Keren (horn, etc) is a cool word, and appears now and then in association with oil. In this case, there is apparently universal agreement that keren means hill.
The link gives at the bottom -
And the LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and set out; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have decided on one of his sons to be king." (1Sa 16:1 TNK)
מַלֵּ֙א קַרְנְךָ֜ שֶׁ֗מֶן
My brothers at Chabad are notorious Rashi sluts and they give -
And the LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and set out; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have decided on one of his sons to be king." (1Sa 16:1 TNK)
I spent some time looking at this and have to admit that I don't completely understand it - seems definitely messianic.
Commentary on verse 7
(1) My beloved had a vineyard. A vineyard: This [alludes to] Adam.
My beloved: This is the Holy One, blessed be He.
In a fertile corner: in the Garden of Eden.
And so it says (Isaiah 5:1): “My Friend had a vineyard in Qeren Ben Shemen [i.e., Horn Son of
Oil]”. Just as this [i.e., a] bull, nothing in him is higher than his horns, likewise the Land of Israel
is higher than all countries. Or [should we rather say]: just as this bull, there is nothing more a
refuse than his horns, likewise the Land of Israel is the refuse of the other countries? We learn to
say: “in Qeren ben Shemen”, the Land of Israel is fat (shmenah), which teaches thee that whoever
is higher than his fellow, is more excellent than his fellow. The Land of Israel, as it is higher than
all, is more excellent than all, as it says: “We shall definitely go up and inherit it” (Numbers,
13:30), “They went up and explored the land” (Numbers, 13:21), “They went up in the Negev [i.e.,
the dry southern region]” (Numbers, 13:22), “They went up from Egypt” (Genesis, 45:25). The
Temple, which is higher than all, is more excellent than all, as it says (Deuteronomy, 17:8): “And
thou shalt rise and go up to the place”, and it says (Isaiah, 2:3): “And many peoples will go and
say: ‘Let us go, and go up to the mountain of the House of the Lord’”, and it says (Isaiah, 31:5):
“As there is a day, when the watches shall call” and so forth.
Probably an Aramaism = vb "to ripen, to mature." In Mark 4:29 Peshitta "But when the fruit is ripe (ܕܫܡܢ), immediately cometh the sickle, because the harvest is come." Maybe the sense was always there. In modern Hebrew it means 'to grow' (become fat). So maybe the connotation was always there.
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
Secret Alias wrote:Probably an Aramaism = vb "to ripen, to mature." In Mark 4:29 Peshitta "But when the fruit is ripe (ܕܫܡܢ), immediately cometh the sickle, because the harvest is come." Maybe the sense was always there. In modern Hebrew it means 'to grow' (become fat). So maybe the connotation was always there.
Interesting