Hebrew word · H6971

קוֹף

vekofim

ape

Monkey or ape in a general sense. Hebrew had no scientific distinction between 'ape' and 'monkey'.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated November 15, 2026

What it means

ape

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: Monkey or ape in a general sense. Hebrew had no scientific distinction between 'ape' and 'monkey'.
Against the English: Most versions have 'apes'. In modern zoology 'ape' means tailless primates such as chimpanzees and gorillas, but the Hebrew word simply means 'monkey'. The animals were most likely monkeys or baboons.
How it drifted: Older English used 'ape' loosely for any monkey. Modern readers may picture great apes.
Used elsewhere in the period: It is a trade word found across languages: Egyptian gf/gwf, Akkadian uqūpu, Sanskrit kapi, and Greek kēpos/kēbos. Shalmaneser III's Black Obelisk (9th c. BC) shows monkeys led as tribute. Egyptian art shows monkeys imported from Punt.

1 Kings · 1

1 Kings 10:22 וְקֹפִ֖ים and monkeys

For the king had the ships of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s fleet, and once every three years the ships of Tarshish would arrive bearing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

Here: A borrowed word for monkeys, related to Egyptian g(j)f, Sanskrit kapi and Greek kēpos. These were exotic live animals kept as royal curiosities.

2 Chronicles · 1

2 Chronicles 9:21 וְקוֹפִ֖ים and monkeys

For the king had the ships of Tarshish that went with Hiram’s servants, and once every three years the ships of Tarshish would arrive bearing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

Here: Monkeys, kept as exotic prestige animals. The word is a traveling trade word with relatives in Egyptian and Sanskrit.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.