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Does the Does the Bible support the existence of unicorns, which are mentioned in some versions?

The King James, Douay, and other versions, mention unicorns. (Psalm 22:21)

Over the centuries many myths have developed about an animal with the body and head of a horse but having the legs of a deer and the tail of a lion. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of this legendary creature is the single twisted horn on its forehead.

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  • 8 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    One candidate for the original model for the unicorn is the Asian Rhino:

    "But that the fiercest animal is the Unicorn (Monokeros), which in the rest of the body resembles a horse, but in the head a stag, in the feet an elephant, and in the tail a boar, and has a deep bellow, and a single black horn three feet long projecting from the middle of the forehead. They say that it is impossible to capture this animal alive." - Pliny the Elder (1st century)

    The animal translated as Monoceros or Unicorn in some versions of the Bible is probably the Aurochs or an antelope, or something similar, satyrs are probably goats. Don't forget the Old Testament was Hebrew, not Greek (Monoceros) as parts of the New Testament were, or Latin (Unicornis). (English would be One-Horn or Single-Horned.)

    The King James Version at Psalm 22:21 does refer to "unicorns", but other translations refer to "wild oxen".

  • NDMA
    Lv 7
    8 years ago

    The Natural History by Pliny the Elder refers to Unicorns as an actual living Creature as does as does Ctesias, Claudius Aelianus all asserting actually seeing the animal. Aristotle also makes mention of the unicorn although he does so based on the writings of others... There is little question the unicorn was a real animal that lived within the period of recorded history. The Hebrew word translated 'unicorn' in the Bible is not precise so it is not clear if it is referring to the same creature as the Greeks...

    It is doubtful that the historical creature referred to by the Greeks and in the Bible was the mythologized creature we recognize as the unicorn today an those attempting to make that comparison are being somewhat childish...

  • 8 years ago

    No. The 'unicorn' is a creature of fantasy.

    The animal referred to in the Bible was the "wild ox, or, bull".

    The Scriptures refer to an animal by the Hebrew term reʼem′, nine times.

    (Nu. 23:22; 24:8; Deu. 33:17; Job 39:9, 10; Ps. 22:21; 29:6; 92:10; Isa. 34:7)

    "The Greek Septuagint rendered reʼem′ with the sense ‘of one horn,’ or unicorn.

    The Latin Vulgate often translates it as “rhinoceros.”

    Other versions use ‘wild ox,’ ‘wild beasts,’ or ‘buffalo.’

    Robert Young simply transliterates the Hebrew into English as 'Reem'.

    "Modern scholars, though, have eliminated much confusion over the reʼem′.

    Lexicographers Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner show that it means 'wild oxen,'

    with the scientific identification Bos primigenius, a 'subfamily of the large horned ungulate family.'

    The New Encyclopædia Britannica explains:

    “Certain poetical passages of the [OT] refer to a strong, splendid horned animal called reʼem′.

    This word is translated ‘unicorn’ or ‘rhinoceros’ in many versions, but many modern translations prefer ‘wild ox’ (aurochs), which is the correct meaning of the Hebrew reʼem′.”

    "Since in current English “ox” has the sense of a castrated male, the

    New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures consistently & correctly renders reʼem′ “wild bull.”

    "The wild ox or bull seems to have become extinct by the 17th century. . .

    The ancient aurochs had a body height of about six feet [1.8 m], a length of some ten feet [3 m].

    It might weigh 2,000 lbs [900 kg], & each of its 2 horns could be over 30 inches [75 cm] long. . ."

    .

    Source(s): Questions From Readers: - "Does the Bible support the existence of unicorns, which are mentioned in some versions?" An article found in the 1992, July 1st issue of the Watchtower, pg. 31.
  • 8 years ago

    I think that it was a real creature, but may have been embellished by fantasy believers. I ran across this statement by some one I forgot the name.-------He wrote that he "came across a great article defending this passage this week. It was written by a man named Will Kinney. I have never heard of him before, but he offered an interesting guess as to what the unicorn might be. One definite possibility is the Indian rhinoceros, of which there are still about 2000 alive today. They used to cover large areas, but are now limited to India and Nepal. They weigh about 4,500 pounds, can run at over 20 miles an hour; they have one large horn on the snout and their scientific name is Rhinoceros UNICORNIS."..The Bible says there were unicorns, so there were, or still are a few.

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  • Anonymous
    8 years ago

    Nope, unicorns are ALL horse, ALL the time, with the ADDition of a single horn. They are not mixed with deers feet and lion tails.

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