ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the biblical narratives which describe the origins of holy places. The Bible provides only very modest snippets of information concerning Ophrah. It is not possible, however, to draw any conclusions about the origin or tribal affiliation of Gideon on the basis of the context in which this name, as also the names Joash and Benjaminite Abiezer appear in the Bible. This means that proclaiming Gideon as a Manassehite and locating Ophrah in the territories occupied by that tribe is done on the basis of the contents of just one verse. The chapter concentrates only on the function of the goddess's image, or symbol, in the shape, unknown to us, of a wooden object. The biblical text confirms the existence of some sort of sanctuary in Bethlehem. Therefore, it provides no arguments to make impossible the identification of Ophrah with Ephrathah/Bethlehem. The phrases that identify Ephrathah with Bethlehem relate to the location of Rachel's tomb.
