Ivory

Solomon’s throne was a showpiece: “the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold.” Ivory turns up in the Bible as a sign of wealth and beauty. It arrives by ship with gold, silver and peacocks in 1 Kings 10, fills the “ivory palaces” of a royal wedding song in Psalm 45, and shapes the poet’s praise of a beloved in the Song of Solomon, “a tower of ivory.” Near the end, Revelation 18 lists it among the cargo of a great trading city. Read 1 Kings 10 for the setting that makes it feel so grand.

6 verses

1 Kings

1 Kings 10:18

Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold.

1 Kings 10:22

For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

Psalms

Psalms 45:8

All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.

Song of Solomon

Song of Solomon 5:14

His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.

Song of Solomon 7:4

Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bathrabbim: thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus.

Revelation

Revelation 18:12

The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

(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.

Read the full entry

From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

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. (1 Kings 10:18; 2 Chronicles 9:17) The ivory thus employed was supplied by the caravans of Dedan, (Isaiah 21:13; Ezekiel 27:15) or was brought, with apes and peacocks, by the navy of Tarshish. (1 Kings 10:22) The "ivory house" of Ahab, (1 Kings 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. (Amos 6:4)