'The Ten Commandments' is Hollywood's version of biblical story

If you've ever watched the classic movie "The Ten Commandments" by Cecil B. DeMille, it is so engaging it may have become your definitive version of Moses.

But the 1956 film, starring Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner (which will be broadcast next Saturday, April 3, from 6-10 p.m. on KTVX Ch. 4), sprinkles more than a little fancy among its facts.

From a romance that never existed and concocted characters to an instant parting of the Red Sea, the movie is riddled with fiction.

It is, in fact, a cinematic masterpiece in everything except accuracy. It won an Oscar, three other major movie awards and was nominated for another seven awards.

No later movies about Moses come close.

In Hollywood's defense, perhaps making an almost three-hour movie out of a few dozen Bible chapters requires some invention just to fill the time and keep viewers engaged.

Historically, ABC-TV airs the classic movie, the highest grossing film of the 1950s, each year during Easter weekend. (The one year ABC didn't air the movie — 1999 — it received a browbeating.)

So, in an effort to shed some light on what's Holy Bible and what's Hollywood, here is a sampling of differences.

 According to the commentary on the 2004 DVD release of the film, the movie's script was enhanced by non-biblical sources, such as: Josephus, the Sepher-ha-Yashar, the Chronicle of Moses and the Quran. Also, some parts in the script are mere inventions.

 The movie refers to all the kings of Egypt with specific names, while the Bible refers to each one only as "Pharaoh."

 No wives of any kings are mentioned by name in the Bible, while a star in the movie is "Queen Nefretiri," obviously a variation of "Nefertari," the wife of Rameses II, according to Egyptian history. The Bible mentions no extra romance of Moses with anyone, though Nefretiri's love of Moses is one of the dominant components of the DeMille movie.

 Moses' mother is said to be Yoshebel in the movie, while Exodus 6:20 states it was Jochebed.

 The daughter of Pharaoh is only mentioned in the Bible when she rescues baby Moses from the river. In the movie, she eventually goes with the Israelites out of Egypt.

 There is also no biblical mention of Moses having any early relationship with any of the Pharaoh's sons.