The Maskings of Moses

(29) So Moses came down from Mount Sinai. And as Moses came down from the mountain bearing the two tablets of the Pact, Moses was not aware that the skin of his face was radiant, since he had spoken with Him.

(30) Aaron and all the Israelites saw that the skin of Moses’ face was radiant; and they shrank from coming near him.

(31) But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the chieftains in the assembly returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. (32) Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he instructed them concerning all that the LORD had imparted to him on Mount Sinai. (33) And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. (34) Whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would leave the veil off until he came out; and when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, (35) the Israelites would see how radiant the skin of Moses’ face was. Moses would then put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with Him.

(1) כי קרן, an expression denoting majesty. The word occurs in this sense also in Chabakuk 3,4 קרנים מידו לו, “which gives off rays from every side.” Anyone who compares the meaning of the words קרן עור פניו in Deuteronomy 33,17 וקרני ראם לו, “having horns like the reem” is completely foolish. It is quite normal for words in the Torah to have more than one meaning, depending on the context in which they are used.

Chaim ibn Attar or Ḥayyim ben Moshe ibn Attar (Arabic: حاييم بن موشي بن عطار‎, Hebrew: חיים בן משה בן עטר‎; b. c. 1696 - 7 July 1743) also known as the Or ha-Ḥayyim after his popular commentary on the Pentateuch, was a Talmudist and Kabbalist. He is arguably considered to be one of the most prominent Rabbis of Morocco.

The whole subject becomes clearer when the Torah reports that Moses wore a veil over his face at all times except when he taught the Torah. The question therefore should have been: "Why did Moses not wear a veil over his face at the time he descended from the Mountain?" The Torah answers this question by stating that Moses was unaware that his face emitted rays of light. This is why he had not put on his veil as usual prior to descending from the Mountain. This led to Aaron and the children of Israel observing that his face gave forth a beam of light. This still leaves us with the strange phenomenon that a human being should be unaware that his face emits rays of light. This is especially so if we assume the source of these rays to have been some kind of horn-like protuberance on his forehead? Surely Moses must have noticed that he suddenly possessed such an additional feature? This is why the Torah explained the reason of Moses' unawareness by stating that all of this occurred while he descended from the Mountain and held the Tablets in his hand(s). As long as he had been on the Mountain, Moses had assumed that any radiation of light he noted had originated with G'd who was speaking to him. This light which Moses had assumed to originate with G'd disappeared during his descent. The reason Moses still did not notice that these rays originated in his own face was that he carried the Holy Tablets while descending from the Mountain. He therefore assumed that the light he was still conscious of was emitted by the Tablets. He had no idea that he himself had become a permanent source of such light. When the Torah writes: "he did not know that the skin of his face emitted rays," this does not mean that he was unaware of these rays of light. He was only unaware that the source was neither G'd nor the Tablets but the skin of his own face. This is why he did not cover his face with the veil when Aaron saw him. We may now understand the meter of the verse as follows: "The reason that both Aaron and the children of Israel saw Moses' face emit rays of light was that Moses was unaware of his face being the source of that light; he had therefore neglected to cover his face with the veil he normally wore." As soon as he deposited the Tablets and he became aware that the light had not departed, he realised that he himself was the source of the light and he immediately covered his face with the veil. Moses' wearing the veil corresponds to the mystical dimension of Proverbs 25,2: "It is the glory of G'd to conceal a matter."