Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

HOPHRA

(Heb. ḥopraʿ; Egyp. w÷F-ib-rʿ;
Gk. Apriēs)

The fourth king of the 26th (Saite) Dynasty of Egypt (589-570 b.c.e.). Hophra (Apries) continued the policy of his father, Psammeticus II, by intervening in affairs in Palestine. In 588 b.c.e. Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon, perhaps with the help of Hophra (Ezek. 17:15; Lachish Letter III). Soon afterward, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar began the final siege of Jerusalem, and Zedekiah requested help from Hophra. Hophra entered Judah with an army but was forced to withdraw (Jer. 37:5). After the fall of Judah and Jerusalem, Hophra received fleeing Judahites (Jer. 43:1-7) and allowed them to settle in the city of Tahpenes in Lower Egypt. Because they had fled from Judah, Jeremiah prophesied to these Judahites that they would be destroyed and that Yahweh would punish Hophra (Jer. 44:30). Earlier, Jeremiah had prophesied that Hophra’s palace in Tahpenes would be conquered by Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. 43:10; cf. 46:13-26). In 570 rebellion broke out in Egypt against Hophra, and he had to flee. Three years later, Hophra allied with Nebuchadnezzar in an attack against Egypt. The attack was repulsed, and Hophra was captured and executed.

Bibliography. G. W. Ahlström, The History of Ancient Palestine (Minneapolis, 1993); D. B. Redford, Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times (Princeton, 1992).

Paul S. Ash

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

HOPHRA

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)