That One Time Saint Jerome Gave Moses Horns

July 30, 2025 // Optional Memorial of Saint Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Exodus 34:29-35

Reflect on the Word // 

When my eldest son, then twelve years old, ran up to me inside the minor basilica Saint Peter in Chains to ask me why Moses has horns, I have to admit that my first inclination was that certainly he was mistaken. After all, we were in Rome, and I was being pulled toward a statue of Moses carved by Michangelo himself. But, um, yeah. That Moses definitely had horns. (See it here.) 

The answer to my son’s question has everything to do with this verse from today’s First Reading: “As Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the commandments in his hands, he did not know that the skin of his face had become radiant while he conversed with the LORD” (Exodus 34:29, emphasis mine). 

As it turns out, Saint Jerome, the famously curmudgeonly patron saint of translators, studied Hebrew so he could translate the Old Testament into Latin from the original. The resulting Latin version, which became the basis for hundreds of subsequent translations, contained a famous mistake. Ancient Hebrew was written without the vowels—and with different vowel sounds, the word “radiant” becomes “horned.” From this error came centuries of paintings and sculptures of Moses with horns. (See here and here.) 

I love this story as a reminder that while we are each called to be a saint, that doesn’t mean we won’t make mistakes. Sometimes, like Saint Jerome’s, a mistake will result in an eight-foot-tall statue with perplexing little horns. Or like Moses’, another trip up the mountain for a second set of tablets (see Exodus 32:19) after the people disobeyed God again. In the Reading, Moses gives us a perfect example of how to handle our mistakes: “[Enter] the presence of the LORD to converse with him” (Exodus 34:34). Jesus is waiting for us, in the tabernacle, ready to listen. And while we won’t come  away from His presence with horns, our souls (and maybe even our faces) will be radiant!

Relate to the Lord // How has the Lord shown His goodness through your weakness or mistakes?

About Kendra Tierney Norton

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Kendra Tierney est une épouse SoCal et mère de dix enfants, du tout-petit à l'étudiant. Sa passion est la vie liturgique au foyer. À travers son blog , ses réseaux sociaux , YouTube et des livres, dont Catholic All Year Compendium: Liturgical Living for Real Life et le nouveau Catholic All Year Prayer Companion, elle partage à quel point les traditions catholiques obscures ont façonné une culture familiale et une identité catholique fortes.