The Hebrew word is qaran (Strong number H 7160). It can mean either horns or
rays of light and is only used in the story of Moses coming down from mount
Sinai (Exod. 34.29, 34.30, 34.35). Since it's abundantly clear from the
context that the word is being used to mean rays of light, I've always
wondered just a bit about the "mistranslation" story. Maybe there's more to
it than that.
pat sloane
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> >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.
> [log in to unmask]
>
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