Are Those Horns on Moses' Head?
One of the most magnificent statues of Moses was crafted by Michelangelo, a famed Italian artist from the 14th and 15th centuries. It was commissioned by one of the popes, and today it graces the church of St. Peter in Rome. Enjoying this beautiful work of art, one cannot help but notice that Moses has a pair of horns protruding from his head. They are not sharp, sort of nubby, and cannot be mistaken for some strange hairstyle. No, they are definitely horns! What a strange artistic idea to depict the great lawgiver and deliverer of Israel with horns.
But Michelangelo was not alone. Many other medieval depictions of Moses clearly show horns on his head. What led so many artists to believe that Moses had horns? The answer is simple – the Bible. More accurately, an imprecise translation of the Bible! The Vulgate translation was composed in Latin in the 4th century CE by Jerome. The depiction of horns appeared in the phrase describing Moses as he came down the mountain with the commandments. The language of Vulgate is preserved even today in English translations – “…he knew not that his face was horned from the conversation of the Lord” (Ex 34:29 Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible).
The Hebrew phrase in question literally says כִּי קָרַן עוֹר פָּנָיו (ki karan or panav), which can be literally translated as “for glowed the skin of his face”. Jerome translated the verb, which means “to shine, glow, or radiate,” as “to horn” because it looks a lot like a Hebrew noun for “horn” קֶרֶן (keren). It’s an easy mistake to make since ancient Hebrew manuscripts he had at his disposal had no vowels and thus allowed for greater flexibility in translation. In fact, without vowels, the noun and verb would have looked identical.
A simple inaccuracy in Jerome’s translation of Hebrew into Latin created an impression that some sort of horns protruded from Moses’ head as he came down the mountain. And this is how this tradition of depicting Moses with horns began.
The broader context of the chapter, of course, shows that this miraculous occurrence was a glow, a radiance of some sort. It was caused by Moses being close to God and speaking with him face-to-face. In the following verses, it says that everyone who saw Moses’ face was afraid, and he had to cover his face with a veil when he spoke before people. Again, it is easy to be misled by the idea of the fear of Moses with horns. It may sound bizarre to some and conceivable to others, but the idea of horns was a simple misunderstanding of the Hebrew text. Unfortunately, the image of horned Moses was fixed in ancient art forever.
The mystery of Moses’ horns is solved. But a lesson to every serious student of the Bible is to seek the context in the original languages and not simply rely on a favorite translation. Even the best translations of the Bible in the world are still done by humans and can occasionally be imprecise and lacking. Take the time to look beyond the translations!
Second Temple Era Jewish Literature
This collection assembles English translations of Jewish writings from the Second Temple Era and other related Jewish spiritual texts from antiquity.