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    Lukasz Niesiolowski-Spanň, «Where Should One Look for Gideon’s Ophra?», Vol. 86 (2005) 478-493

    The hypothesis presented in this article offers a new way of explaining a number of discrepancies in the biblical text. Perhaps more importantly, it opens the door to the identification of a place known from the biblical tradition with a known site of archaeological importance. Finally, the identification of Ophra with Ramat Rahel, which in ancient times was very likely called hrp(-tyb@ / rp(-tyb@, sheds light on the tradition of connecting Ephratah (htrpa) with Judah, (1 Chr 1,19. 50), and the hitherto difficult hrp( tyb@ in Mic 1,10.

    Where Should One Look for Gideon’s Ophra? (1) The location of the biblical city of Ophra (hrp[) is still unknown, with only very few hints as to its whereabouts found in the Bible (2). In addition to what exists in the Book of Judges, information in Josh 18,23 and 1 Sam 13,17 may prove to be of some use. In the Book of Joshua (18,23) a city of the same name was listed along with other cities of Benjamin; situated some 7 kilometres north-west of Tell Beitin, this city has often been identified with modern et-Taiyibeh, and may well be the place referred to in 1 Sam 13,17, which points to the movement of Philistine military troops from Michmash to Beth- horon (3). Older literature on the subject identifies a place in the lot of Benjamin (presumably modern et-Taiyibeh) with that referred to in Judges 6 (4). However, the current scholarly consensus is that we are in fact dealing with two distinct places. 1. Status quaestionis It has often been acknowledged that Ophra — a city of considerable importance in the story of Gideon — was situated in the Jezreel valley, between Megiddo and Mount Tabor. This theory springs from the belief that the city must have been located inside the territory of Manasseh; a presupposition derived exclusively from the biblical passages linking Gideon with the tribe (Judg 6,15). Any subsequent quest to locate Gideon’s city should therefore be a straightforward one, especially given that — thanks to the ostraca from Samaria — the (1) The earlier form of this article was presented at The Society of Biblical Literature – International Meeting, Cambridge (UK), July 20-25, 2003. I would like to express my gratitude to Professor Ernest Axel Knauf for his kind remarks on the text. I would also like to thank Victor Johnson and Klaudyna Hildebrandt for refining the original English version of this paper. (2) J. SIMONS, The Geographical and Topographical Texts of the Old Testament (Leiden 1959) 291, § 561. (3) F.M. ABEL, Géographie de la Palestine (Paris 1933-1938) II, 17; S.R. DRIVER, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel (Oxford 21960) 102. (4) ABEL, Géographie, II, 17, 60, 92.