EASTON’S BIBLE DICTIONARY (1897 EDITION)
Ape – an animal of the monkey tribe (1 Kings 10:22; 2 Chr. 9:21).
It was brought from India by the fleets of Solomon and Hiram, and was called by the Hebrews koph_, and by the Greeks _kepos, both words being just the Indian Tamil name of the monkey, kapi, i.e., swift, nimble, active.
No species of ape has ever been found in Palestine or the adjacent regions.