Horn, from its primary use for defense in the case of horned animals, came to acquire several derivative meanings, some of which are connected with the illustration and right understanding of holy writ. As horns are hollow and easily polished, they have in ancient and modern times been used for drinking-vessels and for military purposes; and as they are the chief source of strength for attack and defense with the animals to which God has given them, they serve in Scripture as emblems of power, dominion, glory, and fierceness (;;;;;;;;;;; ). Hence to defile the horn in the dust (), is to lower and degrade oneself, and, on the contrary, to lift up, to exalt the horn (;; ), is poetically to raise oneself to eminent honor or prosperity, to bear oneself proudly. In the East, at present, horns are used as an ornament for the head, and as a token of eminent rank. The women among the Druses on Mount Lebanon wear on their heads silver horns of native make, 'which are the distinguishing badge of wifehood.'
Horn Head Dresses
By an easy transition, horn came to denote an elevation or hill (); in Switzerland mountains still bear this name, thus, Schreckhorn, Buchhorn. The altar of burnt-offerings () and the altar of incense (), had each at the four corners four horns of shittim-wood, the first being overlaid with brass, the second with gold (;;; ). Upon the horns of the altar of burnt-offerings was to be smeared with the finger the blood of the slain bullock (;;;;; ). By laying hold of these horns of the altar of burnt-offering the criminal found an asylum and safety (; ). These horns are said to have served as a means for binding the animal destined for sacrifice (); but this use Winer denies, asserting that they did not and could not answer for such a purpose.
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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