The last three of Joktan's sons are Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. Ophir is famous in later Scripture as a source of fine gold — Solomon's ships went to Ophir and brought back 420 talents of gold (1 Kings 9:28). Havilah has already appeared in Genesis 2:11 as the land through which the Pishon river runs, and it surfaces again in various contexts throughout Genesis. Jobab closes the list. The wealth of Ophir — which will fund the building of Solomon's temple — traces its geographical origin to a son of Joktan. The gold that adorns the house of God comes from a land whose ancestor appears in a genealogy most readers skip. The resources of creation — including the gold in the mountains of Ophir — were placed there by God and gathered by the descendants of Joktan for a purpose they could not have anticipated: the glory of God's dwelling place.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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