God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.   Numbers 23:22 (KJV)

The Biblical Unicorn: King James and the Wild Ox For numerous reasons, I am a lover of unicorns. In fact, I have an entire site dedicated to these mystical beasties. This essay used to be part of that site, but now it resides here, given the nature of the material. Due to the nature of some of the email I receive regarding this particular page, I thought I'd update the page a little to include the following information. I am not an expert on Biblical history or ancient languages, nor do I claim to be. I don't read Latin, nor do I read Hebrew (although my husband reads some Koine Greek). What I am is someone who has been looking into a particular anomaly of translation found in one English translation of the Bible, the Authorised Version (known commonly as the King James Version), because it intrigues me. I cannot and do not necessarily think that all of the tidbits of information I've been able to gather are necessarily authoritative. In fact, I'm just collecting tidbits of information, and readers should take it as such. This is not a scholarly treatise. It's an offbeat hobby that I've been pursuing off and on for many years and which I felt like sharing because at least a few other people might find it interesting. The Authorised Version of the Bible in English, known far and wide as the King James Version, mentions unicorns. In fact, the word which is translated nine times as "unicorn" or "unicorns" is the Hebrew re'em. This Hebrew word is translated as "ox" or "wild ox" in every other English version of the Bible (including those translated before the King James). That's what re'em means: ox. The Hebrew word for unicorn (I am informed by a speaker/reader of Hebrew) is actually Had-Keren. My Hebrew isn't that good, but according to the Hebrew dictionary I have handy, keren (or qeren) means "horn" and had (or 'echad) is "one". The usual name for a unicorn in almost any language is "one-horn" (see: A Unicorn by Any Other Name). I am aware that there are those who insist that the King James Bible is perfect (apparently having fallen from heaven gift-wrapped and landing on the steps of Canterbury Cathedral in 1611), but I've done enough historical and Biblical research to know that the KJV, although a lovely work of poetic usage and expressive forms, is not The Official Word of God™ in English, any more than any other translation can claim to be. It's got errors, and this happens to be one of them. I therefore set out on a quest to find out how this particular translation had come about, and although I've been at it for years now, I still haven't got any truly authoritative answer. This is a pretty obscure question, it would seem. After some time and research, this is what I have come up with so far, as shared with me by a couple of different sources who are better versed in Latin and/or Greek than I am: Apparently, the translators simply didn't know what a re'em was meant to be. Other examples of this occur in the KJV (such as the behemouth and leviathan, which are simply transliterated rather than translated), so this isn't too great of a leap of logic. In consulting the Latin Vulgate, it was seen that this word, re'em, was given as monoceras. Ah-hah! Unicorn! However, it's far more likely that the reason the Vulgate gives that word as monoceras is from the ancient Mediterranean custom of depicting a bull (or ox) in profile, with only one horn visible. That's one thing I was told, and from my own education in art history I know that it's true about the bull in profile, but that's as far as I can verify. Here's another possible explanation (I have to admit that as I do not read Latin, I am almost wholly unfamiliar with the Latin Vulgate). This was shared with me via email (and appears on this page by permission of the correspondant, Bruno Faidutti, a professor of history who knows a great deal more about the Latin Vulgate and the Greek Septuagint than I do): A little funny note about psalm 92. You quote it in English from the KJV, but did you notice that the Vulgate version writes libera me ab ore leonis et a cornibus unicornium humilitatem meam, which means "save me from the wrath of the lion and the horns of the unicorn" (yes, plural, the horns of the unicorn!). BTW, you made a little mistake in your page about the translation of re'em. The Vulgate uses unicornis and not monoceros. It was translated from the greek Septuagesint, and not directly from the Hebrew. The Septuagesint writes monoceros where the Hebrew wrote re'em. The Vulgate writes unicornis, and one or two times rhinoceros, where the Septuagesint wrote re'em. However, there is an authentic unicorn in the Bible, in Daniel 8:5. Just for interest, Daniel 8:5 (this is from the New Revised Standard Version) reads: As I was watching, a male goat appeared from the west, coming across the face of the whole earth without touching the ground. The goat had a horn between its eyes. From one Brian Tegart, a gentleman who has made a hobby of studying the King James Bible (versus other translations) I got this information: Interesting note about the Vulgate's rendition of Psa 22:21, where the "unicorn" was singular but the "horns" were plural. A similar thing is happening in the Hebrew of Deuteronomy 33:17. In the Hebrew, "horns" is plural and "unicorn" is singular, but the KJV has "unicorns" plural. Compare to the other Bibles, (NIV, NASB, etc) they have "wild ox" (singular) instead of "wild oxen" (plural). Even the NKJV is singluar. The Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the OT) has "monoceros" in the "unicorn" verses, as your page indicates. Translated literally "mono" means "one", and "ceros" means "horn", ie. "one horn". Interesting that there IS good reason to translate the word as "unicorn" in the KJV, but it still seems wrong, if you know what I mean. An email I got from a gentleman named Michael also provided an extremely valuable and interesting bit of information regarding the Biblical unicorn. It seems that the Geneva Bible (which dates back to 1560) has the same mistranslation of the Hebrew word re'em as is found in the King James. Since the KJV did, indeed, reference previous translations (note: not "translated from", but only checked for reference, style, etc.), I'm wondering now if perhaps the KJV got the notion of the re'em-unicorn (presented in the Geneva Bible as "vnicorne") there? (Do note that the so-called "New Geneva Bible" apparently uses the text of the King James, and isn't actually a modern version of the original Geneva Bible). So, there you go. If you have another theory or explanation, please do share it with me, but don't bother to tell me that the King James is perfect and everyone else in the entire world is just mistaken about the character of a re'em. It's also interesting to note that the unicorn was very often used as a symbol of Christ in Medieval and Renaissance allegorical works. Just to call one particular work to mind, I recall a tapestry of a unicorn touching waters with his horn, as the other animals all look on. This was symbolic of how Christ purified corrupted humanity from sin. A Medieval Folksong The nightingale among them Sang sweet and loud and long, Until a greater voice than hers Rang out above her song. For suddenly, among the crags, Along the narrow vale, The echoes of a hunting horn Came clear upon the gale. The hunter stood beside me Who blew that mighty horn I saw that he was hunting The gentle unicorn -- But the unicorn is noble, He knows his gentle birth He knows that God has chosen him, Above all beasts of earth. The unicorn is noble; He keeps him safe and high, Upon a narrow path and steep, Climbing to the sky, And there no man can take him, He scorns the hunter's dart And only a virgin's mighty power Shall tame his haughty heart. What would be now the state of us, But for this unicorn? And what would be the fate of us, Poor sinners, lost, forlorn? Oh, may He lead us on and up, Unworthy though we be, Into His Father's kingdom, To dwell eternally! And as God asked rhetorically of Job (39:9-10 (KJV)): 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? Obviously, Job's answer was a humbled, "No." No man can bind the unicorn into service. That's something only God can properly manage... New Main Menu About Contact General Writings Index

But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil   Psalms 92:10 (KJV)
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