Original Word: עָפְרָה
Part of Speech: proper name; location; person, masculine
Transliteration: `Ophrah
Pronunciation: OH-frah
Phonetic Spelling: (of-raw')
KJV: Ophrah
NASB: Ophrah
Word Origin: [feminine of H6082 (עוֹפֶר - young)]

1. female fawn
2. Ophrah, the name of an Israelite and of two places in Israel

Ophrah

Feminine of opher; female fawn; Ophrah, the name of an Israelite and of two places in Palestine -- Ophrah.

see HEBREW opher

Word Origin
from the same as opher
Definition
an Isr., also two places in Isr.
NASB Translation
Ophrah (8).

עָפְרָה proper name

1. location: a. in Benjamin Joshua 18:23 (P), Αφαρ, etc.; 1 Samuel 13:7 Γοφερα; probably = עֶפְרוֺן

2 and אֶפְרַיִם

6; perhaps modern e‰-ˆayyibeh, approximately 4 miles northeast from Bethel, compare GASm^{Geogr. 252} Buhl^{Geogr. 177.}

b. in Manasseh, Εφραθα: Judges 6:11; Judges 8:27; construct עָפְרַת אֲבִי הָעֶזְרִי Judges 6:24, but ׳עָפְרָה וגו Judges 8:32; with ה locative עָפְרָ֫תָה Judges 9:5.

2. person, masculine in Judah 1 Chronicles 4:14, Γοφερα, ᵐ5^L Εφραθ.

Geographical and Historical Overview

Ophrah appears in Scripture as two distinct towns and once as a personal name. One settlement lay within the inheritance of Benjamin (Joshua 18:23; 1 Samuel 13:17); the other belonged to the clan of Abiezer in Manasseh and became inseparably linked with Gideon (Judges 6–9). The personal name surfaces in the Judahite genealogy of 1 Chronicles 4:14.

Ophrah of Benjamin

Located between Parah and Chephar-ammoni, this town formed part of Benjamin’s northern frontier. Its proximity to Michmash and Bethel placed it on strategic high ground overlooking the central ridges that Philistine forces repeatedly sought to control. During Saul’s early reign those forces sent a raiding column “toward Ophrah in the land of Shual” (1 Samuel 13:17), demonstrating the site’s tactical value in Israel’s ongoing struggle for sovereignty in the hill country.

Ophrah of Abiezer (Gideon’s Ophrah)

1. Call and Commission of Gideon
• “The Angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah of the Abiezrites… ” (Judges 6:11). Here the Lord confronted Midianite oppression by selecting an unlikely deliverer.
• Gideon’s immediate act of worship—“Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it ‘The LORD Is Peace’ ” (Judges 6:24)—marks Ophrah as a place where the covenant God revealed His character and calmed His servant’s fears.

2. Center of Leadership and Snare of Idolatry
• After victory Gideon fashioned the Midianite gold into an ephod and “placed [it] in Ophrah, his town. And all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there” (Judges 8:27). The very village that witnessed faith also became a warning against syncretism; spiritual complacency within familiar surroundings can corrupt hard-won blessings.

3. Burial Ground and Family Tragedy
• Gideon “was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites” (Judges 8:32).
• Abimelech later “murdered his seventy brothers…in Ophrah” (Judges 9:5), turning the patriarch’s homestead into a scene of bloodshed. The contrast underscores that heritage cannot substitute for obedience; familial legacy must be preserved by continual fidelity to the Lord.

Personal Name: Ophrah

In the post-exilic genealogy of Judah, Meonothai “was the father of Ophrah” (1 Chronicles 4:14). Though little else is known, the mention illustrates how individual names could echo earlier sacred geography, transmitting memory of God’s acts into later generations.

Theological and Ministry Insights

• God meets His people in ordinary locales. A threshing floor and a village oak became stages for divine revelation, proving that any setting—however obscure—can host significant kingdom advance.
• Spiritual victories require vigilant follow-through. Gideon’s Ephod at Ophrah warns that the spoils of triumph can mutate into objects of stumbling when worship is misdirected.
• Leadership legacy is fragile. The massacre at Ophrah reminds churches and families that unresolved ambition and idolatry can dismantle even a godly lineage within a single generation.
• Geographic memory serves discipleship. Referencing Ophrah in later narratives (1 Samuel 13:17) and genealogies (1 Chronicles 4:14) invites each generation to recall both the peace of Yahweh and the peril of forgetting Him.

Summary

Whether as frontier village, prophetic arena, or genealogical marker, Ophrah consistently testifies to the Lord’s sovereign intervention and the responsibility of His people to respond in enduring faith and purity.

בְּעָפְרָ֔ה בְּעָפְרָ֖ה בְּעָפְרָ֖ת בעפרה בעפרת וְעָפְרָֽה׃ ועפרה׃ עָפְרָ֑ה עָפְרָ֔תָה עָפְרָ֖ה עפרה עפרתה ‘ā·p̄ə·rā·ṯāh ‘ā·p̄ə·rāh ‘āp̄ərāh ‘āp̄ərāṯāh afeRah afeRatah bə‘āp̄ərāh bə‘āp̄ərāṯ bə·‘ā·p̄ə·rāh bə·‘ā·p̄ə·rāṯ beafeRah beafeRat veafeRah wə‘āp̄ərāh wə·‘ā·p̄ə·rāhInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts