Saphir

Saphir, spelled Shaphir in the UPDV, is a town addressed in Micah's oracle against the cities of the Shephelah.

A City Under Micah's Judgment

The prophet calls upon Shaphir's inhabitant to march into exile stripped of dignity: "Pass by, O inhabitant of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame: the inhabitant of Zaanan has not come forth; the wailing of Beth-ezel will take from you⁺ its standing ground" (Mic 1:11). The verse pairs Shaphir with Zaanan and Beth-ezel in a chain of doomed neighboring towns, the wordplay between each town's name and its fate driving the lament.