רְאֵם

From the study of Psalm 22:21

Range of meaning

The wild ox or aurochs (Bos primigenius): a huge wild bull, standing up to about 1.8 m at the shoulder, with long forward-curving horns, famous for strength and untamability. Related words are Akkadian rīmu and Ugaritic rum, both meaning 'wild bull'.

Against the English

KJV 'unicorn(s)' follows the Greek Septuagint (monokerōs, 'one-horned') through the Latin (unicornis). Modern versions rightly say 'wild ox/oxen'. YLT's 'high places' treats the word as if it came from rûm, 'to be high', which is a misreading.

How it drifted

The Septuagint translators (3rd–2nd century BC) probably no longer knew the animal well, since the aurochs had become rare in the region. They may also have been thinking of side-view Mesopotamian reliefs where the two horns look like one. Later, 'unicorn' picked up its medieval fairy-tale meaning, so the KJV wording now suggests a mythical creature the Hebrew never meant.

Used elsewhere in the period

Numbers 23:22; 24:8 (God's strength 'like the horns of a wild ox'); Deuteronomy 33:17 ('his horns are the horns of a wild ox', where 'horns' is the dual, so the animal has two); Job 39:9–10 (it will not serve you or plough); Psalm 29:6; 92:10; Isaiah 34:7. Assyrian kings boasted of hunting rīmu alongside lions, as in the royal hunt inscriptions and reliefs of Tiglath-pileser I and Ashurnasirpal II.

From the study of Deuteronomy 33:17

Range of meaning

The aurochs (Bos primigenius), the wild ancestor of domestic cattle: enormous (up to about 1.8 m at the shoulder), fast, untameable, with long, forward-curving horns. In the Bible it stands for raw strength that cannot be harnessed (Job 39:9–12; Num 23:22; 24:8; Ps 22:21; 92:10).

Against the English

KJV 'unicorns'; YLT transliterates 'reem'; BSB, WEB, NIV and ESV have 'wild ox'. 'Wild ox' is accurate. 'Unicorn' brings in a one-horned creature the Hebrew never meant.

How it drifted

The Greek Septuagint (3rd–2nd century BC) chose monokerōs, 'one-horned', perhaps because the translators no longer knew the aurochs, or because reliefs show the animal in profile with one horn. The Latin followed with unicornis and, here, rinoceros. The KJV (1611) inherited 'unicorn' when the word meant a real, if exotic, beast. Today it means a fairy-tale horse.

Used elsewhere in the period

Akkadian rīmu, 'wild bull', is the same word. Assyrian kings, e.g. Tiglath-pileser I, boast of hunting rīmu, and Mesopotamian kings and gods are called 'wild bull' as a praise title. Ugaritic poetry also knows rumm. Septuagint here: κέρατα μονοκέρωτος, 'horns of a one-horned [beast]'.

From the study of Psalm 92:10

Range of meaning

The wild ox or aurochs (Bos primigenius), a very large wild bull with long forward-curving horns. It could not be domesticated and was proverbial for strength. Akkadian rīmu, which Assyrian kings boasted of hunting, is the same word.

Against the English

KJV 'unicorn', following the Greek monokerōs ('one-horned') and the Latin unicornis. Modern versions rightly have 'wild ox'. YLT simply transliterates 'reem'.

How it drifted

The Greek translators in the 3rd–2nd century BC chose monokerōs, perhaps thinking of the rhinoceros or of side-view art in which an ox's two horns look like one. This came into Latin and then into the 1611 KJV, by which time 'unicorn' meant the horse-like creature of legend. The aurochs died out in 1627, so the real animal was forgotten.

Used elsewhere in the period

Num 23:22; 24:8; Deut 33:17 ('his horns are the horns of a re'em', which is plural horns, so not a one-horned animal); Job 39:9–12 (it will not serve you or plough); Ps 22:21; 29:6; Isa 34:7. Assyrian royal hunt inscriptions (e.g. Tiglath-pileser I) record killing rīmu.