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Hophra

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• חָפְרַע

(Heb. Chophra', חָפְר;ִ Sept. Οὐαφρῆ [compare Clem. Alex. Strom. 1, 143j, Vulg. Ephrec), or PHARAOH-HOPHRA, king of Egypt in the time of Zedekiah, king of Judah, and of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. B.C. 588. He formed alliance with the former against the latter, and his advance with an Egyptian army constrained the Chaldaeans to raise the siege of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 37:5); but they soon returned, and took, and destroyed the city. This momentary aid, and the danger of placing reliance on the protection of Hophra, led Ezekiel to compare the Egyptians to a broken reed, which was to pierce the hand of him that leaned upon it (Ezekiel 39:6-7). This alliance was, however, disapproved by God; and Jeremiah was authorized to deliver the prophecy contained in his forty- fourth chapter, which concludes with a prediction of Hophra's death, and the subjugation of his country by the Chaldaeans. (See EGYPT).

This Pharaoh-Hophra is identified with the Apries ( Ἀπρίης )', Herod. 2, 161 sq., 169; 4, 159; Diod. Sic. 1, 68; Ἀπρίας, Athen. 13, 560) of ancient authors, and the Ouaphris (Οὐάφρις ) of Manetho, the eighth king of the twenty-sixth or Saitic dynasty (Eusebius, Chronicles 1, 219). Under this identification, we may conclude that his wars with the Syrians and Cyreneans prevented him from affording any great assistance to Zedekiah. Apries is described by Herodotus (2, 169) as a monarch who, in the zenith of his glory, felt persuaded that it was not in the power even of a deity to dispossess him of his kingdom, or to shake the stability of his sway; and this account of his arrogance fully accords with that contained in the Bible. Ezekiel (29:3) speaks of this king as "the great dragon that lieth in the midst of the rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself." His overthrow and subsequent captivity and death are foretold with remarkable precision by Jeremiah (44:30): "I will give Pharaoh-Hophra, king of Egypt, into the hands of his enemies, and into the hands of them that seek his life." This was brought about by a revolt of the troops, who placed Amasis at their head, and, after various conflicts, took Apries prisoner. B.C. 569. He was for a time kept in easy captivity by Amasis, w-ho wished to spare his life; but he was at length constrained to give him up to the vengeance of his enemies, by whom he was strangled (Rawlinson, Herod. 2, 209 sq.). See Raphel, De Pharaone Hophra, Luneb. 1734.) (See PHARAOH).