Ophir – Former name of Las Islas Filipinas

Inhabitants of Ophir

One of the common practice of tribal Filipinos which is similar to the Jewish Sacrifice is the shedding of the blood of animals. As in my tribe the Higaonons of Bukidnon a ritual called “Pamuhat” is conducted during harvest and planting season wherein  a blood offering is made to the creator. Another ritual is “Tampuda” in english, “To Cut” , when settling debt in the west one has to “cut a cheque”. When two warring tribes are in conflict with each other, they will dig a hole and put a pig inside the hole. Each tribal chieftain or Datu who are in conflict with each other  take turn in spearing the pig until it dies. Their anger is directed to the pig.  Then they cover the hole  and the two chieftains exchange a porcelain cup signifying that there is peace between them. The cup symbolizes peace between them. Their conflict is appeased by death of an animal . This is very similar to the Hebrew’s practice of “Propitiation”.

The Bukidnon tribal groups addresses  God as  Magbabaya, notice the Hebrew roots in it. Magbaba – yah, “Yah” for God, meaning “God Wills”.

What the Spaniards believed

After the death of King Solomon, Ophir was abandoned and soon forgotten. After the passage of hundreds of years nobody would know where or what is Ophir. The other word associated with Ophir is the word “Tarshish.” Nobody also knew what it meant. In old translations of the Bible it was supposed also to be a place. However, in new translations of the Bible, it is used to refer to the fleet that went to Ophir.

What happened to the Hebrew or Jewish settlements that were established to process the gold before they were shipped back to King Solomon? Nobody also knew. However, we knew that because of their religious beliefs the Hebrews tend to survive as a separate enclave wherever they settled.

Historical facts

In Spain there is a book called Coleccion General de Documentos Relativos a las Islas Filipinas. It is found in the Archivos de Indias de Sevilla. It was reprinted in 1920 in Barcelona, Spain by the Compania General de Tabaccos de Filipinas. Its Tomo III (1519-1522), pages 112-138, contains Document No. 98 describing how to locate the land of Ophir.

This same volume also contains the official documents regarding the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan. It also contains the logbook of Francisco Albo, the chief pilot of the ship Victoria. This logbook is also one of the main references regarding the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan.

Since this book contains important documents, we can discern that the Spaniards did not really believe that Ophir was in India. In fact the Cabot expedition that left Spain on April 3, 1526 had a secret mission, “to search for a route to Tarsis, OPHIR, Oriental Cathay (China), and Japan.”

Document No. 98 describes how to locate the land of Ophir. The travel guide started from the Cape of Good Hope in Africa to India, to Burma, to Sumatra, to Moluccas, to Borneo, to Sulu, to China, then finally Ophir.

Ophir was “…in front of China towards the sea, of many islands where the Moluccans, Chinese, and Lequios met to trade…”

This group of islands could not be Japan because the Moluccans did not get there. It could not be Taiwan because it is not “of many islands.” Only the present day Philippines could satisfy the description.

Jewish Settlements

Along the route described by Document No. 98 are locations of old Jewish settlements.

It would not be surprising for that was the procedure used by King Solomon’s fleet.

Settlements were established at selected places to trade and process the gold and silver. The ships will collect the gold and silver and bring it to King Solomon. To the credit of the Hebrew people, their settlement remained true to the Jewish faith even for thousands of years. Settlements were found in India, Burma, Sumatra, and Vietnam (Annam and Cochin China).

Circumcision 

Of all countries in the world only the Philippines follows the practice of bar mitzvah . By the time Filipino males reaches mid teens, most are circumcised.

Who Were the Lequios?

Spanish records mention of a mysterious people known as Lequios. Modern historians variously identified them as Okinawans, Koreans, or Vietnamese. They were favorite targets of Spanish ships during the time of General Miguel Lopez de Legazpi because the ships of the Lequios were always laden with gold and silver.

According to Documents 98, the Lequios were big, bearded, and white men. They were only interested in gold and silver when trading at Ophir. Okinawans, Koreans, and Vietnamese people are not big nor are they white. Their beards are just small goatees and could not satisfy the word “bearded”. Therefore they were not the Lequios. So who could the Lequios be but the remnants of Hebrews and Phoenicians who have made some enclaves along the Southeast Asian shores?

The Hebrew word “LEQOT” or “LIQQET” means to gather, to glean. It resembles closely the word Lequios. It will fit the men of King Solomon’s fleet who gathered gold and silver. (Note: The Hebrew alphabet has no small letters.)

Where Was Ophir?

There is no doubt that the group of islands in front of China towards the sea is the present day Philippines. The question is where was Ophir located in the Philippines?

Ancient Chinese records say that the ancient trading places in the Philippines were Ma-yi and Pulilu. Dr. Otley Beyer identified Ma-yi as Mindoro. Dr. Jose Rizal, Blumentrit, Robertson, and Stangl say that it was Luzon in part or in whole.

Dr. Jose Rizal identified “Pulilu” as Bo-ol or Bohol. Nobody disputed Dr. Jose Rizal. So there are only three possible places in the Philippines that could be identified as Ophir, they are Luzon, Mindoro, and Bohol.

OPHIR 

The Ancient-Name of the Islands of the Philippines

(Only the descendants of Levites Datu Gerson, Datu Merari and few descendants of Datu Cohat reached the island of Ophir, but the High Priest comes in the lineage of Aaron left in Yahrushalom)

People in the Islands of Ophir speaks Ancient-Hebrew Language

Who is Ophir ?

Ophir written in the Old Testament of the Bible 1 Kings 22:48, 9:28 and 22:49,
Psalms 45:9, Isaiah 13:12, Job 22:24, 28:16, 1Chron. 24:4, 1:23, Genesis 10:25-26.
In Genesis 10:25-30 “ And Heber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for his days was the earth divided and his brother’s name was Yoktan. And Yoktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Yerah, and Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah, and Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba, and OPHIR, and Havilah, and Yobab; all these were the sons of Yoktan. And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mount of the EAST”.

The language of Ophir

The language of Heber is the same language of Adam and when the language was confused, only Heber retained the original language of Adam and was called Hebrew from Heber’s name and therefore the language of his two sons Peleg and Yoktan will be Hebrew and the language of Ophir the son of Yoktan will be Hebrew also.

The language of Abraham

Peleg son is Reu, reu son is Serug, Serug son is Nachor, Nachor son is Thare, Thare had tree sons Abram become Abraham, Nahor and Haran the father of Lot. Abraham is Hebrew in Genesis 14:13.

Historians said about Ophir

The western writers garlanded the Philippine land with more names such as Maniolas, Ophir, Islas del Oriente, Islas del Poniente, Archipelago de San Lazaro, Islas de L*****s (Island of Mortars), Archipelago de Magallanes and Archipelago de Legaspi. The western writers and ocean navigators called the islands Ophir before the Western people arrived and re-named it as Felipinas from the name of King Felipe of Spain.

When the first European historian set their foot in the land of Ophir, it was written by historian Gregorio F. Zaide in page 2 and page 24 of History of the Filipino People, that Padre Chirino an eminent Jesuit historian found in Tagalog language that “it has the Mystery and obscurities of the Hebrew language”.
Therefore in the islands of Ophir the people speaks Ancient-Hebrew language.

Ophir – Original Name of the Philippines

Right after the great flood of Noah as the world has  to be repopulated again, all nations came from the three sons of Noah –  Shem, Ham and Japhet. This is where it all began for the Filipino race .  Genesis chapter 10 is the starting point.  The sons of Shem are Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram.  From Arphaxad came Shelah, and Shela was the father of Eber the Hebrew race. Eber has two sons, Peleg headed west and fathered Abraham, Isaac and Jacob or Israel. While the other group of Hebrews came from Joktan who has thirteen children and settled towards  the east and three of them Ophir, Sheba and Havilah settled in what is now known as the Philippines.

When King Solomon needed gold to build the temple in Jerusalem he knows where to sourced out gold , from Ophir. It was  a  three years sea voyage at that time.

Some Elements of Hebrew Names in the Philippines

The Philippines was named after King Philip II  of Spain and they tried to changed the names to Spanish. However a number of mountains and places still bear their original Hebrew names Such as:

a.  Mount Pulag, a variant name of Peleg in Gen. 10, when nations were divided, in tagalog, it means “Glare or Dazzling Light”.

b.  At the foot of Mt. Pulag is a cave Kabayan, in hebrew Chabaya meaning “Yah Has Hidden” or God has hidden. Hidden what? There are fire mummies in this cave that are preserved similar to those in ancient Egypt.

c.  Mt. Sagada in Hebrew: Saga, Laud, Praise and exalt and Yada, to Know – “To Know Praise”.

d.  Mt. Arayat, in Hebrew :  Ara, Earth and Yaat , Cover – Arayaat, “Earth Covered”.

e.  Mt. Pinatubo – Hebrew : Pina, God Raises, Tubo, His Goodness – “God Raises His Goodness”.

f.  Mt. Kabuyao – Hebrew : Kabu, Great House, Yah, Creator God – “Great House of Creator God”

g.  Mayon Volcano – Hebrew: May’on or Maayan – “Spring of Water”.

h.  Taal Lake and Volcano – Hebrew: Ta-haal – “Called out for a Specific Purpose”.

i.  Mt. Cabalian – Hebrew: Chaba, Hidden, Lian, Greatly – ” Greatly Hidden”, Filipinos still calls this, the Hidden Mountain.

j.  Mt. Banahaw – Hebrew: Banah, Built, Yah, Creator God – “Built by Creator God”.

k.  Mt. Matutum – Hebrew: Matu, Shake, Tum, Perfections or Jewels. One of the epithets of the objects in the high priest’s breastplate as an emblem of complete truth, Thummim.     ” Shaking Jewel of Complete Truth”.

Common among these mountains is its reference to a higher being or God. There are lots of Filipino words that still bears their Hebrew meaning.

These are just but sampling of places that still bear their original Hebrew names that the Spaniards failed  to Hispanised.  In fact a Jesuit historian, Padre Chirino  who traveled with the Spanish explorers commented – their language ( Indios or Filipinos) has the mystery and obscurities of the Hebrew language. Antonio Pigafetta who travelled with Magellan and recorded their journey wrote, when they asked them who is their God, the natives responded , that they  clasped their hands and their face to the sky and called their God, Abba.

Spanish Account

In a book found in Spain entitled Collecion General de Documentos Relativos a las Islas Filipinas, the author has described how to locate Ophir. According to the section “Document No. 98″, dated 1519-1522, Ophir can be found by travelling from the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, to India, to Burma, to Sumatra, to Moluccas, to Borneo, to Sulu, to China, then finally Ophir. Ophir was said to be ” in front of China towards the sea, of many islands where the Moluccans, Chinese, and Lequios met to trade…” Jes Tirol asserts that this group of islands could not be Japan because the Moluccans did not get there, nor Taiwan, since it is not composed of “many islands.” Only the present-day Philippines, he says, could fit the description. Spanish records also mention the presence of Lequious (big, bearded white men, probably descendants of the Phoenicians, whose ships were always laden with gold and silver) in the Islands to gather gold and silver. Other evidence has also been pointed out suggesting that the Philippines was the biblical Ophir.

The spaniards believed that they have arrived in the land of Ophir.  Spanish conquistadores  were overwhelmed of the abundance of gold.