ivory Summary and Overview

(Heb. pl. shenhabbim, the "tusks of elephants") was early used in decorations by the Egyptians, and a great trade in it was carried on by the Assyrians (Ezek. 27:6; Rev. 18:12). It was used by the Phoenicians to ornament the box-wood rowing-benches of their galleys, and Hiram's skilled workmen made Solomon's throne of ivory (1 Kings 10:18). It was brought by the caravans of Dedan (Isa. 21:13), and from the East Indies by the navy of Tarshish (1 Kings 10:22). Many specimens of ancient Egyptian and Assyrian ivory-work have been preserved. The word "habbim" is derived from the Sanscrit "ibhas", meaning "elephant," preceded by the Hebrew article (ha); and hence it is argued that Ophir, from which it and the other articles mentioned in 1 Kings 10:22 were brought, was in India.

The word translated "ivory" literally signifies the "tooth" of any animal, and hence more especially denotes the substance of the projecting tusks of elephants. The skilled work-men of Hiram, king of Tyre, fashioned the great ivory throne of Solomon, and overlaid it with pure gold. #1Ki 10:18; 2Ch 9:17| The ivory thus employed was supplied by the caravans of Dedan, #Isa 21:13; Eze 27:15| or was brought, with apes and peacocks, by the navy of Tarshish. #1Ki 10:22| The "ivory house" of Ahab, #1Ki 22:39| was probably a palace, the walls of which were panelled with ivory, like the palace of Menelaus described by Homer. Odys. iv. 73. Beds inlaid or veneered with ivory were in use among the Hebrews. #Am 6:4|

I'VORY (tooth), the substance of the tusk of the elephant. From the meaning of the Hebrew word, it is seen that the Jews of Solomon's time understood that it was obtained from a tooth, not from a horn. That which is brought from Ceylon is regarded as most valuable. It was among the merchandise of Tyre, Eze 27:15, and Tarshish. 1 Kgs 10:22. Solomon's throne was built of it, 2 Chr 9:17, 2 Chr 9:21; and so lavishly was it used in various kinds of architecture and in cabinet-work as to justify the expressions found in Am 3:15; Am 6:4 and Eze 27:6. "Ivory palaces," Ps 45:8, probably refers to boxes richly wrought or inlaid with ivory, in which perfume was kept.

sheen, "tooth" or "tusk", namely, of the elephant. There is no Hebrew word in Scripture for the elephant, for the Israelites knew of the elephant first only by its ivory, which was imported from Africa and India. The African elephant exceeds the Indian in the size of the ear and of the tusks, the latter of which are often eight or ten feet long and weigh from 100 to 120 lbs. From the resemblance of its tusks to horns Ezekiel 27:15 has "horns of ivory." "Palaces of ivory" mean ornamented with ivory (Psalm 45:8). So Ahab's palace (1 Kings 22:39). Amos (Amos 3:15) foretells the destruction of the luxurious "houses of ivory" having their walls, doors, and ceilings inlaid with it; also "beds of ivory" (Amos 6:4), i.e. veneered with it. In 1 Kings 10:22 and 2 Chronicles 9:21 sheen habbim is the term "the teeth of elephants"; Sanskrit ibhas, Coptic eboy, Assyrian habba in the inscriptions. Gesenius would read sheen habenim, "ivory (and) ebony." On the Assyrian obelisk in the British Museum tribute bearers are seen carrying tusks; specimens of carvings in ivory were found in Nimrud, and tablets inlaid with blue and opaque glass. "All manner vessels of ivory" are in mystic Babylon (Revelation 18:12). Solomon made a great throne of ivory overlaid with gold (1 Kings 10:18-20); the ivory was brought in the navy of Tarshish, probably from the S. coasts of Arabia, which maintained from ancient times commercial intercourse with both India and Ethiopia. In Ezekiel 27:6 we read "the Ashurites have made thy (Tyre's) benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim"; rather, as the Hebrew orthography requires, "they have made thy (rowing) benches of ivory, inlaid in the daughter of cedars" or "the best boxwood" (bath ashurim), from Cyprus and Macedonia, from whence the best boxwood came (Pliny).