UNICORNS, BIBLE, CERATOPSIAN, DINOSAUR, RE-EM, MONOKEROS, MONOCLONIUS, RINOKEROS, NOSE-HORN, TRICERATOPS

UNICORNS IN THE BIBLE??

Hello all my fine friends out there! How have you all been this past week? I had a dear sister in Christ visit for the weekend and what a wonderful time we had. She loves creation science as well and we had some great talks about ancient man and also about dinosaurs. 

So speaking of dinosaurs….last week we discussed what the unicorn could possibly be. It is mentioned nine times in the Bible and both the auroch (the huge bovine creature) and the elasmotherium (a giant extinct rhinoceros) fit the bill. But there is one other animal that also fits the descriptions found in the Bible... a Ceratopsian Dinosaur. 

Genesis Park has researched this and written the following article:

“The “unicorn,” mentioned nine times in the KJV Bible, is the Hebrew word “Re-em.” The Septuagint (Greek translation of the

Old Testament) translated it “Monokeros” (one-horn) which was used in Bibles until the 19th century when Akkadian and Ugaritic records were found that mentioned the “Re-em” being hunted like a wild ox. However, their early pictograph for the “Re-em” shows an animal head with three horns, like a Triceratops. In Psalm 92:10 the “Re-em” has but one horn, while the language or Deuteronomy 33:17 implies two horns. Although most commentators and modern versions translate it as a bull or rhino, some have theorized that “Re-em” might be a Monoclonius (single horned dinosaur like Triceratops). In Job 39:9-12 God asks, “Will the unicorn be willing to serve you, or abide by your crib? Can you bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after you? Wilt you trust him, because his strength is great?” This passage shows that the unicorn, whatever it was, could not be tamed to be used in farming, as could an ox.

“In his classic work Naturalis Historia the first century author Pliny the Elder described “an exceedingly wild beast called the Monoceros [one-horned]. …It makes a deep lowing noise, and one black horn two cubits long projects from the middle of its forehead.” He describes it as like an elephant in length, but with much shorter legs. Other classical authors like Aelian, Oppian, and Martial also mention a “nose-horn” creature (a “Rinokeros”). Some claim that the “Rinokeros” sharpens his horn on a rock and utilizes it in fighting elephants. This is the root word from which we get the modern name rhinoceros, but the ancient descriptions do not fit the rhino very well (even though some species do have one horn). Rhinos do not have a true horn that attaches to the skull. Rather it is made of keratin, a hair-like substance that is similar to our fingernails. The correlation between the classical authors and some modern cryptozoological reports is striking. Dr. Roy Mackal’s explorations in the Congo brought back reports of a rare, single-horned animal called “Emela-ntouka” or “killer of elephants.” In a recent expedition, pygmies in Cameroon identified the horned creature (there called “Ngoubou”) with a ceratopsian dinosaur and claimed it could sport from one to four horns. Indeed, modern researchers believe that the ceratopsian dinosaurs likely did use their great horn for combat (Dodson, Peter, The Horned Dinosaurs:A Natural History, 1996, p.123.)”¹ genesispark.com

How fascinating is that! We often tend to forget just how big the Congo swamp is and just how dense it is with vegetation. It is not only reasonable to think, but quite likely that there are animals roaming the swamps’ interior that we have not yet discovered. Someday someone might just get a snapshot of one of these unicorns!

God bless and take care,

Until next time,

Willow Dressel 

This week in the night skies; The First Quarter Moon is Tuesday September 2nd.  For the northern lats; “The Great Square of Pegasus is well up in the east as soon as nightfall is complete. It's larger than your fist at arm's length and currently stands on one corner.”

For the southern skies; “Mercury climbs higher in the evening sky. Mars and Saturn are prominent in the evening sky, forming a nice triangle with Alpha Libra (Zubenelgenubi). The trio are visited by the Moon on the 31st and September 1. This is the last week to see Venus is low in the morning twilight. Jupiter rises higher.”

References:

¹http://www.genesispark.com/exhibits/evidence/scriptural/is-the-re-em-a-ceratopsian-dinosaur/

Photos: dreamtime.com; superstock.com; dinosaur-world.com