Elephant

The elephant is not named directly in the canonical Hebrew or Greek text of Scripture, but it is present indirectly: the word translated "ivory" in the Old Testament (Hebrew shen-habbim, literally "tooth of the elephant" or "tooth of ivory") indicates the animal's product was well-known in Israel, even if the animal itself was not native to Canaan. Solomon's great ivory throne (1 Kings 10:18) and the ivory palaces and beds of wealthy Israelites condemned by Amos (Amos 3:15; 6:4) all presuppose extensive trade in elephant ivory from Africa and India.

The Greek word elephantinos (ivory) in Revelation 18:12 appears in the list of luxury goods that the merchants of the great city traded. War elephants appear prominently in the deuterocanonical books of 1 and 2 Maccabees, where the Seleucid armies deployed them against the Jewish forces of Judas Maccabaeus — and Eleazar Maccabaeus died in a famous incident by driving a spear beneath an elephant he believed to carry the king (1 Maccabees 6:43–46). The elephant thus appears in biblical tradition primarily as a symbol of luxury trade and military power.