PEACOCK (תֻכִּיִּֽים, peacock all Eng. VSS). This occurs in one context only (1 Kings 10:22, repeated in 2 Chron 9:21). A further reference in Job 39:13 is incorrect; RSV tr. is preferred, “the wings of the ostrich wave proudly.” This word is not from a Heb. root, and several suggestions have been made; e.g., Dr. Albright regards it as coming from an Egyp. word ky, meaning “ape” or “baboon” (see also AJSL, XXXVII [1921], 144). However, the Tamil word for peacock (spoken in areas of India and Ceylon where it is native) is tokei, and this tr. has been widely accepted. The association with gold, silver, ivory, and apes does not help. Gold, silver, and apes come from various sources; ivory was obtained then, as now, from both Asiatic and African elephants, but tusks of the former were more likely to be imported by sea to a Red Sea port, to which some vessels came.

For many centuries, peacocks have been ornamental birds in the W, gracing stately parks and gardens, and they were the kind of showy gift that sailors would try to bring back. Phoenician traders had taken peacocks to Egypt before the time of Solomon, though they did not reach Greece until toward the 4th cent. b.c. The identification is therefore possible, though by no means certain.