Hebrew word · H7160

קָרַן

karan

to shine

A verb formed from the noun qeren, 'horn'. In the simple form it occurs only in Exodus 34:29, 30, 35. In another form (maqrin) it occurs once more, in Psalm 69:31 [Eng. 32], meaning 'having horns' (of a young bull).

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to shine

1a) (Qal) to send out rays

1b) (Hiphil) to display or grow horns, be horned

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Exodus 34:29

Range of meaning

A verb formed from the noun qeren, 'horn'. In the simple form it occurs only in Exodus 34:29, 30, 35. In another form (maqrin) it occurs once more, in Psalm 69:31 [Eng. 32], meaning 'having horns' (of a young bull). The noun qeren means a horn, and figuratively strength and honour ('he will exalt the horn of his anointed', 1 Sam 2:10). It can also mean a ray or beam of light: Habakkuk 3:4 says of God, 'rays (qarnayim) come from his hand'. The standard lexicons (BDB, HALOT) give 'send out rays, shine' for Exodus 34, and note the horn root behind it.

Against the English

Modern English versions say 'shone' or 'was radiant'. The Douay-Rheims, translating the Latin Vulgate, says 'his face was horned'. 'Shone' gets the effect right but loses the picture of rays coming out in horn-like spikes. 'Radiant' can sound like a happy expression. 'Horned' keeps the root but makes most readers imagine literal horns.

How it drifted

The drift runs two ways. Through the Vulgate, Western art gave Moses physical horns (Michelangelo's statue of Moses is the most famous case). Modern English, going the other way, tends to soften the word into a general 'glow' or 'radiance'.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Greek Septuagint has δεδόξασται, 'was glorified'. Aquila's literal 2nd-century Greek has κερατώδης, 'horned'. The Aramaic Targum Onqelos has 'the radiance of the glory of his face was great'. In the wider ancient Near East, gods and kings were pictured with an awe-inspiring brilliance, called melammu in Akkadian, and gods wore horned crowns. Both images link horns and blazing light with divine power.

Where it appears

Exodus · 3

  1. Exodus 34:29 קָרַ֛ן it shone

    And when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was unaware that his face had become radiant from speaking with the LORD.

    Here: A rare verb built from qeren, 'horn'. Most likely it means the skin 'sent out horn-like beams', light streaming from it in rays. The 'horn' picture is still inside the word.

  2. Exodus 34:30 קָרַ֖ן it shone

    Aaron and all the Israelites looked at Moses, and behold, his face was radiant. And they were afraid to approach him.

  3. Exodus 34:35 קָרַ֔ן it shone

    and the Israelites would see that the face of Moses was radiant. So Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 69:31 מַקְרִ֥ן having horns

    And this will please the LORD more than an ox, more than a bull with horns and hooves.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.