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Bible Dictionaries
Horn
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or HORN (Heb. qeren , Gr. keras ). Sometimes horns were wrought into vessels in which oil was stored ( 1 Kings 1:39 ) or carried ( 1 Samuel 16:1 ). Probably with some dainty ornamentation, they were used to hold eye-paint ( Job 42:14 , Keren-happuch ). Of rams’ horns a kind of trumpet was made Joshua 6:4 ); see Music, 4 (2) ( e ). ‘Horns’ in poetry symbolized strength ( Deuteronomy 33:17 etc.). ‘Horn’ in Psalms 18:2 = 2 Samuel 22:3 stands for offensive weapons, as ‘shield’ for defensive (Perowne). To ‘exalt one’s born,’ or ‘cause it to bad’ (grow), is to strengthen and prosper him ( 1 Samuel 2:1 , Ezekiel 29:21 etc.). For one to ‘lift his horn’ is to be arrogant ( Psalms 75:4-5 ). To crush or weaken one is to ‘break or cut off his born’ ( Jeremiah 48:25 , Lamentations 2:3 ). In prophetic symbolism borns stand for kings and military powers ( Daniel 7:8; Daniel 8:21 etc.). The altar borns ( Exodus 27:2 ), to which fugitives seeking asylum clung ( 1 Kings 1:50 etc.), were projections at the four corners, and apparently peculiarly sacred ( Exodus 30:10 etc.); but their significance and use are now unknown.
W. Ewing.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Horn'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/h/horn.html. 1909.
