Talk:Moses (Michelangelo)

Some believe that קרנ or (QRN) does represent the Hebrew word/image/concept of "horn" in this passage. With this interpretation, Moses' hornyness at this point of the story is simply a symbol of his connection with the divine. QRN, it should be noted, is a three radical root that means "horn" in every other occurrence in the Hebrew Bible.

There are Hebrew words that mean "rays" and "rays of light". The author does not use these words in this passage, he chooses to use the word "horn".

Horns, throughout the Bible are often used symbolically to denote power or divinity.

Horns were a common symbol denoting power and divinity both when Exodus was written and when Jerome was translating. In other words, being "horned" to their eyes and ears would have seemed as normal as "enlightened" seems to us. Remember having real rays of light shooting from your face is as odd an image as sprouting real horns.

Indeed the author was probably trying to communicate Moses' state as something greater than "enlightened". To him, Moses was Horny

As far as this statue, we can't be sure what Michelangelo was thinking when he made this piece of art. Did the "horns" still glorify Moses in the eyes of his contemporaries? Some say yes and some say no. At this point of history, the Christian Communities were beginning to use "horns" as both a symbol of the Devil and a symbol of the "devil Jew". Unfortunately, this is the image that stuck which has caused some, like the original author of this piece, to invent "Jerome's mistake" to explain away the unsettling image of the Horned Moses.

(Please write me if you have any questions or disagreements with my take, but I warn you - I wrote my Masters thesis on this subject, and while I have spared the Wikipedia audience the length of it, I won't hesitate to use it on ya!) jaycakes@hotmail.com —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.49.237.102 (talk • contribs) 05:30, 11 August 2006