516 O P 
others to the coafts of Africa, in fearch of it. Still, how¬ 
ever, the exaft frtuation of this place is undetermined, 
though the opinion that it was fomewhere either on the 
eaftern or weftern coaft of Africa feems the molt plaulible. 
But, before proceeding to notice and explain the various 
hypothefes refpe&ing the fituation of Ophir, it may be 
proper to colleft the different palfages in Scripture in 
which it is mentioned. 
1 Kings ix. 26, 27, 28. And king Solomon made a 
navy of ihips in Ezion-geber, which is befide Eloth, on 
the fhore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. And 
Hiram fent in the navy his fervants, fliipmen that had 
knowledge-of the fea, with the fervants of Solomon. And 
they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four 
hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king So¬ 
lomon. 
Chap. x. 11,22. And the navy alfo of Hiram, that 
brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great 
plenty of almug-trees, and precious Hones. For the king 
had at fea a navy of Tharfhi/h with the navy of Hiram ; 
once in three years came the navy of Tharfhifli, bringing 
gold and filver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. 
2 Citron, viii. 17, 18. Then went Solomon to Ezion- 
geber, and to Eloth, at the fea-lide in the land of Edom. 
And Huram fent him, by the hands of his fervants, Ihips, 
and fervants that had knowledge of the fea ; and they 
went with the fervants of Solomon to Ophir, and took 
thence four hundred and fifty talent.s of gold, and brought 
them to king Solomon. 
Chap. ix. 10, 21. And the fervants alfo of Huram, 
and the fervants of Solomon, which brought gold from 
Ophir, brought almug-trees, and precious ftones. For 
the king’s fnips went to Tharfliifh with the fervants of 
Huram; every three years once came the fhips of Thar- 
ihiih, bringing gold and filver, ivory, and apes, and pea¬ 
cocks. 
1 Kings xxii. 48. jeholhaphat made ihips of Tharfhiih 
to go to Ophir for gold ; but they went not; for the ihips 
w'ere broken at Ezion-geber. 
2 Chron. xx. 35, 36, 37. And after this did Jehofha- 
pliat king of Judah join himfeif with Ahaziah king of 
Ifraelj who did very wickedly. And he joined himfeif 
with him to make fhips to go to Tharfhiih ; and they made 
the ihips in Ezion-geber. Then Eiiezer, the fon of Do- 
davah of Marefhah, prophefied agajnft Jehoihaphat, 
faying, Becaufe thou haft joined thyfelf with Ahaziah, 
the Lord hath broken thy works. And the ihips were bro¬ 
ken, that they were not able to go to Tharfliifh. 
Ophir, however, mufi have been vifited long before the 
time of Solomon ; fince the gold of Ophir is particularly 
mentioned in the book of job, chapter xxii. verfe 24: 
'ThenJha.lt thou lay up gold as dttjl, and the gold of Ophir 
as the fumes of the brooks ; or, as it is otherwiie tranftated, 
“Then ilialt thou lay up gold as dull, and wealth as in 
the brooks of Ophir and, in the 45th Pfalm, verfe 9 : 
Kings' daughters were among thy honourable women : upon 
thy right hand did Jland the queen in gold of Ophir. That 
the gold of Ophir was in great plenty in Judea, in king 
David’s time, appears from this circumftance, that he left 
5000 talents of it for the fervice of the temple, belides 
the 5000 talents which the princes of the people offered 
for the lame purpofe. (1 Chron. xxix. 4, See.) And, 
as the authors of the Ancient Univerfal Hiltory remark, 
we can hardly believe that either David or the princes 
gave more than a certain proportion of it ; fuppofing 
that it was a third part of .all they pofleffed, there muft 
have been at leaft 24,000 talents of that metal in the 
kingdom. On this head, it may be remarked, that the 
Talmud reckons feven kinds of gold, of which the gold 
of Ophir was the molt celebrated, and the molt abun¬ 
dant. 
Although the fituation of Ezion-geber feems plainly 
and fatisfaftorily pointed out, yet forne authors are of 
ppinion, that it was not a port on the Red Sea, but on tiie 
Mediterranean : this opinion they feem to have embraced, 
in order to avoid the difficulty which puzzled Huet, and 
H I R. 
which led him to maintain, that the canal of communi¬ 
cation between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean was 
opened in king David’s time. It is certain, thac- in the 
time of Solomon there was fome mode of communication, 
by means of fnips, between Ezion-geber and the Medi¬ 
terranean ; tor, even allowing that Tariliifh was on the 
eaft coaft of Africa, and therefore could be reached by 
vefiels from the Red Sea without the neceffity of going 
round Africa, yet it is not eafy to imagine by what means 
Hiram fent the vefiels with which he accommodated Solo¬ 
mon from Phoenicia to the Red Sea, uniefs we fuppofe, 
with Huet, that there was at that time a canal between 
the two leas. (2 Chron. viii. 18.) But whatever diffi¬ 
culty there may be in finding a pafiage from Ezion-geber 
to the Mediterranean, that placecannothave been fituated 
any where except on the Red Sea, as there is not a fingle 
pafiage in Scripture in which Yam Sttph fignifies the Me¬ 
diterranean, or any other but the Red Sea. Indeed, 
there is good reafon for believing that by Yarn Suph, 
the Heeropolitan Gulf, or upper part of the Red Sea, 
was particularly defignated. (Ancient Univerfal Hiftory, 
vol. xviii.) Beiides, Ezion-geber is exprefsly faid to have 
been near Eloth ; and this city is always placed on the 
Red Sea. 
The almug-trees, which were part of the cargo brought 
from Ophir, are called by the rabbins coral-wood, and are 
faid to have refembled coral in hardnefs, colour, and po- 
lifli; by Lemery, it is faid to have been a fpecies of wood 
which he calls grenadille. 
The firft hypothefis refpeciing the fite of Ophir, which 
we ihall notice, places it in Peru ; this opinion is main¬ 
tained by the rabbi David Ganz, and by ieveral other au¬ 
thors mentioned in the Ancient Univerfal Hiftory, vol. 
iv. The grounds on which this opinion is refted are ex¬ 
tremely fanciful, independently of the great improba¬ 
bility, that in the time of Solomon any knowledge exifted 
of America, much lefs any intercourfe with it. The gold 
of Ophir feems, 2 Chron. iii. 6. to be called the gold of 
Parvaim; for, fpeaking of the ornaments of the temple, 
which in other places are faid to have been of the gold of 
. Ophir, Solomon, in this pafiage, is faid to have garni/hed 
the hou/e with precious fones for beauty, and the gold wa$ 
the gold of Parvaim. On this idea, that the gold of Ophir 
and of Parvaim were the fame, and that, confequently, 
thefe w’ere two names for the fame place, the opinion that 
Ophir was in Peru has been principally founded ; Parvaim 
being fuppofed to bear fome refemblance, in found and 
in letters, to Peru. It is hardly neceflary to expofe the 
abfurd futility of this fancied refemblance. Another 
mode of fupporting this hypothefis, is equally ridiculous; 
viz. that the Hebrew word Ophir, and Peru, exprefted in 
Hebrew letters, are compofed of the fame letters, though 
differently arranged. On this hypothefis it is not worth 
while to vvafte any more time, except merely to remark, 
that, according to fir Walter Raleigh, Peru is not the true 
name of that country, but was given it by the Spaniards 
in confequence of their miftaking the anlwer of the na¬ 
tives to a queftion they did not underftand; the Spaniards 
afking them what country, the Indians anfweredPer^, of 
Bern, “ What do you fay?” hence the Spaniards conclu¬ 
ded, that Peru was the name of the country. 
Jofephus and others, having obferved that the fhips 
failed from the Red Sea, place Ophir in the Indian Ocean, 
and fuppofe it to be the ancient Taprobana, or the Cherjb- 
nefiis Aurea, the Land of Gold. If it were T’aprobana, it 
muft have been the ifland of Ceylon; for there is good 
reafon for fuppofing, that that ifland was known to the 
ancients by the name of Taprobana. The Aurea Cher- 
fonefus probably was the peninfula of Malacca. But 
there are feveral weighty objeftions to this hypothefis •. 
in the firft place, the name of Ophir has no affinity to any 
of thefe illands, though Parvaim is fuppofed to referable 
Taprobana in found ; a fuppofition which only fliows on 
what flender grounds hypothefes are frequently built. 
Butin the fecond place, if Ophir had been fituated any 
where on the Indian feas, the gold and mercliandife for 
which 
