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” (though it actually is the Greek word for “rhinoceros” — see below).

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 ).

Click or tap here for the rest of the entry about “wild ox” in United Bible Societies’ All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible.

Since the beginning of the twentieth century re’em has been translated as “wild ox” in English versions, following the original suggestion made by Canon Tristram in the previous century. However, there are problems connected with this rendering. The usual justifications for this translation are a) that the Akkadian equivalent word rimu refers to the wild ox or Aurochs Bos primigenius, which was frequently hunted by Akkadian kings and b) that wild ox or aurochs fits the description of the wild untameable animal referred to in the Bible.

Both of these arguments have weaknesses from a zoological point of view and the linguistic argument is also debatable. Firstly, the aurochs hunted by the Akkadian kings was an animal found in high rainfall areas with forests. In historical times it was found only in the wooded areas of central and southeastern Europe Armenia (including the southern coastland of the Black Sea) and Mesopotamia. The only aurochs remains found in the land of Israel and the Arabian Peninsula date from the early Pleistocene Age. It is highly unlikely that this animal lived in Israel in biblical times.

Secondly, while the Akkadian rimu is usually translated as “wild ox”, the Ugaritic rum has been translated by some scholars as “buffalo”, and the Old Arabic rim is usually translated as “oryx”. Both of these words are related to the Hebrew re’em. Some scholars have argued that the re’em is really the oryx.

Furthermore, while the wild aurochs was very large, dangerous, and strong, it was not really “untameable”. Its dependence on water made it fairly easy to capture in nets and it was domesticated very early. It is the ancestor of all short-horned European cattle. Ancient pictures carved in limestone found in the excavations at Kujunjik in Iraq show carts being pulled by cattle that look exactly the same as the aurochs pictured in hunting scenes from an earlier period.

An animal similar to the aurochs was hunted by early Egyptian kings but it had disappeared from Egypt as early as the reign of Rameses III (about 1190 B.C.), who hunted instead “wild ox” (probably the Cape buffalo) in forested areas of the Sudan, where there is no evidence that the aurochs ever lived. (A commemorative painting of one of these hunts clearly shows aurochs-like animals being hunted from chariots, but this may be artistic license or a traditional stereotype-the lions in similar paintings are certainly fanciful stereotypes.)

Among the many animal mummies found in Egypt there are a number of bubal or red hartebeest and Cape buffalo. Both of these animals fit the biblical description of “wild ox”, and the hartebeest certainly lived in Arabia and the land of Israel.

The Septuagint translates re’em as monokerōs which literally means “one-horned” (hence the KJV “unicorn”) but is the ancient Greek word for rhinoceros. This translation needs to be taken seriously, because of its early date. The rhinoceros would have been an animal known to the Jews, since it was found in parts of Egypt. The ancient naturalist, Strabo of Amasia, who lived in the early part of the first century A.D., describes a rhinoceros that he saw in Egypt and refers to another naturalist of the time who had also described this animal. A variety of rhinoceros was found in Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia at the time of the Exodus, and a second variety was found in Mesopotamia.

At the time of the Exodus then, the aurochs would have been found in the forests of southeast Europe, the far north of Asia Minor, and Mesopotamia, but not in Egypt, Canaan, the Arabian Peninsula, Sinai, or Syria. However, the oryx and the bubal hartebeest would have been plentiful and well known, and the Cape buffalo and rhinoceros would have been known too, at least by hearsay.

There is another aspect of the question that needs to be kept in mind. Throughout human history large, prominent animals have had symbolic importance, even in societies that would never have seen the animal. Thus the lion has been important in Chinese and British culture for centuries, but there is no evidence that lions have ever lived in China or Britain. Thus the aurochs, while it may be a rather improbable interpretation, cannot be ruled out entirely.

Four things can be said for certain about the re’em. It was a wild, untameable animal, it had horns, it was very strong, and it was appropriate to contrast or compare it with domestic cattle and with lions.

Aurochs: The Aurochs Bos primigenius, which is now extinct, was a very large animal, with prominent forward-pointing horns. It looked very similar to the bulls used in Spain for bull-fighting in modern times, but it was probably even larger. The bulls were dark brown or black, with a pale stripe down the spine, while the females were a lighter brown. The German zoos of Berlin, Munich, and Frankfurt have been fairly successful in genetic engineering experiments that have been aimed at reintroducing the aurochs’ original genetic characteristics, by selective breeding from domestic cattle that have the required characteristics. The resulting animals seem to resemble closely the original aurochs.

Cape Buffalo
: The Cape Buffalo Syncerus caffer is also a very large animal not as tall as the aurochs but heavier. It is found wherever there is adequate water supply all over sub-Saharan Africa. It prefers thick bush or riverine forest in which to take cover during the day. It has very thick horns that emerge from a broad boss on its forehead then sweep sideways and down before curving sharply upward toward the head. The males have thicker horns than the females. The skin is covered in short hair that varies from black to gray or brown and is usually covered with dry mud so that the buffaloes look the same color as the local soil.

Cape buffaloes live in large herds often numbering over five hundred animals. They are extremely strong cunning and fearless and are probably the most dangerous animals in Africa. Although they have become accustomed to man in some protected areas they are unpredictable and easily provoked. Unlike the Asian water buffalo or carabao the Cape buffalo has never been domesticated.

Rhinoceros: The rhinoceros found in Mesopotamia in biblical times was a subvariety of the Great Indian Rhinoceros Rhinoceros unicornis while the variety found in Egypt and Sudan would have been the Hook-lipped or Black Rhinoceros Diceros bicornis. The hook-lipped rhinoceros weighs up to 2000 kilograms (4400 pounds) and is about 1.7 meters (70 inches) tall at the shoulder. It has two horns above the nose, one behind the other, the front one growing over half a meter (20 inches) in length. They live in bushy country and feed on leaves and twigs. They are solitary animals with poor eyesight and are very aggressive. The great Indian rhinoceros was even larger and had a single horn.

Because of the uncertainty of identifying this animal, it is probably best to have an equivalent of “wild ox” or “wild bull” in the text and indicate in a footnote, each time the word is translated, that the word may mean “buffalo” and that the Septuagint has “rhinoceros”.

A problem in many countries is that using a phrase like “wild ox” suggests that this is a domestic ox that has gone wild. For this reason, it may be better to use a local name for a large strong, horned animal.

In Africa the obvious equivalent is the buffalo, and this choice is strengthened by the fact that re’em may even mean “buffalo”.

In the Indian subcontinent, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, and western China, there is an animal (now nearly extinct) known as the Gaur Bibos gaurus. In Thailand it is called the ngua-kating, and in Malaysia, the seladang. It is sometimes incorrectly referred to as the “wild water buffalo”. This is a type of wild ox very similar to the aurochs. In the Himalayas and mountains of western China there is another smaller animal similar to a wild ox called the Takin Budorcas taxicolor. Another possibility in the Himalayas and Central Asia is an expression meaning “wild yak”.

In North America the Bison or American Buffalo Bison bison is the closest equivalent. Another possible equivalent in some Arctic regions is the Musk Ox Ovibos moschatus.

Elsewhere a transliteration or a word borrowed from a locally dominant language is a possible solution.

save

The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as a form of “save” in English is translated in Shipibo-Conibo with a phrase that means literally “make to live,” which combines the meaning of “to rescue” and “to deliver from danger,” but also the concept of “to heal” or “restore to health.”

Other translations include:

  • San Blas Kuna: “help the heart”
  • Laka: “take by the hand” in the meaning of “rescue” or “deliver”
  • Huautla Mazatec: “lift out on behalf of”
  • Anuak: “have life because of”
  • Central Mazahua: “be healed in the heart”
  • Baoulé: “save one’s head”
  • Guerrero Amuzgo: “come out well”
  • Northwestern Dinka: “be helped as to his breath” (or “life”) (source for all above: Bratcher / Nida),
  • Matumbi: “rescue (from danger)” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
  • Noongar: barrang-ngandabat or “hold life” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • South Bolivian Quechua: “make to escape”
  • Highland Puebla Nahuatl: “cause people to come out with the aid of the hand” (source for this and one above: Nida 1947, p. 222)
  • Bariai: “retrieve one back” (source: Bariai Back Translation)

See also salvation and save (Japanese honorifics).

complete verse (Psalm 22:21)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 22:21:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “Rescue me from the mouth of lions;
    save me from the horns of the buffalo.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “Bring me out of the lion’s mouth
    Rescue me from the horns of the ox.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “Save me from the mouth of those lions.
    Answer my prayer that you (sing.) save me from the horns of those bulls/[lit bull cows].” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Eastern Bru:
    “Request you save me to avoid the mouth of the lion that wants to bite me. And save me from the horns of this wild oxen. Surely I am not able to help myself.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “Save me from the enemies who stay like lions.
    Save me from enemies who are staying like wild bulls.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Uniokoe kutoka mdomo wa simba,
    na kutoka pembe za nyati.
    Umenijibu sala yangu.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “Snatch me away from my enemies who are like lions whose jaws are already open, ready to chew me up
    Grab me away from those men who are like wild oxen that attack other animals with their horns!” (Source: Translation for Translators)

dog

Dogs were domesticated very early and were used for hunting and as watchdogs in the ancient world. In Egypt as early as 4000 B.C. people made pottery images that indicate that sleek fast hunting dogs were bred which looked like the modern greyhound. From Babylonian sculpture we know that around 2500 B.C. large hunting dogs that looked like the modern bull-mastiff were kept by people in the Mesopotamian civilizations.

Among the Jews however while dogs were kept mainly as watch-dogs they were held in contempt and left to feed themselves by scavenging. This habit of scavenging and the fact that dogs were possibly associated with some Egyptian gods meant that dogs were seen as very unclean animals by the Jews. The dog found in Jewish settlements in Bible times was probably the pariah dog Canis familiaris putiatini which looked something like a small light brown Alsatian or German shepherd. This type of dog in its wild and domesticated forms is found all over the Middle East and on the mainland coasts of South and Southeast Asia (where it is known as the crab-eating dog). The Australian dingo is also very similar.

Small pet dogs were kept in homes in the Greek and Roman civilizations by gentiles but not by Jews. This is probably the type of dog referred to by the Greek word kunarion in Matthew 15:26 and Mark 7:27.

As mentioned above dogs were held in contempt as unclean. To call someone a dog was therefore very derogatory and to refer to someone as a “dead dog” was even more so. Israelites viewed dogs as second only to pigs as unclean animals. Dogs as scavengers around the villages ate anything from household refuse to animal carcasses and human excreta. They even ate human corpses that lay unburied after battles. Furthermore the dog was possibly one of the symbols of the Egyptian god Anubis (although many modern scholars believe the symbol to be the jackal).

With all of the above in mind it is understandable that dying and then being eaten by unclean dogs was seen as the worst of all possible fates.

In the first century A.D. gentiles were considered to be unclean and were referred to by Jews in a derogatory way as “dogs.” There is therefore strong irony in the expression in Philippians 3:2 where Judaizing Christians are referred to as dogs.

One additional connotation associated with dogs in the Bible is sexual perversion and promiscuity a connotation probably arising from the fact that sexually aroused male dogs do not always differentiate between sexes as they seek to mate and the fact that dogs of both sexes mate repeatedly with different partners.

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

addressing God

Translators of different languages have found different ways with what kind of formality God is addressed. The first example is from a language where God is always addressed distinctly formal whereas the second is one where the opposite choice was made.

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight

Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.

As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator 2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.

In these verses, in which humans address God, the informal, familiar pronoun is used that communicates closeness.

Voinov notes that “in the Tuvan Bible, God is only addressed with the informal pronoun. No exceptions. An interesting thing about this is that I’ve heard new Tuvan believers praying with the formal form to God until they are corrected by other Christians who tell them that God is close to us so we should address him with the informal pronoun. As a result, the informal pronoun is the only one that is used in praying to God among the Tuvan church.”

In Gbaya, “a superior, whether father, uncle, or older brother, mother, aunt, or older sister, president, governor, or chief, is never addressed in the singular unless the speaker intends a deliberate insult. When addressing the superior face to face, the second person plural pronoun ɛ́nɛ́ or ‘you (pl.)’ is used, similar to the French usage of vous.

Accordingly, the translators of the current version of the Gbaya Bible chose to use the plural ɛ́nɛ́ to address God. There are a few exceptions. In Psalms 86:8, 97:9, and 138:1, God is addressed alongside other “gods,” and here the third person pronoun o is used to avoid confusion about who is being addressed. In several New Testament passages (Matthew 21:23, 26:68, 27:40, Mark 11:28, Luke 20:2, 23:37, as well as in Jesus’ interaction with Pilate and Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well) the less courteous form for Jesus is used to indicate ignorance of his position or mocking (source Philip Noss).

In Dutch and Western Frisian translations, however, God is always addressed with the formal pronoun.

See also female second person singular pronoun in Psalms.

Japanese benefactives (kotaete)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. Here, kotaete (答えて) or “answer” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).”

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Japanese benefactives (sukutte)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

Here, sukutte (救って) or “save/deliver” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )