How does Hebrew understand "ruwm qeren"?
Hi !
I have some questions to understand how Hebrews thought and how they understand the sacred texts.
More concretely, I am studying the expression "ruwm qeren" (to lift up the horn with glory that we can find in the Psalms).
"Qeren" means "horn". "horn" means more precisely the crown that chief and king wore. But "horn" is a sign of strenght/force. When Hebrew read "ruwm qeren", what happens in their mind with "horn"?
"horn" is already a concrete word. Thus, metaphorically, it means "strenght". Is it that?
OR "horn", this concrete thing, leads to "army" (another concrete concept, tsava, which means metaphorically "strenght"), which means metaphorically "strenght').
It seems difficult to me, because "horn" seems have a double concrete concept... unless one concrete concept = one abstract metaphor systematically. It is the fact that the horn is a sign of strenght itself... or it means another concrete concept, which leads metaphorically to "strenght".
Shematically:
Nose --> angry (because for Hebrews, when we are angry, we breath with madness with the nose)
Heavy (kavod) --> glory
And for "horn" in "rumw qeren kavod"?
horn --> strenght?
horn --> strenght --> army?
horn --> army --> strenght?
How does Hebrews think and understand?
I am using the "Ancient Hebrew Research Center" of Jeff A. Benner. In the lexicon, "qeren" means only "horn" But in another article, he writes:
"The imagery of the ox and shepherd staff were common symbols of strength, leadership and authority in ancient times. Chiefs and kings commonly wore the horns of a bull on their head as a sign of their strength and carried a staff representing their authority over their flock, the kingdom. Both of these symbols have been carried through the centuries to the modern day where kings and queens carry scepters and wear crowns. The Hebrew word qeren, meaning horn, is the origin of the word "crown.""
Horn is a sign of strenght. Does it mean that we have to do the same gymnastic than nose --> angry? Or we do the same mental process than our culture because it is a symbol?
Bless you.
J