Ophel

Ophel (meaning a mound, bulge, or fortified hill) was a prominent spur on the southeastern hill of Jerusalem, lying between the City of David to the south and the temple mount to the north. It served as an important defensive and administrative zone from the pre-Israelite period onward. Jotham and Manasseh both built extensively on the Ophel (2 Chronicles 27:3; 33:14), and Nehemiah 3:26–27 records the Nethinim (temple servants) living and working there during the wall rebuilding.

Archaeological excavations on the Ophel spur by Eilat Mazar and others have uncovered substantial Iron Age walls, storehouses, and inscriptions — including a bulla that may bear the name of the prophet Isaiah — confirming its importance as a functioning quarter of the royal city. Micah 4:8 uses Ophel or tower of the flock as a poetic designation for Jerusalem in a prophecy of restoration.