Bible Word Study
עׇפְנִי
ʻOphnîy · an Ophnite (collectively) or inhabitants of Ophen
עׇפְנִי
an Ophnite (collectively) or inhabitants of Ophen
Definition
The Hebrew word עׇפְנִי (ʻOphnîy) refers to the inhabitants of a place called Ophni, likely a town in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. It is used in a collective sense, meaning 'Ophnites' or 'people of Ophni.' The term appears only once in the Bible, in Joshua 18:24, where Ophni is listed among the cities allotted to Benjamin during the division of the Promised Land. There are no other biblical passages that use this word or provide additional details about the location or its people, so its meaning is confined to this specific geographical and tribal context.
Biblical Usage
This word is used exactly once in the Old Testament, in Joshua 18:24, within a list of cities given to the tribe of Benjamin. The context is purely geographical and administrative, detailing the territorial inheritance after the Israelite conquest. No patterns of usage exist beyond this single occurrence, and it does not appear in any other biblical books.
Etymology
The word derives from an unused noun denoting a place in Palestine, possibly from an unused root of uncertain meaning. It is a gentilic noun (a name for inhabitants of a place) formed with the Hebrew suffix '-i,' which indicates belonging or origin. The base 'Ophen' or 'Ophni' is the place name, but its exact etymology and root meaning are lost to history.
Semantic Range
In its original setting, this word identified a specific community within the tribal structure of ancient Israel. Understanding it highlights the meticulous record-keeping in Joshua regarding land distribution, which was crucial for Israel's identity and God's covenant promises. The town's obscurity today contrasts with its importance in the biblical narrative of establishing the tribes in Canaan. No direct synonyms exist for this proper gentilic noun. Related terms would be other gentilics for Benjaminite towns, such as הַגִּבְעָתִי (hag-Givʻâthîy, H1395) — an inhabitant of Gibeah, or הַיְּבוּסִי (hay-Yebûsîy, H2983) — a Jebusite, but these refer to different places and peoples.
Word Details
How this works
Definitions are from the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (BDB, 1906, public domain). Concordance and morphology data are from the OSHB (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible).
Full methodology & sources →References
- Abbott-Smith, G. (1921) A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Brown, F., Driver, S.R. and Briggs, C.A. (1906) A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Tyndale Brief lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (TBESG). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Formatted full LSJ (TFLSJ). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Thayer, J.H. (1889) A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. [Public Domain]
- Gesenius, W. (1846) Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament. [Public Domain]
- Dodson, J. (2010) Greek Lexicon. Biblical Humanities. [CC0]