Unicorn

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The Hebrew word is reem, translated in the LXX by ἁδρός, and μονοκέρως, from the last of which the AV adopted the rendering “unicorn.” There is nothing in the scripture to intimate that the animal had but one horn, indeed Deuteronomy 33:1717His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh. (Deuteronomy 33:17) speaks of the horns of a “unicorn” (see margin), and it must have been some animal with which the Israelites were familiar. Its great strength and untamableness are the main characteristics: it cannot be utilized, as the tame ox, for agricultural purposes (Num. 23:2222God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn. (Numbers 23:22); Num. 24:88God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows. (Numbers 24:8); Deut. 33:1717His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh. (Deuteronomy 33:17); Job 39:9-109Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib? 10Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee? (Job 39:9‑10); Psa. 29:66He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn. (Psalm 29:6); Psa. 92:1010But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil. (Psalm 92:10); Isa. 34:77And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. (Isaiah 34:7)). The Lord asked to be saved from the lion's mouth, for Jehovah had heard Him from the horns of the unicorns (Psa. 22:2121Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. (Psalm 22:21)), to which His implacable enemies are compared. It is most probable that a species of wild ox, the Bos primigenius, is referred to; these may have been known in Palestine, as was the lion, though they are now extinct. This is confirmed by the wild ox being sculptured in an Assyrian bas-relief, with the name reem or rim over it.