apes Summary and Overview

(Heb. kophim) are mentioned in #1Ki 10:22| and 2Chr 9:21 There can be little doubt that the apes were brought from the same country which supplied ivory and peacocks, both of which are common in Ceylon; and Sir E. Tennent has drawn attention to the fact that the Tamil names for apes, ivory and peacocks are identical with the Hebrew.

APES . 1 Kgs 10:22. Probably a generic term for a variety of animals of the monkey-tribe. The rude resemblance of these creatures to the human race, both in figure and physical capacity, is well known. Apes are not natives of Palestine or adjacent regions, but were among the articles of merchandise imported from Ophir in Solomon's ships. The ape was an object of worship among the Egyptians, and is still such in many parts of India. We have an account of a temple in India, dedicated to the worship of the ape, supported by seven hundred columns not inferior to those of the Roman Pantheon. An ape's tooth was found by the Portuguese when they pillaged the island of Ceylon many years since, and so desirous were they to redeem it as an object of devout worship that the kings of the country offered nearly seventy-five thousand dollars for it.

Imported once every three years in Solomon's and Hiram's Tarshish fleets (1 Kings 10:22; 2 Chronicles 9:21). Hebrew; quoph. The ape in Sanskrit is called kapi, "ramble;" Greek kepos, akin to English ape. Solomon, as a naturalist, collected specimens from various lands. Tarshish is identified by Sir Emerson Tennent with some Ceylon seaport; so the apes (quophim) brought to Solomon probably came from Ceylon, which abounds also in "ivory and peacocks." The Tamil names moreover, for "apes," "ivory," and "peacocks," are identical with the Hebrew. Others think Ophir was on the E. African coast; then the apes would be of Ethiopia.