>I heard ages ago that the custom of depicting Moses with horns derives
>from a mistaken reading of the OT. When Moses came down from Sinai with
>the Ten Commandments, his face was described as radiant or 'shining'.
>Because the two words are similar in Hebrew, early translators
>mistakenly read this as 'horned' and sculptors followed their lead.
>I can't remember where I picked up this idea. Can anyone confirm it, or
>does anyone have a different explanation?
>Regards,
>Avril
Dear Avril.
The mistake seems to come from the "Vulgate latine", according to the
"Dictionnaire illustre de la Bible", ed. Bordas. In the same dictionnary,
you can get many references from the Bible concerning the hornes
(metaphorical aspect of the hornes): Mi 4, 13 (Dieu donne des cornes de fer
et des sabots d'airain afin de broyer des peuples nombreux); 2 Ch 18, 10
(Cidqiyahou se fabriqua des cornes de fer avec lesquelles il allait, selon
un oracle du Seigneur, abbatre les Araméens); 1 S 2, 1 (Ma corne est élevée
par le Seigneur); Jr 48,25 (La corne de Moab a ete tranchee). All these
quotations seems to refer to the strenght, the symbolic of power, maybe I'm
wrong.
Cheers
Claire Labrecque
Un.Laval, Quebec.
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