It was only a few hours ago that I posted my question about the Michelangelo and the horns of Moses—and I already have more than 225 replies.

Virtually all offer one of two related explanations. The first involves confusion arising from the Vulgate, St. Jerome’s translation of the Bible into Latin.

From one reader, the basic account:

Years ago, I was told that these horns on the statue of Moses were the result of a mistranslation or mis-copying of a text from Exodus, where the word for rays of light (I don’t remember what it was in the original) was changed to ‘cornu’ (horns). My Latin is pretty rusty, so I apologize if this is not exact, but that’s the gist of the story as I heard it. I don’t really remember where I heard this or when, but it might have been in Scripture class in the seminary, or maybe even Art History class…

A second reader offers the passage—Exodus 34:29-30—that reputedly caused all the trouble. First, the passage in English, as it appears in the King James Bible:

And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.

Now here’s the same passage in the Vulgate:

Cumque descenderet Moses de monte Sinai tenebat duas tabulas testimonii et ignorabat quod cornuta esset facies sua ex consortio sermonis Dei videntes autem Aaron et filii Israhel cornutam Mosi faciem timuerunt prope accedere

“Cornuta” is the problematic word, suggesting both horn, “cornu,” and radiance, as in the modern word “corona.” On this account, we have horns on Moses because Michelangelo got confused.

Which is where the second explanation comes in: Michelangelo knew exactly what he was doing. Given Michelangelo’s marvelous literacy—he was widely-read, kept up an extensive correspondence, and wrote some pretty good poetry—this explanation strikes me as sensible. From a reader:

The writer [below, which the reader found on a website] claims the Hebrew words for “radiated” and “grew horns” are basically the same, so since he couldn’t sculpt “radiation of the face” he sculpted “growing horns”. Kind of a visual pun for Hebrew speakers, really:
“It is in his treatment of the rays which it said Moses’ face radiated (Exodus 34:29-30) that Michelangelo displays his greatest sophistication in the interpretation of the biblical text. In the Hebrew bible it says that the skin of the face of Moses radiated (in Hebrew : karan) , yet the depiction of this in sculpture would mean the defacing of Moses’ face and depiction of stone rays instead of facial features. Michelangelo uses the other meaning of the Hebrew word karan – grew horns (‘cornuto’ in Italian), and placed the rays of light on Moses’ head as if they were two small horns. He may have based his action on Jerome’s translation that actually used the Latin term ‘cornutam’ as a translation of the Hebrew word karan.” (Source.)

A visual pun. That sounds like Michelangelo. Readers of this happy Corner, you’ve done it, providing yours truly with the first really satisfying explanation for the horns on Moses that I’ve ever encountered—while proving that the NRO audience is not only the most rollicking but also the most erudite on earth.