelled by the requirements of their office, they followed the ark into a battle against the Philistines, and, as had been foretold, both met their death there (ibid. 4: 4, 11). The wife of P., who was pregnant, upon hearing of the disaster gave birth prematurely and lost her life (ibid. 4: 19–22). No memory of O. remained. The priestly line was continued by P.’s firstborn, Achitob (ibid. 14: 3).