I teach art and art history at a religious, evangelical university. Every year, we have a fun discussion when it comes to pieces like Michelangelo’s Moses or Claus Sluter’s Well of Moses. Students often wonder why Moses has horns. If they don’t notice, I’m sure to bring it up.

The short answer is that their Bible told them, the artists, that Moses had horns. The longer answer is that in Exodus 34, the verb form of the Hebrew word qeren is used. The word qeren most generally means horns. But Hebrew, like many other languages, has words with multiple meanings. Apparently, the idea may have been that there is a visual similarity between horns and rays of light, so this particular verb form means “to send out rays.” That is essentially how we translate it now. The ESV reads, “his face shone.” The Septuagint translated the word in a similar way. But when Jerome translated the Vulgate, he translated the word literally and thus missed the meaning. As a result, horns became a part of Moses’ iconography....