OPHEL

(Oʹphel) [Mound [that is, bulge, swelling, projection, eminence]].

The Hebrew term ʽOʹphel is applied in two ways. Most commonly, it is applied in a topographical sense to a prominent hill or promontory. A form of the term is also applied to the swelling or bulging of body veins known as piles, or hemorrhoids.​—De 28:27; 1Sa 5:6, 9, 12; 6:4, 5.

There was a particular hill or eminence located at or near Jerusalem that was called ha·ʽOʹphel, or Ophel. The Scriptural indications taken with the comments of Josephus locate Ophel at the SE corner of Moriah. (2Ch 27:3; 33:14; Ne 3:26, 27; 11:21) In the first century C.E., Josephus placed Ophel where the eastern wall “joined the eastern portico of the temple.” (The Jewish War, V, 145 [iv, 2]) Ophel evidently was the bulge of land extending eastwardly from the SE corner of Jerusalem’s temple hill.

Ophel’s wall and elevated position over the Kidron Valley gave it a strong defensive position. Nevertheless, Isaiah prophesied that “Ophel,” apparently that of Jerusalem, would become a ‘bare field.’​—Isa 32:14; compare the reference to the tower and “mound” (ʽOʹphel) at Mic 4:8.

Scholars believe that the term ʽOʹphel at 2 Kings 5:24 refers to some prominent hill or fortified place in the vicinity of Samaria to which Elisha’s attendant Gehazi took the riches he obtained from Naaman. This indicates that the word was applied to mounds other than the one in Jerusalem.