Where is the Biblical Ophir and what is its linked to Araw City and Samar?

Answer 1

The Mysterious Link Between The Biblical Ophir, Araw City and Samar

Ophir in Genesis 10 (the Table of Nations) is said to be the name of one of the sons of Joktan. Biblical references to the land of Ophir are also found in 1 Kings 9:28; 10:11; 22:48; 1 Chronicles 29:4; 2 Chronicles 8:18; Book of Job 22:24; 28:16; Psalms 45:9; Isaiah 13:12.

-John Masefield, "Cargoes"

Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir,

Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,

With a cargo of ivory,

And apes and peacocks,

Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine.

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.[9] Other evidence has also been pointed out suggesting that the Philippines is the biblical Ophir.[10][11][12][13]

In a Facebook discussion group of the University of the Philippines, there was a discussion about Araw City, a prosperous city of the 6th dimension. The cradle of the city is said to be in Samar, in central Philippines. The discussion said that the city could be the remnant of the Pacifis, (in Atlantic Ocean, the mysterious hidden city is called Atlantis). There were stories from old folks of Samar, that construction materials are being delivered from Manila looking for Araw City. There are also stories of cars being delivered by chartered ships, fully paid in dollar, but upon disembarking of the cars and few miles away from that island, the island disappears. Araw City is a prosperous ancient city existing in the 6th dimension. The residents of this ancient city are Jewish or Samaritans ( non - Jewish with Jewish blood). The people of Araw City co - exists with our present civilization, but they mysteriously disappear and reappear from time to time in the villages and neighborhoods, with different alibis, not admitting that they went back to the Araw City from time to time. They are rich and in the upper economic class of the Manila's society. Their children are studying in best schools like UP, AIM, Ateneo, La Salle and UA&P. They live in plush villages and city poblacions in Metro Manila and key cities of the country, but in a certain time of the year, they are not seen in their usual society circulations, presumably, they are in a vacation to Araw City. One website estimates that the cradle of Araw City is in the area somewhere in the Northern and Eastern Samar, two provinces facing the Pacific Ocean. In the olden days, the portals to Araw City are the big dalakit trees, but today, the portals are the old bahay na bato found in the poblacions. These houses usually have a close secret room where the people of Araw City come and go. This is the reason why in some places in Samar, you will see complete strangers come and go in big ancestral houses of bahay na bato. The people of Araw City are attractive, secretive, highly educated and extremely intelligent. The portal ancestral houses are supposed to be guarded by sigbins and the owners of the house are called sigbinans. Sigbinsare bear like dogs that eat raw meat. During the Spanish era, sigbins are used by native patriots to fight against the Spanish authority and they are fed with the dead cadaver of Spanish guardia civils. This is the reason why up to these days, sigbins and sigbinans are used by parents to scare their children to stay at home; you might be eaten by sigbins, etc.. This is also the basis of the modern sayings that the sigbinans use their sigbins to kill their political enemies and feed them to their sigbins.

Samar is the Ophir; the name Samar itself is a Jewish. And Ophir is the ancient city in Samar - prosperous, inhabited by intelligent and good looking people - in the 6th dimension. The natives, even up to now called the place Araw City. They can feel their existence.The Philippine government calls it Samar. The Bible calls it Ophir. This is the reason why Samar today is still home to virgin forests and their inhabitants are conservative and old fashion. The people of Araw City have been part of the Philippine struggle for independence. Some of them are intermingling with, or the descendants of Lakan Dula themselves. The reason why the bodies of David Dula y Goiti (David Dulay to the natives) and his seven trusted officers and one haunting dog name sigbin were never recovered after they were executed by the guardia civil in the Palapag Town Plaza is that they are believed to have returned to the Araw City. Some historians however are saying that they are intentionally buried in unmarked graves to prevent them from becoming the rallying point - pilgrimage site - of native patriots fighting the Spanish colonizers. The ship repair facilities of the Galleon Trade in Palapag town in Northern Samar was stopped and moved to Cavite together with the skilled workers. Some of these workers are actually the relatives of Sumoroy and David Dulay (David Dula y Goiti), who started or caused the Sumoroy Revolt. The rebellious spirit of the Waray was therefore brought to Cavite, with some of the dedicated rebels having a Waray-Jewish - Araw City blood and connections. They are part of those who started the Cavite Mutiny which later bloomed into the first Philippine Republic of the Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo of Kawit, Cavite. It was said that the reason the forces of Gen. Emelio Aguinaldo are winning battles after battles against the Spanish guardia civil is the existence of the fighters from Araw City who has the ability to be invisible when they are in the state of the 6th dimension. This is also the reason why the Battle of Balangiga was won by the Waray guerilla forces - the battle tested American soldiers simply did not see much of their attackers.When the American soldiers burned Samar later, there are only few residents left, an indication that they might have gone into the Araw City for refuge.

Up to this day, the people of Ophir/Araw City/Samar still influence secretly the Philippine politics and business through the Jewish connections and through the descendants of Lakan Dula who are keeping the key to the "Sumpa ni Lakan Dula". The Sumpa ni Lakan Dula is the main curse that drove away three Philippine Presidents out of office: Ferdinand Marcos, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

But Who among the Descendants of Lakan Dula has Jewish Blood?

The best way to answer this question is to try to list down the different branches of the descendants of Lakan Dula, the last king of the Kingdom of Manila, and from among these branches of descendants, find out who has the Jewish blood.

Based on public knowledge, the following are the descendants of Lakan Dula:

The Spanish persecutions of the descendants of Lakan Dula continued and intensified, but a lot of descendants maintained their native surnames like lakandula, dula, dulay, gatdula, dulayan, abdullah, rebadulla, dulatre, duldulao, dulalia, dulayba, lakandola, lacandalo, lacandola, lacandula, dula - torre and many others revolving around the root word "dula". During the intense persecution of the Spaniards on the native aristocracy, some descendants have to disregard the "dula" root word and adopted totally different native sounding surnames for disguise, like magsaysay, lontoc, agbayani, acuna, salonga, gatchalian, bacani, macapagal, guingona, gatpandan, pangilinan, sumuroy, dagohoy, kalaw, salalima, soliman, pilapil, mabini, pagdanganan, macalintal, angara, bamba, datumanong, panganiban, katigbak, macarambon, sakay, aglipay, kasilag, salamat, karingal, kiram, daza, lacanilao, lacanlale, gatchalian, manalo, lagumbay, tamano, ilagan, bunye, pangandaman, maliksi, silang, badoy, puno, lapid, ziga, nalupta, binay, gatbonton, sinsuat, capulong, puyat, gatmaitan, macuja, dagami, ablan, capinpin, punongbayan, madlangbayan, gatlabayan, batungbakal, cabangbang, sumulong, calungsod, capangoy, kapunan, etc, but continued fighting for the liberation of the natives from Spain. Some of the descendents hid their Lakan Dula heritage by changing their names into the likes of guevara, aguinaldo, legaspi, aquino, mendoza, osmena, de Leon, estanislao, laurel, fernando, ejercito, delapaz, mercado, santos, bonifacio, de guzman, etc, while some adopted chinese surnames of their mother like lim, uy, go, tan, etc, but they continued to pursue a belligerant posture against Spain. There are however few who collaborated with the Spanish authority. (https://sites.google.com/site/dulayclan/Home)

Based on this list of descendants, which of these surnames have Jewish blood?

The history of Isla de Batag,Laoang, Northern Samar is colored with the arrivals of the Jewish,Spanish,Chinese and American adventurers who later intermarried with the descendants of David Dulay. The Isla de Batag , or its old name Isla de Batang, which is named after the eldest son of Lakan Dula, Batang Dula, is a strategic spot for settlers and up to now is a home of a lighthouse guiding the ships in the Pacific Ocean, being the first island that ships going to the old Kingdom of Manila would see or deck after a long trip in the Pacific Ocean; and just adjacent to Palapag, the shipping repair station during the Galleon Trade; and Catubig, the old provincial Spanish capital. One of the Jewish families who prospered in the island through the intermarriage with the descendants of David Dulay is the Mendoza Family, which is Sephardi Jew from Spain. The dialect spoken in the island is a Waray with some Jewish sounding words. Some of the relatives of the Mendoza family in the United States are up to now still attending Jewish congregations. This explains the fact that the present leaders of the "Angkan ng Dulay dito sa Lambak ng Marikina at Hilagang Samar" have a Jewish bloodline. The provincial name, Samar, is itself a Jewish in origin, which somewhat attest to the strong presence of the Sephardi Jews in the area.

(http: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dulay)

Therefore, as of the current level of research, it seems that the Dulay lineage of the Lakan Dula descendants have Jewish blood. Other lineages might later discover that they have Jewish blood too.

Answer 2

The location of Biblical Ophir is uncertain, with theories suggesting it could be in present-day Arabia, Africa, or even Southeast Asia. Some link Ophir to Araw City in the Philippines and Samar Island based on linguistic and historical connections, but there is no definitive evidence to confirm this claim. The search for Ophir's exact location continues to be a topic of debate among historians and archaeologists.