A Grievous Wolf - Time for Truth

“He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn” Psalm 29:6.
The unicorn is associated with strength in scripture, like the ox.
“God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn” Numbers 23:22.
Note again that Numbers 23:22 is the first mention of the unicorn in scripture and see also Numbers
24:8 above.
“That our oxen may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no
complaining in our streets” Psalm 144:14.
“Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox” Proverbs 14:4.
However, the unicorn is not an ox, nor is it a wild ox.
As indicated above, Deuteronomy 14:5 shows that the King’s men were aware of the expression “wild
ox” but it is clearly not a substitute for “unicorn” because Deuteronomy 14:4 states that wild oxen can
be eaten. Unicorns are never said to be available as human food.
Dr Gerardus D. Bouw states in The Book of Bible Problems* p 238, that wild oxen can be tamed to
serve human masters, for example by ploughing and harrowing fields. By contrast, Job 39:9-10 show
that unicorns cannot be so tamed.
*Publisher: Association for Biblical Astronomy, 4527 Wetzel Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, 44109, USA.
“Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib? Canst thou bind the unicorn with his
band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?”
The questions clearly imply negative answers, showing again that unicorns are not wild oxen.
As Dr Bouw also points out, Psalm 92:10 shows that a unicorn definitely has only one horn, unlike a
wild ox.
“But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.”
The strength of the unicorn Numbers 23:22, 24:8 may also be likened to “the strength of the horse”
Psalm 147:10. The context of some of the verses that follow is a warning against trusting in chariots
and horses instead of in “the name of the LORD our God” Psalm 20:7 for deliverance but they still
emphasise the horse’s strength, nevertheless.
“Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?” Job 39:19.
“An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength” Psalm 33:17.
“He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man” Psalm
147:10.
“Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they
are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel,
neither seek the LORD!” Isaiah 31:1.
“The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing
of his strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city,
and those that dwell therein” Jeremiah 8:16. Note the resemblance of Jeremiah 8:16 with Numbers
24:8.
“At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at
the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands;”
Jeremiah 47:10.
God has clearly alluded to oxen, calves and horses to depict unicorns but unicorns themselves are none
of these creatures. Dr Bouw has this compelling observation, this writer’s emphases.
“Sightings of unicorns date as recently as the eighteenth century. Recorded unicorn sightings come
from India, Ethiopia, Abyssinia, Mecca, China, Persia, and even Canada. The description does not fit
any animal alive today, especially given that the horn is reported to be from two to three feet long.
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