Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Mystery of the Existence of Unicorns


According to the King James translation of the Bible, Unicorns exist.  They are mentioned in 9 verses.  For example Job 39:9-10 says, "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?"

This is not some mythological creature Job is talking about.  It is quite evident that God is speaking of a actual creature.  Can we be expected to believe that unicorns at one time existed?  If they did, could they even be alive today?  The problem lies in not what is written in the text, but in our understanding of what is written. 

When we hear the word unicorn we think of a horse with a long spiraling horn jutting out from its forehead, but the definition found in the 1828 edition of Noah Webster's Dictionary says, "an animal with one horn; the monoceros.  this name is often applied to the rhinoceros."

When the King James Bible was written people who read it understood that a unicorn was a rhinoceros and not some horse with a strange growth protruding out of its head. Sometimes our modern western eyes, come up with some strange ideas of what God is saying?  KJV was translated over 400 years ago in 1611, not 2011. It is a great translation, but you have to read it from the 17th century Englishman's prospective.

"Study to shew thyself approve unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15

Photo Credit: Unicorn by plaisanter

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