chrisberez

I've heard that the bible acctually mentions unicorns? Is this true, and if so where?

cpickett

Job 39:9-10
Deuteronomy 33:17
Numbers 23:22 and 24:8
Psalm 22:21, 29:6 and 92:10
Isaiah 34:7

Google is your friend ... But I wouldn't go around saying the bible says unicorns exist, I belive that the hebrew word simply means "one horn", which could be any number of animals...

The Midge

In the NIV and New American Standard version: no. However the King James has the following references.

Nu 23:22 God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.
Nu 24:8 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.
Job 39:9 Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?
Job 39:10 Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?
Ps 29:6 He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.
Ps 92:10 But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.

They are all metaphors however. It does not amount to a belief in unicorns.

Madkins007

The actual word in question is "~ar" or "R@'em", used 9 times in the Bible.

The KJV translates it as 'unicorn', other versions use gazelle, antelopes, or other livestock.

The Strongs Concordance online I use (http://bible.crosswalk.com/Lexicons/...14&version=kjv) says:
"probably the great aurochs or wild bulls which are now extinct. The exact meaning is not known."

One problem with ancinet Hebrew (as I understand it) is that in some cases, we just have too few examples of some words or phrases to state with absolute assurance what some of them mean.

What I find intersting about this example, however is that it MIGHT tie into the story of Behemoth in Job- what some people try to make out ot be a dinosaur, elephant, hippo, or other animal. The actual description is pretty consistant with a water buffalo or something similar- possibly a auroch.

Dean Anderson

The bible also talks about...

Giants (Gen 6:4, Num 13:33, Deut 2:11, etc.) - the Hebrew hnplym
Dragons (Ps 74:13, Ps 91:13, Is 27:1, Jer 10:22, etc.) - the Hebrew tnym or Greek drakwn
Satyrs (Is 13:21, Is 34:14) in some translations
Lamia (Is 34:14) in some translations
..and, of course...
Behemoth and Leviathan
(oh - and a talking snake!)

Some of these would appear to be artefacts of the translation process, so it is hard to establish which of these mythological beasts the writers themselves believed in and which are mistranslations of more mundane animals (or indeed which are just metaphor).

lpetrich

I've seen the theory that Biblical unicorns were originally wild oxen. But they got called unicorns because they were hunted to extinction, and the most common depictions of them were in profile, giving the misleading impression that they have only one horn.

From Asimov's Guide to the Bible, IIRC.

callmejay

Don't forget the talking ass (donkey.)