Lukasz Niesiolowski-Spanò, «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.
482 Òukasz Niesio¬owski-Spanò
rejection of the old axiom that Ophra had to be placed within Abiezer,
in the territory of Manasseh.
2. Ophra and Gideon’s connections with Abiezer and Manasseh.
Albert de Pury elaborated the text on Gideon’s building of God’s
altar (Judges 6) in order to determine the various strata of the story. If
de Pury’s reconstructed text was indeed the original, it is clear that
there were no topographical hints. Furthermore, it lacks any
information as to the tribal origins of Gideon (15).
As a matter of fact, the only explicit suggestion tying Gideon to the
tribe of Manasseh is to be found in Judges 6,15, notwithstanding
mention of Gideon’s genealogy derived from Joash, son of Abiezer.
Robert Boling considers those sentences linking Gideon to Abiezer
(v. 11: “[terebinth] which belonged to Joash of Abiezer†(16); v. 24:
“This altar still stands in Ophrah of Abiezerâ€) to be secondary
glosses (17).
In the main text of the etiological story of the altar in Ophra, there
is only one verse which explicitly points to Gideon’s belonging to the
tribe of Manasseh: “My clan, you must know, is the weakest in
Manasseh and I am the least important in my family†(6,15). In the
entire story only two other verses suggest such a genealogy (Judg 6,35
and 7,23). The very presence of the topos concerning “the weakest in
the tribe and the father’s house†ought to make us treat with caution
any evaluation of the historical value of this text.
Other biblical passages are of no help in determining whether
Gideon, Joash and Abiezer are tied to Manasseh. The only real
suggestion is the above-mentioned verse in Judges 6,15. Surprisingly
enough, the axiom linking Ophra to Manasseh has a very weak biblical
basis. Indeed, those biblical passages offering such a location come
(15) A. DE PURY, “Le raid de Gedeon (Juges 6,25-32) et l’histoire de
l’exclusivisme yahwisteâ€, Lectio Difficilior Probabilior? L’exegèse comme
expérience de décloisonnement. Mélanges offerts à Françoise Smyth-Florentin
(ed. T. RÖMER) (Heidelberg 1991) 181-182.
(16) J.A. EMERTON, “Gideon and Jerubbaalâ€, JTS 27 (1976) 310, paid attention
to verse 11, in which, incidentally, it is not Ophra which is being bound to
Abiezer, but rather Joash. Cf. W. BLUEDORN, Yahweh Versus Baalism. A
Theological Reading of the Gideon-Abimelech Narrative (JSOTSS 329) (Sheffield
2001) 72-73.
(17) R.G. BOLING, Judges. Introduction, Translation, and Commentary (AB
6A; Garden City, NY 1975) 134.