No. Moses did not have horns.
No. Moses did not have horns.
The idea that Moses had “horns” comes from a misunderstanding of Exodus 34:29, which states that the skin of his face shone when he came down from Sinai. The Hebrew word קָרַן (qaran) means to shine or emit rays, but it is also related to the word קֶרֶן (qeren), which can mean either ray or horn.
When Jerome (347-420 AD) translated the Bible into Latin, he used the word cornuta (horned), which led some to believe Moses literally had horns. This idea is famously depicted in Michelangelo’s sculpture of Moses.
Jewish commentators corrected this early on. Rashbam (1085-1158) wrote that anyone who thinks Moses had horns “is nothing but a fool.” Rashi (1040-1105), who was Rashbam’s grandfather, explained more carefully that Moses’ face radiated horn-like rays of light, not horns, but beams of divine glory.
Paul gave us a clearer, more personal connection to this ray of light that believers today experience. In 2 Corinthians 3:18, he explains that the same glory that shone from Moses can transform believers now: “We are being transformed into His image from glory to glory.” This is the same word used to describe the physical appearance of Yeshua, Moses, and Elijah at the Transfiguration. That was the glory shining from them. The light that once shone on Moses now works within believers, changing the heart and reflecting God’s glory to the world.