wild ox (unicorn)

The Hebrew that is translated in most English versions as “wild ox” was translated by the Ancient Greek Septuagint translation as μονόκερως (monókeros) or “unicorn.”

Bibles in the Protestant tradition also used an equivalent of that translation up into the early 20th century. This includes translations like the English King James Version/Authorised Version (unicorn), the German translation by Luther (up to and including the revision of 1912) (Einhorn), or the Swedish Charles XII Bible of 1686 (enhörningen).

Since translations of the Orthodox traditions tend to follow the Septuagint (see above), they also use an equivalent of “unicorn,” such as the Russian Synod translation with единорог (yedinorog).

Translations in the Catholic tradition tended to use an equivalent of “rhinoceros,” going back to the Latin Vulgate’s rinoceros. Modern Catholic translations that follow the Hebrew text now also use “wild ox” or an equivalent.

The influential Literary / Classical Chinese Delegates Version (publ. 1854) used sì (兕), a mythological Chinese creature that also only had one horn (see here ).

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 33:17

Notice that here Good News Translation has switched from the tribe of Joseph (verses 13-16) to Joseph himself. However, it is also possible to bring the reference to Ephraim and Manasseh forward from the end of this verse to the beginning and say “Ephraim and Manasseh, your thousands of soldiers are big and strong like….”

His firstling bull: there is a textual problem here. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project ({B} rating) judges the text to be “the first-born of his bull,” in which the “first-born” is Joseph; “bull” is God and “his” refers to Joseph, meaning “Joseph is the first-born of his God.” This does not seem very likely and is not recommended to the translator. A Qumran manuscript, plus the Samaritan, Septuagint, Syriac, andVulgate omit “his,” and this is the text that should be followed.

It is better to translate the verse as a simile, not as metaphor. So New International Version says “In majesty he is like a firstborn bull”; likewise New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “Like a firstling bull in majesty.” Some translations (Good News Translation, Bible en français courant) omit “firstborn,” but this is not recommended. In this passage majesty refers primarily to size and strength.

His horns are the horns of a wild ox: wild ox and bull have the same meaning here and may be represented by one animal, as in Bible en français courant: “Like the wild buffalo he is armed with two powerful horns.” Instead of horns BÍBLIA para todos Edição Comum has “strong” and “strength”: “He is beautiful, like the firstborn of a bull, and strong as a buffalo; with his strength he will attack all peoples.” It is also possible to say “and as a wild ox uses its horns to gore its enemies, they [Ephraim and Manasseh] will gore….” Contemporary English Version changes the simile of “gore” to the weapons that the Israelites will use to kill their enemies: “they will run their spears through….”

With them he shall push the peoples, all of them, to the ends of the earth: this is standard exaggerated language, proper to this kind of poetry. The tribe of Joseph would be powerful and would drive back all the surrounding peoples. The Hebrew verb means “to gore,” and New Revised Standard Version offers a better text to follow: “with them he gores the peoples, driving them to the ends of the earth” (see also Good News Translation).

Notice that Good News Translation has placed the last two lines of this verse before the previous two lines in order to make clear the relationship between them. This may be a good thing for other translations to do.

Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and such are the thousands of Manasseh: as New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh makes clear, the meaning here is that one horn is Ephraim, the other Manasseh; Good News Translation is a good model. Here these two sons of Joseph are cited in order to make the total number of tribes come to twelve. It may be a good idea, with BÍBLIA para todos Edição Comum and Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, to have a footnote identifying Ephraim and Manasseh as sons of Joseph and two tribes of Israel.

Bible en français courant maintains the order of the Hebrew text, ending the verse as follows: “One of the horns is the multitude of Ephraim, the other, the many troops of Manasseh.” In both cases, as the context makes clear, the ten thousands and the thousands are men available as warriors. It is also possible, as indicated above, to drastically restructure the verse as follows:

• The thousands of soldiers
of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh
are big and strong like bulls.
As a wild ox uses its horns to gore its enemies,
so they will gore their enemies
and push them to the ends of the earth.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .