MOSES HAS WHAT?!

[Photo: Moses by Michelangelo at St Peter in Chains, Rome]

St. Peter in Chains is a minor basilica in Rome. It is home to “Moses”, a sculpture of Michelangelo. It was supposed to be part of a grand tomb for Pope Julius II. What is so weird about the statue is that Moses is depicted with two horns. What could be the reason for this?

The culprit is a mistranslation of the Hebrew text of Ex 34:29: “And when Moses came down from the mount Sinai, he held the two tables of the testimony, and he knew not that his face was horned from the conversation of the Lord.” Instead the correct translation is: “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD.”

How did the mistranslation come about? The Hebrew word is “qaran” which means “horn”. But it has also another meaning which is “to emit rays”. The choice between the two depends on the context. When the context is about animals such as an ox, then “horn” would probably be the right word. But in the case of Moses, “to emit rays” that is, “to be radiant” would probably be the correct one. Hence, modern translation use “radiant” and not “horn”.

Translating Sacred Scriptures is not an easy task. One must be an expert not only in Hebrew and Greek but in related fields of knowledge as well. It is also not just a matter of using the right word but in conveying what the words mean in the original language. For the same reason, teaching and preaching Scriptures is not to be taken lightly.

The minor basilica of St. Peter in Chains is called that way because it contains the chains the bound St. Peter in Jerusalem and in Rome. The legend says that Empress Eudoxia gave to Pope Leo I the chains that bound St. Peter while he was in prison in Jerusalem. When the pope held them next to the chains that bound St. Peter while he was in the Mamertine Prison in Rome, the two chains miraculously fused.

The name of the church, St. Peter in Chains, figured in the life of Don Bosco. That phase of his life was called “The Wandering Oratory”. Don Bosco could no longer meet the boys for games and religious services at the Little Hospital of St. Philomena. Without a permanent meeting place, they had to go here and there to meet on Sundays and holy days. One of the places they went was the church of St. Peter in Chains in a cemetery that was no longer in use. But their first time there was also their last. They were not allowed to go back again. The noise of the boys playing was too much for the housekeeper of the chaplain. At the instigation of the housekeeper, the chaplain wrote a letter to the municipal authorities asking that Don Bosco be not allowed to return.

 

A few hours after the chaplain had written it, he was suddenly brought to death's door by an apoplectic stroke, and died within three days. A similar fate befell the housekeeper two days later, so that before the week was over these two, who had opposed the Oratory, were removed from the scene. On the preceding Sunday Don Bosco had said that neither the chaplain nor his housekeeper knew if they would be there themselves on the following Sunday. His remark had been a prophecy.