קֶ֫רֶן

From the study of Psalm 18:2

Range of meaning

An animal's horn (ram, wild ox). It also means a horn used as a container for oil (1 Samuel 16:1), the horn-shaped corners of an altar, and sometimes a hilltop or a ray of light. Figuratively it stands for strength, dignity and victorious power, and 'to raise someone's horn' means to give them victory and honour.

Against the English

Literal versions keep 'horn' without explaining it. NLT turns it into 'the power that saves me', which conveys the meaning but drops the image. Many modern readers picture a musical horn, which the Hebrew word does not mean here (the ram's-horn trumpet is shofar).

How it drifted

Most English speakers no longer think of a horned animal as the obvious picture of strength, so the image now reads as obscure or as a trumpet.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deuteronomy 33:17 (Joseph's horns like a wild ox, goring nations); 1 Samuel 2:1, 10 (Hannah: 'my horn is exalted'; God 'will exalt the horn of his anointed'); Psalm 89:17, 24; 92:10; 132:17 ('there I will make a horn sprout for David'). Luke 1:69 echoes this verse: 'a horn of salvation (keras sōtērias) in the house of David.'

From the study of Psalm 148:14

Range of meaning

Literally the horn of an animal: ox, ram, wild ox. It also means the 'horns' (corner projections) of an altar, a horn used as a flask for oil (1 Sam 16:1), and the peak of a hill (Isa 5:1). Figuratively it means strength, power, dignity and victory. 'Raising the horn' is to vindicate or give honour. 'Cutting off' or 'lowering' it is to humiliate (Ps 75:10; Lam 2:3, 17).

Against the English

Every major English version keeps 'horn', which saves the image but leaves many readers puzzled, or thinking of a trumpet. NLT turns it into plain sense ('made his people strong'). That is clear, but it drops the picture of a proud beast lifting its head, and the royal echoes go with it.

How it drifted

Modern English 'horn' mainly means a musical or car horn, and the animal symbol of strength has largely faded from the language. The Hebrew word for a ram's-horn trumpet is a different one (shofar).

Used elsewhere in the period

Hannah's song: Yahweh 'exalts the horn of his anointed' (1 Sam 2:1, 10, using the same verb). Ps 89:17, 24; 92:10 ('you have exalted my horn like the wild ox'); 112:9; Ps 132:17 ('I will make a horn sprout for David'). The Hebrew text of Ben Sira 51:12 (the extra psalm-like litany) seems to quote this very line almost word for word. In Dan 7–8 horns stand for kings. In the New Testament, Luke 1:69 ('a horn of salvation in the house of David') picks up the Davidic form of the image.

From the study of Isaiah 5:1

Range of meaning

Horn of an animal; a horn used as a container for oil (1 Sam 16:1) or as a trumpet; the 'horns' or projecting corners of an altar; and, as a picture, strength or power ('he has lifted up my horn'). Here, uniquely in the Bible, it means a hill shaped like a horn, a jutting spur or peak.

Against the English

'Hill' (BSB, KJV, WEB, ESV), 'hillside' (NIV). These give the sense but drop the picture of a horn-shaped spur standing out from the land, which suggests sun exposure, drainage and prominence.

Used elsewhere in the period

Arabic qarn is used in a similar way for a mountain peak, which supports the topographical sense. The Septuagint keeps 'on a horn' (en kerati) and the Vulgate 'in cornu', both literal.