Are Unicorns Really Mentioned in the Bible?

Are Unicorns Really Mentioned in the Bible?

Unicorns. These creatures make up the stuff of legends and children's picture books. So it would seem like such an absurd question to ask, "Are unicorns mentioned in the Bible?" But at least one version of the Bible has a verse on unicorns.

Below I've highlighted some of the KJV verses that mention the word unicorn.

Are Unicorns Mentioned in the Bible?

In short, yes. Multiple times, in fact.

Numbers 23:22: "God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn."

Numbers 24:8: "God 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."

Deuteronomy 33:17: "His 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."

For more references, check out this GotQuestions article here and this Bible Study Tools article.

So unicorns do make an appearance in the KJV. Did this happen because translators made an error? Or did these mythical creatures make an appearance during the Old Testament times? Let's dive into the question: are unicorns mentioned in the Bible? And by unicorns, we mean actual unicorns and not a rhinoceros or some similar creature.

So let's explore.

Are "Unicorns" a Mistranslation in the KJV?

Did something get misconstrued from the Septuagint translation over to the KJV? According to Tales of Times forgotten, yes.

"If you look at the original Hebrew text of the Old Testament, however, you won’t find anything at all about unicorns. Unicorns are only mentioned in the King James Version due to a roughly 2,200-year-old mistranslation originating in the Greek Septuagint. This mistranslation has been corrected in most modern translations of the Bible, including the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) and the New International Version (NIV)."

Speaking of said translations, the verses above in the NIV translate "unicorn" to "wild ox" and sometimes to "rhinoceros"—the latter certainly fitting the bill more. So how in the world did this mixup happen?

Well, we do know the creature spoken of in the above verses (re'em) no longer roams the earth today, and according to the GotQuestions article, went extinct in the 1600s. So the Bible does talk about an extinct creature in these verses. But probably not the creature we imagined, a horse with a horn. More likely, the verses talk about some kind of wild cattle with enormous strength. All the verses that refer to a "unicorn" talk about a powerful land creature, whose strength was far outmatched by that of God. It was used as an illustration of God's power.

But, for us unicorn lovers, we may beg the question, "Are we absolutely certain that this isn't the unicorn that we find in myth and legend?"

Could It Be an Actual Unicorn?

Probably not, but I can understand why someone would ask the question. After all, the Bible does seem to have many creatures that no longer roam the earth today. The behemoth and leviathan sound a lot like dinosaurs, don't they? 

So could unicorns have existed during the time of the Bible?

Some scientific journals have allowed for unicorn-type creatures to have existed in what they would deem the time before humans. But what about horses with horns? Did they ever exist? According to most scientific discoveries, they sort of did but really looked more like rhinos, alas.

All to say we don't have any real tangible evidence to go off of that the horned equine creatures we imagined lived in Bible times. Perhaps the skeletons uncovered in the previous paragraphs were the unicorns to which the writers were referring when they used the word re'em. But perhaps not. All we know is that the re'em likely went extinct so we really can't know much about it at all, except that it was strong and formidable and wild.

So why does this matter anyway? Why do so many people wonder, "Are unicorns mentioned in the Bible?" The answer is actually a lot more sinister than you think.

Why Unicorns Serve as a Stumbling Block in the Bible

Most of the time when someone points out that the KJV mentions unicorns, they don't do it because, "Wow, that's so neat!" or "My favorite animal made it into the Bible!" No, most of the time skeptics bring this up to prove how ridiculous the Bible is. "Look, how can you believe in a book that says that unicorns are real?" They often will say.

In fact, I hadn't even realized that the Bible mentions unicorns until I stumbled across a similar post from a skeptic who also claims the Bible talks about dragons and cockatrices—nonexistent creatures—and therefore, how in the world could we take anything at face value in the Bible?

Never mind that the said dragon is literally a symbol for Satan, and the cockatrice likely refers to a crocodile of sorts—people will always attempt to show that science and the Bible stand at odds with one another. Of course, they don't. But when someone spots the word unicorn in the KJV, they assume that people who read the Bible believe in fairytales and myths.

Was it a mistranslation or poor interpretation of an animal who had long gone extinct since the time of the translation? Probably. But when we go to defend our faith, we do need to know everything the enemy will launch against us. That means knowing the content of translations not all of us may read. I know we do have several readers who are probably KJV-only, but also several people reading this article likely have a preferred translation such as the NIV, ESV, etc.

The more we know about the Bible, and the differences in translation, the more we can fight against the attacks skeptics launch against God's word.

Does the Existence of Unicorns Matter?

Does it matter if unicorns existed and happened to grace the pages of Scripture?

Ultimately, no. As much as a fellow unicorn fanatic such as myself would love to believe that these equine creatures happened to make an appearance during some time in the earth's history, we have far bigger fish to fry. We also have to come to terms and accept that not all the creatures that existed during the time of the Old and New Testaments still live today. Plenty of creatures have gone extinct within our own lifetimes, and we cannot imagine the number that have passed before we stepped onto the scene.

Scientific discoveries can shed more light on these animals, but we can excite ourselves with those when they surface. For now, let's focus on more important matters such as salvation and bring the good news to every nation. Perhaps we can receive true answers someday about the nature of these unicorns when we get to heaven.

And, as mentioned above, we ought to know how translations differ. That way, when a skeptic brings up the fact that the KJV talks about unicorns, we can address that issue.

Photo credit: ©GettyImages/steved_np3


Hope Bolinger is an acquisitions editor at End Game Press, book editor for hire, and the author of almost 30 books. More than 1500 of her works have been featured in various publications. Check out her books at hopebolinger.com for clean books in most genres, great for adults and kids. Check out her editing profile at Reedsy.com to find out about hiring her for your next book project.