OPHRAH. 1 . A town in Benjamin ( Joshua 18:23 ) which was somewhere near Michmash, and is only once elsewhere referred to, as an indication of the direction of a Philistine raid ( 1 Samuel 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’ i.e . to a member of a sept of the tribe of Manasseh ( Joshua 17:2 ), was the native village of Gideon. It is not mentioned except in connexion with the history of him and of his son Abimelech ( Judges 6:1-40; Judges 7:1-25; Judges 8:1-35; Judges 9:1-57 ). No satisfactory identification has been proposed. 3. A name in the genealogy of the tribe of Judah ( 1 Chronicles 4:14 ).
R. A. S. Macalister.