Psalm 22:21, New international Version (NIV) translation: Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
Psalm 22:21, Coverdale translation: Save me from the lion's mouth; thou hast heard me also from among the horns of the unicorns.
No doubt the NIV, product of both modern scholarship and better understanding of Hebrew, is the more accurate rendering. But there is something appealing about Coverdale's version.
And you thought unicorns were pink, purple, sweet, and girly. Clearly they were previously understood to be powerful, fierce, and dangerous.
Watch out next time you underestimate a girl.
Of course, if you've read The Rithmatist, you already know that about both girls and unicorns.
There are some who think the Bible's unicorns refer to rhinoceroses. One horn in the middle, very fierce.
That would certainly be "powerful, fierce, and dangerous"!
I'm still worrying about the saints slain "by a fierce wild beast," which we will undoubtedly sing about this Sunday...
Especially the following line: "and there’s not any reason, no, not the least, why I shouldn’t be one too."
