The modern-day myth of the unicorn (a horse with a horn) does not discredit the fact an animal was called or described as thus. In fact, the term may have referred to the single-horned rhinoceros (which we see today, but is endangered), or it may refer to some animal long since extinct (perhaps the Elasmotherium—this animal apparently resembles a horse, which if described thus could easily over time be exaggerated into being an actual horse with a horn, just as we see depicted today). Regardless, you cannot take modern day fictionalizations of unicorns (or dragons for that matter) and attempt to conclude that the use of such terms, such as in the Wycliffe through KJV Bibles, are automatically mythical. This is an unscientific approach.
"God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn" (Num. 23:22).
"God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows" (Num. 24:8).
"His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh" (Deut. 33:17).
"Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib? Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?" (Job 39:9-10).
"Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns" (Ps. 22:21).
"He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn" (Ps. 29:6).
"But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil" (Ps. 92:10).
“And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness” (Isa. 34:7).
When you consider these verses from the Geneva and KJV Bibles, the Elasmotherium or single-horned rhinoceros seem like likely candidates. What kind of strength does a horse have in contrast to that of a rhinoceros? The reference to the description of its strength should be noted; not just the name. This animal is obviously very powerful.
The Hebrew word rendered as unicorn in many of our older translations appears as riem (ראם), rieym (ראים), reym (רים), or rem (רם), which The Complete Word Study Dictionary Old Testament writes, "A masculine noun indicating a wild ox. It refers to a large animal with horns that are powerful offensive as well as defensive weapons." However, this definition is wrong, as we will see in a moment! The fact is, English translators from the past chose to translate it as unicorn for a reason. Rather than assume, based on modern ideas and concepts of what a "unicorn" is, we would do well to find out why these translators chose this word and what it meant to them. I am quite certain it was not the mythical one-horned horse we see depicted today. Chances could be quite possible that they were referring to an animal that we no longer see today; a very real and non-mythical animal referred to as the unicorn. However, I believe that we do see this animal today.
The Webster's New World Dictionary says of the word 'unicorn': "A mythical horse-like animal with a single horn growing from its forehead." The 1828 Noah Webster American Dictionary of the English Language says of the word 'unicorn': "An animal with one horn: the monoceros. This name is often applied to the rhinoceros." Notice how this definition says nothing about a "horse", a "horse-like animal", a "mythical animal", a "fictitious creature", or "Greek mythology"? It says this name is often applied to the rhinoceros. People frequently and erroneously think of rhinoceroses as having two horns. If you look up the word "rhinoceros" in the same dictionary, you read: "A genus of quadrupeds of two species, one of which, the unicorn, has a single horn growing almost erect from the nose. ... There is another species with two horns, the bicornis." Noah's original dictionary was written almost 200 years ago. The KJV Bible was translated over 400 years ago. The Wycliffe Bible was first published in 1382 and used the word 'unicorn'. So if the definition of the word 'unicorn' has changed in the last 200 years from a rhinoceros to a horse, it does not make sense to take a modern definition of the word 'unicorn' and apply it to a 400-year-old and a 600-year-old translation of the Bible. That is illogical.
Furthermore, it is interesting to note that the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures) translated these words as monokeros (μονοκερως), monokerotos (μονοκερωτος), and monokeroton (μονοκερωτων), which literally mean "one horn"; μονος "only, alone, without others" (i.e., "one") and κερας, "horn". Nearly 2,000 years before the Geneva and KJV Bibles were produced, the Hebrew scholars who translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek chose these words. The Latin Vulgate translates the first 5 passages as rinocerota, rinoceros, and rinocerotis (rhinoceros), while it translates the last 4 passages as unicornis , unicornes, and unicornium. The Douay-Rheims Latin Bible renders Psalm 29:6 as rinocerotis and Psalm 92:10 as monocerotis (Remember Noah Webster's definition? Remember the Septuagint's rendering?). Interestingly enough, the scientific name for the single-horned rhinoceros is Rhinoceros unicornis.
You see, in Deuteronomy 33:17, it says, "His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh." The Hebrew word for 'unicorn' is singular, whereas the Hebrew word for 'horns' is plural possessive. Now, look closer at this passage and what it says: "his horns are like the horns of unicorns"; and it goes on to say "they are the ten thousands of Ephraim" and "they are the thousands of Manasseh." Back in Genesis 48:19, it was prophesied that Ephraim would be greater than Manasseh. In the Latin Vulgate, the word 'unicorn' here is rinocerotis; the two-horned rhinoceros. Ever examine the horns of a two-horned Rhinoceros?
Ephraim is compared to the larger horn of the two-horned Rhinoceros, while Manasseh is compared to the smaller horn. Although the Wycliffe through KJV Bibles have a mistake here, they still had it right whereas our modern versions have it wrong. A wild bull or a wild ox is not a suitable translation for these passages. These translators have rendered it this way because, rather than believe the Bible and do their homework, they feared the Bible might have been referring to modern-day understanding of the mythical unicorn. We can trust our Bibles, people! Something to think about.
| Elasmotherium | Single-horned Rhinoceros |
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"God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn" (Num. 23:22).
"God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows" (Num. 24:8).
"His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh" (Deut. 33:17).
"Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib? Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?" (Job 39:9-10).
"Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns" (Ps. 22:21).
"He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn" (Ps. 29:6).
"But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil" (Ps. 92:10).
“And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness” (Isa. 34:7).
When you consider these verses from the Geneva and KJV Bibles, the Elasmotherium or single-horned rhinoceros seem like likely candidates. What kind of strength does a horse have in contrast to that of a rhinoceros? The reference to the description of its strength should be noted; not just the name. This animal is obviously very powerful.
The Hebrew word rendered as unicorn in many of our older translations appears as riem (ראם), rieym (ראים), reym (רים), or rem (רם), which The Complete Word Study Dictionary Old Testament writes, "A masculine noun indicating a wild ox. It refers to a large animal with horns that are powerful offensive as well as defensive weapons." However, this definition is wrong, as we will see in a moment! The fact is, English translators from the past chose to translate it as unicorn for a reason. Rather than assume, based on modern ideas and concepts of what a "unicorn" is, we would do well to find out why these translators chose this word and what it meant to them. I am quite certain it was not the mythical one-horned horse we see depicted today. Chances could be quite possible that they were referring to an animal that we no longer see today; a very real and non-mythical animal referred to as the unicorn. However, I believe that we do see this animal today.
The Webster's New World Dictionary says of the word 'unicorn': "A mythical horse-like animal with a single horn growing from its forehead." The 1828 Noah Webster American Dictionary of the English Language says of the word 'unicorn': "An animal with one horn: the monoceros. This name is often applied to the rhinoceros." Notice how this definition says nothing about a "horse", a "horse-like animal", a "mythical animal", a "fictitious creature", or "Greek mythology"? It says this name is often applied to the rhinoceros. People frequently and erroneously think of rhinoceroses as having two horns. If you look up the word "rhinoceros" in the same dictionary, you read: "A genus of quadrupeds of two species, one of which, the unicorn, has a single horn growing almost erect from the nose. ... There is another species with two horns, the bicornis." Noah's original dictionary was written almost 200 years ago. The KJV Bible was translated over 400 years ago. The Wycliffe Bible was first published in 1382 and used the word 'unicorn'. So if the definition of the word 'unicorn' has changed in the last 200 years from a rhinoceros to a horse, it does not make sense to take a modern definition of the word 'unicorn' and apply it to a 400-year-old and a 600-year-old translation of the Bible. That is illogical.
Furthermore, it is interesting to note that the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures) translated these words as monokeros (μονοκερως), monokerotos (μονοκερωτος), and monokeroton (μονοκερωτων), which literally mean "one horn"; μονος "only, alone, without others" (i.e., "one") and κερας, "horn". Nearly 2,000 years before the Geneva and KJV Bibles were produced, the Hebrew scholars who translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek chose these words. The Latin Vulgate translates the first 5 passages as rinocerota, rinoceros, and rinocerotis (rhinoceros), while it translates the last 4 passages as unicornis , unicornes, and unicornium. The Douay-Rheims Latin Bible renders Psalm 29:6 as rinocerotis and Psalm 92:10 as monocerotis (Remember Noah Webster's definition? Remember the Septuagint's rendering?). Interestingly enough, the scientific name for the single-horned rhinoceros is Rhinoceros unicornis.
You see, in Deuteronomy 33:17, it says, "His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh." The Hebrew word for 'unicorn' is singular, whereas the Hebrew word for 'horns' is plural possessive. Now, look closer at this passage and what it says: "his horns are like the horns of unicorns"; and it goes on to say "they are the ten thousands of Ephraim" and "they are the thousands of Manasseh." Back in Genesis 48:19, it was prophesied that Ephraim would be greater than Manasseh. In the Latin Vulgate, the word 'unicorn' here is rinocerotis; the two-horned rhinoceros. Ever examine the horns of a two-horned Rhinoceros?
Ephraim is compared to the larger horn of the two-horned Rhinoceros, while Manasseh is compared to the smaller horn. Although the Wycliffe through KJV Bibles have a mistake here, they still had it right whereas our modern versions have it wrong. A wild bull or a wild ox is not a suitable translation for these passages. These translators have rendered it this way because, rather than believe the Bible and do their homework, they feared the Bible might have been referring to modern-day understanding of the mythical unicorn. We can trust our Bibles, people! Something to think about.