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H6085 · Hebrew · Old Testament
עׇפְנִי
Ophni
Proper noun
Ophni (place name — my fist / my wheel)

Definition

The Hebrew Ophni (עׇפְנִי) is a town in Benjamin mentioned in Joshua 18:24 during the tribal land allotments. The name may derive from ophen (wheel) or an alternate root meaning 'my fist.' It is one of the many towns that formed Benjamin's inheritance in the land.

Usage & Theological Significance

Ophni appears in the detailed land survey of Joshua 18, when Joshua meticulously allocates the remaining land to the seven tribes who had not yet received their inheritance. The specificity of this list — naming dozens of small towns — is a theological statement: God's promises are not vague generalities but precise, detailed fulfillments. Every village, every boundary line, reflects God's particular faithfulness to each tribe and family. Ophni, though obscure, belongs to the covenant geography of God's faithfulness.

Key Bible Verses

Joshua 18:24
Chephar Ammoni, Ophni (Ophni) and Geba — twelve towns and their villages.
Joshua 18:28
Zelah, Haeleph, the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah and Kiriath — fourteen towns and their villages. This was the inheritance of Benjamin for its clans.
Joshua 14:1
Now these are the areas the Israelites received as an inheritance in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the tribal clans of Israel allotted to them.
1 Chronicles 6:65
The Israelites allotted to the Levites these towns and pasturelands in the territories of the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin.
Psalm 16:6
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.

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