Bible Location
Meaning: a tower; darkness; small white cloud · 5 cross references · Modern-day map available
Ophel is the ridge or raised area on the southern side of Jerusalem's temple mount zone. It is important because it appears in building, fortification, and post-exilic settlement references tied closely to the city of David and the temple area. First appears in 2 Chr 27:3.1
Place meaning
a tower; darkness; small white cloud
Coordinates
31.78, 35.23
First appears
2 Chr 27:3
AI summary: Ophel matters because it anchors biblical references to Jerusalem's physical form. Kings, Chronicles, and Nehemiah treat it as part of the defended and inhabited structure of the city, linking it to walls, repairs, and the placement of temple servants. That means Ophel sits between sacred space and ordinary urban life in a way few place names do. The cross references present Ophel as a strategic ridge of Jerusalem where fortification, temple proximity, and restored habitation meet.1
Place meaning
a tower; darkness; small white cloud
Latitude
31.78
Longitude
35.23
Bible references
5
Hill; mound, the long, narrow, rounded promontory on the southern slope of the temple hill, between the Tyropoeon and the Kedron valley (2 Chr. 27:3; 33:14; Neh. 3:26, 27). It was surrounded by a separate wall, and was occupied by the Nethinim after the Captivity. This wall has been discovered by the engineers of the Palestine Exploration Fund at the south-eastern angle of the temple area. It is 4 feet below the present surface. In 2 Kings 5:24 this word is translated “tower” (R.V., “hill”), denoting probably some eminence near Elisha’s house. 3
Source note: this 1893 dictionary language reflects its period and may be culturally insensitive or outdated. It is presented as historical source material, not as ai-BIBLE’s language, interpretation, or endorsement.
AI-assisted summary prepared for ai-BIBLE and stored as page content, based on dictionary material, place metadata, and linked Bible cross references.
Alistair de Blacquiere-Clarkson, “ai-BIBLE Bible Names JSON Factsheet Aggregating Material from Smith’s Bible Dictionary & Hitcocks’s New and Complete Analysis of the Bible.” ai-BIBLE electronic edition, version 1.0.
M.G.Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, ai-BIBLE electronic edition, version 1.0.
Robert Rouse, “Theographic Bible Information,” Theographic-Bible-Metadata, 2020, https://github.com/robertrouse/theographic-bible-metadata.