Aramaic word · H7162

קֶ֫רֶן

keren

horn

A horn of an animal. It can also be a horn used as an instrument (3:5). As a symbol it means strength, power, royal might. It is related to Hebrew qeren with the same range.

A Biblical Aramaic word, from the parts of the Old Testament written in Aramaic. Why Aramaic?

Appears 14 times in 10 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) horn

1a) as musical instrument

1b) symbolic (in visions)

1c) of an animal

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Daniel 7:7

Range of meaning

A horn of an animal. It can also be a horn used as an instrument (3:5). As a symbol it means strength, power, royal might. It is related to Hebrew qeren with the same range.

Against the English

All versions say 'horns', which is right. But modern readers may picture either a literal oddity or devil's horns. An ancient hearer heard 'power' and 'kings'.

How it drifted

Medieval art gave devils horns, and modern readers have lost the biblical symbol of horn as strength.

Used elsewhere in the period

Hebrew Bible: 'my horn is exalted in the LORD' (1 Sam 2:1, 10); 'all the horns of the wicked I will cut off' (Ps 75:10); four horns that scattered Judah are foreign powers (Zech 1:18-21). Daniel 8:20-22 explicitly explains horns as kings of Media-Persia and Greece. Across the ancient Near East horned headdresses marked gods and deified kings. Alexander the Great was depicted on coins with the ram's horns of Zeus-Ammon.

From the study of Daniel 7:8

Range of meaning

An animal's horn. A horn used as a musical instrument (Daniel 3:5). Most often in symbolic use, a horn means strength, aggressive power and especially royal power. 'To lift up the horn' means to raise someone to power or to be proud.

Against the English

Every English version says 'horn', which is correct. But a modern reader may picture only an animal feature or a trumpet. To an ancient reader a horn on a beast's head meant a king and the power he holds.

How it drifted

English has no living use of 'horn' for power, so the symbol has to be explained to be understood.

Used elsewhere in the period

Hebrew Bible: 'he will exalt the horn of his anointed' (1 Samuel 2:10); 'do not lift up your horn' meaning 'do not be arrogant' (Psalm 75:4–5); four horns that scattered Judah (Zechariah 1:18–21); Joseph's horns as the strength of a wild ox (Deuteronomy 33:17). In Mesopotamian art a horned crown marked a god or a deified king. Coins of Alexander's successors showed rulers with horns: Alexander with the ram's horns of Zeus-Ammon, and Seleucus I with bull's horns. Daniel itself explains the symbol: 'the ten horns are ten kings' (7:24); in 8:20–21 the horns are the kings of Media-Persia and Greece.

Where it appears

Daniel · 14

  1. Daniel 3:5 קַרְנָ֣א horn the

    As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.

  2. Daniel 3:7 קַרְנָא֩ horn the

    Therefore, as soon as all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, and all kinds of music, the people of every nation and language would fall down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

  3. Daniel 3:10 קַרְנָ֣א horn the

    You, O king, have issued a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music must fall down and worship the golden statue,

  4. Daniel 3:15 קַרְנָ֣א horn the

    Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the statue I have made, very good. But if you refuse to worship, you will be thrown at once into the blazing fiery furnace. Then what god will be able to deliver you from my hands?”

    Here: An animal horn or a horn-shaped wind instrument used for signals. It comes first, which suits a call to action.

  5. Daniel 7:7 וְקַרְנַ֥יִן and horns

    After this, as I watched in my vision in the night, suddenly a fourth beast appeared, and it was terrifying—dreadful and extremely strong—with large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed; then it trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the beasts before it, and it had ten horns.

    Here: 'And horns'. In the biblical world a horn is the emblem of an animal's (and a ruler's) strength. Verse 24 explains these horns as kings.

  6. Daniel 7:8 בְּקַרְנַיָּ֗א קֶ֣רֶן קַרְנַיָּא֙ בְּקַרְנָא־ <in> horns the, a horn, horns the, [were] on horn the

    While I was contemplating the horns, suddenly another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like those of a man and a mouth that spoke words of arrogance.

    Here: 'The horns', meaning the ten horns of the fourth beast just mentioned in 7:7. Verse 7:24 later explains them as ten kings.

  7. Daniel 7:11 קַרְנָ֖א horn the

    Then I kept watching because of the arrogant words the horn was speaking. As I continued to watch, the beast was slain, and its body was destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire.

  8. Daniel 7:20 קַרְנַיָּ֤א וְקַרְנָ֨א horns the, and horn the

    I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell—the horn whose appearance was more imposing than the others, with eyes and with a mouth that spoke words of arrogance.

  9. Daniel 7:21 וְקַרְנָ֣א and horn the

    As I watched, this horn was waging war against the saints and prevailing against them,

  10. Daniel 7:24 וְקַרְנַיָּ֣א and horns the

    And the ten horns are ten kings who will rise from this kingdom. After them another king, different from the earlier ones, will rise and subdue three kings.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.