H7161 — קֶרֶן (qeren)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H7161
Original: קֶרֶן
Transliteration: qeren
Pronunciation: keh'-ren
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: From an unused root (meaning to project); Aramaic cognate H7162
Occurrences: 69 unique verses (85 tokens) in 21 books
First Occurrence: Gen 22:13 — "a ram caught in a thicket by his horns"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From an unused root; a horn (as projecting); by implication, a flask, cornet; by resemblance, an elephant's tooth (i.e. ivory), a corner (of the altar), a peak (of a mountain), a ray (of light); figuratively, power — hill, horn.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
horn / horns (all forms incl. my/his/your/our/thine)	~67	97.1%
hill	1	1.4%

Note: The 97% "horn/horns" figure consolidates the many KJV phrase variants (the horn, the horns, the horns thereof, on the horns, by his horns, mine horn, etc.). The single "hill" rendering (Isa 5:1) reflects the geometric sense "peak/summit of a hill."

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Daniel	8	2.2
Habakkuk	1	1.8
Zechariah	3	1.4
Amos	2	1.4
Lamentations	2	1.3
Micah	1	1.0
Leviticus	8	0.9
Exodus	8	0.7
1 Kings	5	0.6
1 Samuel	4	0.5
Psalms	12	0.5
Ezekiel	5	0.4
Joshua	1	0.2
Genesis	1	0.1
Deuteronomy	1	0.1
2 Samuel	1	0.1
Job	1	0.1
Isaiah	1	0.1
Jeremiah	2	0.1
1 Chronicles	1	0.1
2 Chronicles	1	0.1

Notable: Highest density in Daniel (2.2/100v) and the minor prophets (Habakkuk, Zechariah, Amos) — driven by prophetic symbolism. The Law books (Exodus, Leviticus) reflect the ritual/altar context. Psalms has the most raw occurrences (12) dominated by the figurative power idiom.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Physical Horn of an Animal¶

The literal bony projection on a ram, bull, wild ox, or goat.

Gen 22:13 — "a ram caught in a thicket by his horns"
Deut 33:17 — "his horns [are like] the horns of unicorns [wild ox]: with them he shall push the people"
Ezek 34:21 — "ye have thrust...and pushed all the diseased [sheep] with your horns, till ye have scattered them"
1 Kgs 22:11 — "Zedekiah...made him horns of iron: and he said, With these shalt thou push the Syrians"

2. Altar Horns (Ritual)¶

The four projecting corners of the tabernacle/temple altar, used in sin-offering blood rites and as a place of asylum.

Exod 27:2 — "thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same"
Lev 4:7 — "the priest shall put [some] of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the LORD"
1 Kgs 1:50 — "Adonijah...caught hold on the horns of the altar" (seeking sanctuary)
Amos 3:14 — "the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground" (judgment on Israel's shrines)

3. Oil Flask / Container¶

A hollow animal horn repurposed as a vessel for anointing oil.

1 Sam 16:1 — "the LORD said unto Samuel...fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse"
1 Sam 16:13 — "Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren"
1 Kgs 1:39 — "Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon"

4. Figurative: Power, Honor, Might¶

Used metaphorically for strength, national power, personal honor, or royal dignity. "Exalting the horn" = rising to power; "cutting off the horn" = defeat or humiliation.

1 Sam 2:1 — "mine horn is exalted in the LORD" (Hannah's prayer of triumph)
Ps 75:4–5 — "Lift not up the horn...Lift not up your horn on high: speak [not with] a stiff neck"
Ps 89:24 — "in my name shall his horn be exalted" (promise to the Davidic king)
Ps 148:14 — "He also exalteth the horn of his people"
Lam 2:3 — "He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel"
Jer 48:25 — "The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the LORD"

5. Prophetic / Apocalyptic Symbol¶

Horns represent kingdoms, rulers, or conquering world powers in prophetic visions.

Zech 1:18–19, 21 — "I saw four horns...These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem"
Dan 8:3 — "a ram which had two horns...the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other"
Dan 8:8–9 — "the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones...out of one of them came forth a little horn"
Dan 8:20–21 — "The ram...the kings of Media and Persia...the great horn...is the first king [of Grecia]"

6. Peak / Ray (Geometric Sense)¶

A projecting point — applied to a mountain summit or beams of radiant light.

Isa 5:1 — "My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill [qeren]" (brow/peak of a fertile hill)
Hab 3:4 — "he had horns [qarnayim] coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power" (rays of glory emanating from God)

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occ	Typical Pattern
מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbêach)	H4196	16x	"horns of the altar" — blood ritual corners
רוּם (rûwm)	H7311	12x	"horn shall be exalted/lifted up" — power idiom
דָּם (dâm)	H1818	11x	"put the blood upon the horns" — sin-offering rite
לָקַח (lâqach)	H3947	11x	"take [blood] and put on the horns" — priestly action
יְסוֹד (yesôwd)	H3247	8x	"base/corners of the altar" — structural context
אַרְבַּע (arbaʻ)	H702	7x	"four horns" — altar corners or apocalyptic beasts
מֶלֶךְ (melek)	H4428	7x	context of royal/kingly power ("horn of the king")

Word Family / Cognates¶

H7162 קֶרֶן (qeren, Aramaic) — direct Aramaic cognate; "a horn (literal or figurative)"; used in Daniel 7 for the horns of the four apocalyptic beasts (distinct from Dan 8 which uses H7161)

Synonyms¶

No direct synonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for H7161.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for H7161.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
H7162 קֶרֶן (Aram.)	H7162	"horn(s)"	Aramaic form, same meaning; used in Daniel 7 Aramaic section only

Semantic Domains¶

UBS / Relationship Domains¶

[001002006] Animals — matches the literal-animal-horn usage.
[001002008001003] Containers — matches the oil-flask sense of a horn used as a vessel.
[001002008001013] Musical Instruments — matches the cornet/trumpet-like sense of projecting horn instruments.
[001002008001008] Furnishings — aligns with altar horns as projecting parts of cultic furniture.
[001002002] Landforms — accounts for the rare "hill / peak" usage.
[002001001049] Shine — aligns with the radiant "rays / horns" imagery of Hab 3:4.
[003001017] Titles — reflects the figurative honor/power field into which exalted-horn imagery can move.
[003001010] Names of Locations — a low-signal grouping surfaced by search_relationships.py; retained here as relationship-index output.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occ	PMI	Notes
κέρας (kéras) G2768	60	8.23	Primary — nearly universal rendering of qeren in LXX
βάσις (básis) G939	9	5.85	"base/foot" — when qeren refers to altar corners/projections
ὑψόω (hupsŏō) G5312	11	4.68	"exalt/lift up" — translating the idiom "horn exalted" by its meaning
δάκτυλος (dáktylos) G1147	6	6.12	"finger" — in blood-application phrases ("put on the horns with his finger")