ראם

ראם

Hebrew

Etymology

Cognate with Akkadian 𒄞𒄠 (/rimu/, “wild bull, wild ass”), Ugaritic 𐎗𐎜𐎎 (rủm, “auroch, wild buffalo”), and Arabic رِيم‎ (rīm) or رِئْم‎ (riʾm, “oryx, wild cattle”).

Noun

רְאֵם • (r'em) m (plural indefinite רְאֵמִים‎, singular construct רְאֵם־, plural construct רְאֵמֵי־‎)

1. An Arabian oryx: a member of species Oryx leucoryx.
   • Numbers 23:22:

     אֵל מוֹצִיאָם מִמִּצְרָיִם כְּתוֹעֲפֹת רְאֵם לוֹ׃‎

     el motsi'ám mimitsráyim k'to'afót r'ém lo.

     God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.[1]

   • Job 39:10:

     הֲ‍תִקְשָׁר־רֵים בְּתֶלֶם עֲבֹתוֹ אִם־יְשַׂדֵּד עֲמָקִים אַחֲרֶיךָ׃‎

     hatikshór-rem b'télem avotó im-y'sadéd akharékha.

     Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?[2]

   • Psalms 22:21:

     הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי מִפִּי אַרְיֵה וּמִקַּרְנֵי רֵמִים עֲנִיתָנִי׃‎

     hoshi'éini mipí aryé umikarnéi remím anitáni.

     Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.[3]

   • Psalms 92:10:

     וַתָּרֶם כִּרְאֵים קַרְנִי בַּלֹּתִי בְּשֶׁמֶן רַעֲנָן׃‎

     vatárem kir'ém karní balotí b'shémen ra'anán.

     But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.[4]

2. (more generally) An oryx: any member of genus Oryx.

Usage notes

• The word's appearances in the Bible have been interpreted variously as representing an oryx, an aurochs (wild ox), or a mythical creature such as unicorn (the last interpretation may be seen in the King James translations given above). The above definitions are in accord with The New Dictionary (see references below) and with Modern usage.

References

• “רְאֵם, רְאֵים, רֵים” in Abraham Even-Shoshan (אַבְרָהָם אֶבֶן־שׁוֹשָׁן) et al., הַמִּלּוֹן הֶחָדָשׁ‎ (ha-milón he-khadásh, “The New Dictionary”), Kiryat-Sefer Ltd. (קִרְיַת־סֵפֶר בְּע״ם)‎ (1984), →ISBN, volume 3 of 3 (ק to ת), pages 1240–1241.

1. The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], 1611, OCLC 964384981, Numbers 23:22, column 2: “God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the ſtrength of an Vnicorne.”
2. The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], 1611, OCLC 964384981, Job 39:10, column 1: “Canſt thou binde the Vnicorne with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleyes after thee?”
3. The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], 1611, OCLC 964384981, Psalms 22:21, column 2: “Saue me from the lyons mouth: for thou haſt heard me from the hornes of the vnicornes.”
4. The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], 1611, OCLC 964384981, Psalms 92:10, column 1: “But my horne ſhalt thou exalt like the horne of an vnicorne: I ſhalbe anointed with freſh oyle.”

Further reading

• ראם לבן on the Hebrew Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^he
• ראם on the Hebrew Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^he
• H7214 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible