Sinai

VIEW:29 DATA:01-04-2020
a bush; enmity
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary


SINAI (Mountain).—A holy mountain in the Sinaitic peninsula (whose name is said to be derived from that of Sin, the moon-god). It is called Horeb by E [Note: Elohist.] and D [Note: Deuteronomist.] , whereas J [Note: Jahwist.] and P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] employ the name ‘Sinai.’ Here Moses was granted the vision of the burning bush (Exo_3:1), whereby he first received a call to lead the Israelites to adopt Jahweh as their covenanted God; and here took place the tremendous theophany which is the central event of the Pentateuch, wherein the covenant was ratified.
The identification of Mt. Sinai is a matter of some difficulty, and various attempts to discover it have been made from time to time. The traditional site is Jebel Mûsa, ‘the mountain of Moses,’ almost in the centre of the triangle; here there has been a convent ever since at least a.d. 385, about which date it was visited by St. Silvia of Aquitaine—whose account of her pilgrimage still survives in part. This identification has therefore the warrant of antiquity. It is not, however, wholly free from difficulty, principally connected with questions of the route of the Exodus; but it is possible that with further study and discovery these difficulties may be found to he evanescent.
In recent years the tradition has been questioned, and two suggestions have been made calling for notice. The first is that originally suggested by Lepsius, who would place Sinai at Mount Serbal, some distance northwest of Jebel Mûsa. This theory has been championed, with a good deal of force, by the latest investigator, Professor Petrie’s assistant, Mr. C. T. Currelly (see Petrle, Researches in Sinai, ch. xvii.). The region appears more suitable for the occupation of a large host than the neighbourhood of Jebel Mûsa, and it accords better with the probable site of Rephidim.
The second view would place the mountain out of the peninsula altogether, unless it can be proved that the Land of Midian included that region. And, indeed, the close connexion evident between Sinai or Horeb and Midian, which appears, for example, in Exo_3:1-22, makes this a theory worth consideration. But we are still in the dark as to the limits of Midian: all we can say is that it is not known whether Midian extended west of the Gulf of ‘Akabah, and that therefore it is not known whether Sinai was west of ‘Akabah. It must, however, be freely granted that to place Sinai east or north of ‘Akabah would entirely disjoint all identifications of places along the line of the itinerary of the Exodus.
For the allegorical use of ‘Sinai’ in Gal_4:25, see art. Hagar.
R. A. S. Macalister.
SINAI (Peninsula).—The triangular tongue of land intercepted between the limestone plateau of the Tih desert in the north, and the Gulfs of Suez and ‘Akabah, at the head of the Red Sea, on the south-west and south-east. It is a rugged and waste region, little watered, and full of wild and impressive mountain scenery. Except at some places on the coast, such as Tor, there is but little of a settled population.
This region was always, and still is, under Egyptian Influence, if not actually in Egyptian territory. From a very early period it was visited by emissaries from Egyptian kings in search of turquoise, which is yielded by the mines of the Wady Magharah. There sculptured steles were left, and scenes engraved in the rock, from the time of Semerkhet of the first dynasty, and Sneferu of the third—dated by Professor Petrie in the fifth and sixth millennia b.c. These sculptures remained almost intact till recent years; till a party of English speculators, who came to attempt to re-work the old mines, wantonly destroyed many of them (see Petrie, Researches in Sinai, p. 46). What these vandais left was cut from the rock and removed for safety, under Professor Petrie’s direction, to the Cairo Museum. A remarkable temple, dedicated to Hathor, but adapted, it would appear, rather to Semitic forms of worship, exists at Serabîl el-Khadem, not far from these mines. It was probably erected partly for the benefit of the parties who visited the mines from time to time.
Geologically, Sinai is composed of rocks of the oldest (Archæan) period. These rocks are granite of a red and grey colour, and gneiss, with schists of various kinds—hornbiende, talcose, and chioritic—overlying them. Many later, but still ancient, dykes of diorite, basalt, etc., penetrate these primeval rocks. Vegetation is practically confined to the valleys, especially in the neighbourhood of water-springs.
R. A. S. Macalister.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909


(See EXODUS.) The peninsula of Sinai is a triangular tract, bounded on the W. by the gulf of Suez, on the E. by the gulf of Akabah, and on the N. by a line drawn from Gaza through Beersheba to the S. of the Dead Sea. There are three divisions:
(1) the southernmost, the neighbourhood of Sinai;
(2) the desert of et Tih, the scene of Israel's wanderings;
(3) the Negeb, or "south country", the dwelling of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Near 'Ain Hudherah ("Hazeroth") Mr. Palmer (Palestine Exploration Quarterly Statement, January, 1871) discovered Erweis el Ebeirig, which he believed to be the remains of an Israelite camp. The tombs outside he identified as the Kibroth Hattaavah, "graves of lust" (Num_11:31); the extensive remains betoken a large assemblage of people. Farther on the stone huts scattered over the hills and country, Arabic Nawamis ("mosquitos"), were probably Amalekite dwellings. Proceeding N. the explorers reached 'Ain Gadis or Kadesh, with a wady of the same name running from it beside a large plain. 'Ain Gadis is on the frontier of the Negeb or south country, which is now waste through neglect of the water supply, but bears traces of former cultivation arid ruins of many cities. Eshcol, where the spies went, lay not far off from Kadesh in the vine abounding district on the way to Hebron; the hill sides are covered with small stone heaps, on which the vines were trained.
To the north stand el Meshrifeh or Zephath "the watchtower," and Sbaita, all built of stone, without timber, "the city of the Zephath," afterward called Hormah (Jdg_1:17). The route lies then through the Amorite hills to Ruhaibeh, with the remains of an old well, the troughs being of great size and antiquity, the Rehoboth well of Isaac; near it Shutnet, or Sitnah. Then Beersheba with three wells, one dry, the other two full of water. Sinai stands in the center of the peninsula which lies between the two horns of the Red Sea. It is a wedge shaped mass of granite and porphyry platonic rocks, rising almost 9,000 ft. above the sea. On the S.W. lies a wide alluvial plain, coasting the gulf of Suez; on the E. side, coasting the Akabah gulf, the plain is narrow. There are three chief masses:
(1) The N.W. cluster, including five-peaked Serbal, 6,342 ft. above the sea.
(2) The E. and central mass, jebel Katherin its highest point, 8,063 ft. above the sea; jebel Musa, at the south end, about 7,000 ft.
(3) The S.E. close to (2), Um Shaumer its highest point. Ras Sufsafeh, the northern end of (2), with the vast plain er Rahab ("the wilderness of Sinai") for Israel below, is the Mount Sinai of the law.
Horeb is the N. part of the Sinaitic range. At the foot of Ras Sufsafeh are alluvial mounds, which exactly correspond to the "bounds" set to restrain the people. In the long retiring sweep of er Rahab the people could "remove and stand afar off," for it extends into the side valleys. Moses, coming through one of the oblique gullies at the side of Res Sufsafeh on the N. and S., might not see the camp, though hearing the noise, until he emerged from the wady ed Deir or the wady Leja on the plain (Exo_32:15-19).
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.


Si'na-i or Sin'a-i. (thorny). Nearly in the centre of the peninsula, which stretches between the horns of the Red Sea, lies a wedge of granite, grunstein and porphyry rocks rising to between 8000 and 9000 feet above the sea. Its shape resembles a scalene triangle. These mountains may be divided into two great masses ? that of Jebel Serbal, (8759 feet high), in the northwest above Wady Feiran, and the central group, roughly denoted by the general name of Sinai. This group rises abruptly from the Wady es-Sheikh at its north foot, first to the cliffs of the Ras Sufsafeh, behind which, towers the pinnacle of Jebel Musa, (the Mount of Moses), and farther back to the right of it, the summit of Jebel Katerin, (Mount St. Catherine, 8705 feet), all being backed up and overtopped by Um Shamer, (the mother of fennel, 9300 feet), which is the highest point of the whole peninsula.
Names. ? These mountains are called Horeb, and sometimes Sinai. Some think that Horeb is the name of the whole range, and Sinai is the name of a particular mountain; others, that Sinai is the range, and Horeb is the particular mountain; while Stanley suggests that the distinction is one of usage, and that both names are applied to the same place.
The mountain from which the law was given. ? Modern investigators have generally come to the conclusion that of the claimants; Jebel Serba, Jebel Musa and Ras Sufsafeh, the last, the modern Horeb of the monks ? namely, the northwest and lower face of the Jebel Musa, crowned with a range of magnificent cliffs, the highest point called Ras Sufsafeh, as overlooking the plain, er Rahah ? is the scene of the giving of the law, and that peak, the mountain into which Moses ascended.
(But Jebel Musa and Ras Sufsafeh are really peaks of the same mountain, and Moses may have received the law on Jebel Musa, but it must have been proclaimed from Ras Sufsafeh. Jebel Musa is the traditional mount where Moses received the law from God. It is a mountain mass two miles long and one mile broad, The southern peak is 7363 feet high; the northern peak, Ras Sufsafeh is 6830 feet high.
It is in full view of the plain, er Rahah, where the children of Israel were encamped. This plain is a smooth camping-ground, surrounded by mountains. It is about two miles long by half a mile broad, embracing 400 acres of available standing round made into a natural amphitheatre, by a low semicircular mount about 300 yards from the foot of the mountain. By actual measurement, it contains over 2,000,000 square yards, and with its branches over 4,000,000 square yards, so that the whole people of Israel, two million in number, would find ample accommodations for seeing and hearing.
In addition to this, the air is wonderfully clear, both for seeing and hearing. Dean Stanley says that "from the highest point of Ras Sufsafeh, to its lower peak, a distance of about 60 feet, the page of a book distinctly but not loudly read was perfectly audible." It was the belief of the Arabs who conducted Niebuhr, that they could make themselves heard across the Gulf of Akabah, ? a belief fostered by the great distance to which the voice can actually be carried. There is no other place known among all these mountains so well adapted for the purpose of giving and receiving the law as this rocky pulpit of Ras Sufsafeh and the natural amphitheatre of er Rahah. ? Editor.)
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863


a famous mountain of Arabia Petraea, on which God gave the law to Moses, Exo_19:1; Exo_24:16; Exo_31:18; Exo_34:2; Exo_34:4, &c; Lev_25:1; Lev_26:46. It stands in a kind of peninsula, formed by the two arms of the Red Sea; one extending north, called the Gulf of Kolsom; the other extending east, called the Gulf of Elan. The Arabs call Mount Sinai by the name of Tor, that is, the mountain, by way of excellence; or Gibel Mousa, “the mountain of Moses.” It is two hundred and sixty miles from Cairo, which is a journey of ten days. The wilderness of Sinai, where the Israelites continued encamped almost a year, and where Moses erected the tabernacle of the covenant, is considerably elevated above the rest of the country; the ascent to it is very craggy, the greater part cut out of the rock; then one comes to a large space of ground, which is a plain surrounded on all sides by rocks and eminences, whose length is nearly twelve miles. Toward the extremity of this plain, on the north, two high mountains appear; the highest is called Sinai, the other Horeb. They are of very steep ascent, and do not stand on much ground in comparison to their extraordinary height. Sinai is at least one third part higher than the other, and its ascent more upright and difficult. The top of the mountain terminates in an uneven and rugged space, which might contain about sixty persons. On this eminence is built a little chapel, called St. Catherine's, where it is thought the body of this saint rested for three hundred and sixty years; but afterward it was removed into a church at the foot of the mountain. Near this chapel issues a fountain of very good fresh water: it is looked upon as miraculous, it not being conceivable how water can flow from the brow of so high and so barren a mountain. Mount Horeb stands west of Sinai; so that at sun-rising the shadow of Sinai covers Horeb. Beside the little fountain at the top of Sinai, there is another at the foot of Horeb, which supplies the monastery of St. Catherine. Five or six paces from thence they show a stone, whose height is four or five feet, and breadth about three, which they say is the very stone from whence Moses caused the water to gush out. Its colour is of a spotted grey; and it is, as it were, set in a kind of earth, where no other rock appears. This stone has twelve holes or channels, which are about a foot wide, from whence they say the water issued which the Israelites drank.
“Sinai,” says Sandys, “has three tops of a marvellous height; that on the west side, where God appeared to Moses in a bush, fruitful in pasturage, far lower than the middlemost, and shadowed when the sun riseth thereon; which is that whereon God gave the law to Moses, and which is now called the Mount of Moses, at the foot of which stands the monastery called St. Catherine's, from which there were steps formerly up to the very top of the mountain, and were computed fourteen thousand in number. At present some of them are broken, but those that remain are well made, and easy to go up and down. There are, in several places of the ascent, good cisterns; and especially near the top, a fair and good one. The third or most easterly summit is called by the religious in those parts, Mount Catherine; on the top of which there is a dome, under which they say was interred the body of this saint, brought thither by angels after she was beheaded at Alexandria.” One may judge of the height of St. Catherine's Mount, which certainly is not so high as that of Moses by a third part, from this circumstance, that Thevenot found much snow on both when he was there, which was in February. The monastery of St. Catherine is from Cairo some eight days' journey over the deserts.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.


The Sinai Peninsular is the dry region that lies south of Palestine between the two northern arms of the Red Sea. Within it are the semi-desert regions known as the Wilderness of Shur in the north and the Wilderness of Paran in the north-east. (For map see SHUR.)
In the biblical record the Sinai region’s chief importance is as the location of the mountain in the south known as Horeb, or Mount Sinai. This was the place where God first met Moses and where he later established his covenant with the travelling Israelites (Exo_3:1; Exo_3:12; Act_7:30). Through that covenant God formally made them his people and gave them this law (Exodus 19; Exo_24:16; Exo_34:1-4; Exo_34:29; Lev_7:37-38; Lev_27:34; Deu_1:6; Deu_1:19; Deu_5:1-2; 1Ki_8:9; Act_7:38).
For about one year the people of Israel camped at Mt Sinai, organizing themselves for the new life that lay ahead in Canaan (Exo_19:1; Num_10:11). But because of their disobedience, they took about forty years to reach Canaan. They spent much of this time in the wilderness regions of the Sinai Peninsular, where the older generation passed away and a new generation grew up. It was this new generation that entered Canaan (Num_1:19; Num_10:12; Num_14:31-34; Num_26:63-65).
Several hundred years later, when the prophet Elijah felt that God’s covenant people were a total failure, God brought him to Mt Sinai to reassure him. Though God would punish Israel, he would preserve the faithful minority and through them fulfil his covenant promises (1Ki_19:8-18).
To Israelites, the covenant was inseparably linked with Sinai. But it was a covenant that was limited by time and restricted to one nation. The new covenant, by contrast, has no such limitations or restrictions. It comes into being through Jesus Christ and is identified not with Sinai but with heaven (Gal_4:24-27; Heb_12:18-29; see COVENANT).
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary by Don Fleming
PRINTER 1990.


sı̄?nı̄, sı̄?nā́-ı̄ (סיני, ṣı̄nay; Codex Alexandrinus Σινά, Siná, Codex Vaticanus Σεινά, Seiná):

1. The Name:
The name comes probably from a root meaning ?to shine,? which occurs in Syriac, and which in Babylonian is found in the name sinu for ?the moon.? The old explanation, ?clayey,? is inappropriate to any place in the Sinaitic desert, though it might apply to Sin (Eze_30:15, Eze_30:16) or Pelusium; even there, however, the applicability is doubtful. The desert of Sin (Exo_16:1; Exo_17:1; Num_33:11 f) lay between Sinai and the Gulf of Suez, and may have been named from the ?glare? of its white chalk. But at Sinai ?the glory of Yahweh was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel? (Exo_24:17); and, indeed, the glory of the Lord still dyes the crags of Jebel Mûsa (the ?mountain of Moses?) with fiery red, reflected from its red granite and pink gneiss rocks, long after the shadows have fallen on the plain beneath. Sinai is mentioned, as a desert and a mountain, in 35 passages of the Old Testament. In 17 passages the same desert and mountain are called ?Horeb,? or ?the waste.? This term is chiefly used in Deuteronomy, though Sinai also occurs (Deu_33:2). In the other books of the Pentateuch, Sinai is the usual name, though Horeb also occurs (Exo_3:1; Exo_17:6; Exo_33:6), applying both to the ?Mount of God? and to the desert of Rephidim, some 20 miles to the Northwest.

2. Traditional Site:
The indications of position, in various passages of the Pentateuch, favor the identification with the traditional site, which has become generally accepted by all those explorers who have carefully considered the subject, though two other theories may need notice. Moses fled to the land of Midian (or ?empty land?), which lay East of the Sinaitic peninsula (Num_22:4, Num_22:7; 25; 31), and when he wandered with his flocks to Horeb (Exo_3:1) he is said to have reached the west side of the desert. In another note (Deu_1:2) we read that the distance was ?eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir unto Kadesh-barnea? or Petra (see WANDERINGS OF ISRAEL), the distance being about 145 miles, or 14 miles of daily march, though Israel - with its flocks, women and children - made 16 marches between these points. Sinai again is described as being distant from Egypt ?three days' journey into the wilderness? (Exo_5:3), the actual route being 117 miles, which Israel accomplished in 10 journeys. But, for Arabs not encumbered with families and herds, this distance could still be covered by an average march of 39 miles daily, on riding camels, or even, if necessary, on foot.

3. Identification with Jebel Musa:
These distances will not, however, allow of our placing Sinai farther East than Jebel Mûsa. Lofty mountains, in all parts of the world, have always been sacred and regarded as the mysterious abode of God; and Josephus says that Sinai is ?the highest of all the mountains thereabout,? and again is ?the highest of all the mountains that are in that country, and is not only very difficult to be ascended by men, on account of its vast. altitude but because of the sharpness of its precipices: nay, indeed, it cannot be looked at without pain of the eyes, and besides this it was terrible and inaccessible, on account of the rumor that passed about, that God dwelt there? (Ant., II, xii, 1; III, v, 1). Evidently in his time Sinai was supposed to be one of the peaks of the great granitic block called et Ṭûr - a term applying to any lofty mountain. This block has its highest peak in Jebel Kâtarı̂n (so named from a legend of Catherine of Egypt), rising 8, 550 ft. above the sea. Northeast of this is Jebel Mûsa (7, 370 ft.), which, though less high, is more conspicuous because of the open plain called er Râḥah (?the wide?) to its Northwest. This plain is about 4 miles long and has a width of over a mile, so that it forms, as Dr. E. Robinson (Biblical Researches, 1838, I, 89) seems to have been the first to note, a natural camp at the foot of the mountain, large enough for the probable numbers (see EXODUS, 3.) of Israel.

4. Description of Jebel Musu:
Jebel Mûsa has two main tops, that to the Southeast being crowned by a chapel. The other, divided by gorges into three precipitous crags, has the Convent to its North, and is called Râs-es-Ṣafṣâfeh, or ?the willow top.? North of the Convent is the lower top of Jebel ed Deir (?mountain of the monastery?). These heights were accurately determined by Royal Engineer surveyors in 1868 (Sir C. Wilson, Ordnance Survey of Sinai); and, though it is impossible to say which of the peaks Moses ascended, yet they are all much higher than any mountains in the Sinaitic desert, or in Midian. The highest tops in the Tı̂h desert to the North are not much over 4,000 ft. Those in Midian, East of Elath, rise only to 4,200 ft. Even Jebel Serbâl, 20 miles West of Sinai - a ridge with many crags, running 3 miles in length - is at its highest only 6, 730 ft. above the sea. Horeb is not recorded to have been visited by any of the Hebrews after Moses, except by Elijah (1Ki_19:8) in a time of storm. In favor of the traditional site it may also be observed that clouds suddenly formed, or lasting for days (Exo_24:15 f), are apt to cap very lofty mountains. The Hebrews reached Sinai about the end of May (Exo_19:1) and, on the 3rd day, ?there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount? (Exo_19:16). Such storms occur as a rule in the Sinaitic desert only in December and January, but thunderstorms are not unknown in Palestine even in May.

5. Patristic Evidence:
A constant tradition fixing the site is traceable back to the 4th century AD. Eusebius and Jerome (Onomasticon, under the word ?Choreb?) place Horeb near Paran, which in their time was placed (Onomasticon, under the word ?Raphidim?) in Wâdy Feirân. Anchorites lived at Paran, and at Sinai at least as early as 365 AD, and are noticed in 373 AD, and often later (Robinson, Biblical Res., 1838, I, 122-28); the monastery was first built for them by Justinian in 527 AD and his chapel still exists. Cosmas (Topogr. Christ.), in the same reign, says that Rephidim was then called Pharan, and (distinguishing Horeb from Sinai, as Eusebius also does) he places it ?about 6 miles from Pharan,? and ?near Sinai.? These various considerations may suffice to show that the tradition as to Horeb is at least as old as the time of Josephus, and that it agrees with all the indications given in the Old Testament.

6. Lepsius' Theory:
Lepsius, it is true (Letters from Egypt, 1842-44), denying the existence of any unbroken tradition, and relying on his understanding of Cosmas, supposed Sinai to be the Jebel Serbâl above mentioned, which lies immediately South of Wâdy Feirân. His main argument was that, visiting Sinai in March, he considered that the vicinity did not present sufficient water for Israel (Appendix B, 303-18). But, on this point, it is sufficient to give the opinion of the late F. W. Holland, based on the experience of four visits, in 1861, 1865, 1867-68.
He says (Recovery of Jerusalem, 524):
?With regard to water-supply there is no other spot in the whole Peninsula which is nearly so well supplied as the neighborhood of Jebel Mûsa. Four streams of running water are found there: one in Wâdy Leja; a second in Wâdy et Ṭl'ah which waters a succession of gardens extending more than 3 miles in length, and forms pools in which I have often had a swim; a third stream rises to the North of the watershed of the plain of er Raḥah and runs West into Wâdy et Ṭl'ah; and a fourth, is formed by the drainage from the mountains of Umm ‛Alawy, to the East of Wâdy Sebaiyeh and finds its way into that valley by a narrow ravine opposite Jebel ed Deir. In addition to these streams there are numerous wells and springs, affording excellent water throughout the whole of the granitie district. I have seldom found it necessary to carry water when making a mountain excursion, and the intermediate neighborhood of Jebel Mûsa would, I think, bear comparison with many mountain districts in Scotland with regard to its supply of water. There is also no other district in the Peninsula which affords such excellent pasturage.?
This is important, as Israel encamped near Sinai from the end of May till April of the next year. There is also a well on the lower slope of Jebel Musa itself, where the ascent begins.

7. Greene's Theory:
Another theory, put forward by Mr. Baker Greene (The Hebrew Migration from Egypt), though accepted by Dr. Sayce (Higher Cricitism, 1894, 268), appears likewise to be entirely untenable. Mr. Greene supposed Elim (Exo_15:27) to be Elath (Deu_2:8), now ‛Ailah at the head of the Gulf of ‛Akabah; and that Sinai therefore was some unknown mountain in Midian. But in this case Israel would in 4 days (see Exo_15:22, Exo_15:23, Exo_15:27) have traveled a distance of 200 miles to reach Elim, which cannot but be regarded as quite impossible for the Hebrews when accompanied by women, children, flocks and herds.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.


Si?nai. The Hebrew name, denoting a district of broken or cleft rocks, is descriptive of the region to which it is applied. That region, according to Exo_19:1; Lev_7:38; Num_1:1; Num_1:3-4, is a wild mountainous country in Arabia Petraea, whither the Israelites went from Rephidim, after they had been out of Egypt for the space of three months. Here the law was given to Moses, which fact renders this spot one of special and lasting interest. From the magnitude and prominence of the Sinaitic group of mountains, the entire district of which it forms a part has received the name of the peninsula of Sinai. This peninsula may be roughly described as formed by a line running from Suez to Ailah, all that lies on the south of this line falling within the peninsula. In the present-day the name Sinai is given by Christians to the cluster of mountains to which we have referred; but the Arabs have no other name for this group than Jebel et-Tur, sometimes adding the distinctive epithet Sina. In a stricter sense the name Sinai is applied to a very lofty ridge which lies between the two parallel valleys of Shu'eib and el-Leja. Of this ridge the northern end is termed Horeb, the southern Sinai, now called Jebel M?sa, or Moses' Mount. The entire district is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys. The Sinai ridge, including Horeb, is at least three miles in length. It rises boldly and majestically from the southern end of the plain Rahah, which is two geographical miles long, and ranges in breadth from one-third to two-thirds of a mile, making at least one square mile. This space is nearly doubled by extensions of the valley on the west and east. 'The examination convinced us,' says Robinson (Biblical Researches, i. 141), 'that here was space enough to satisfy all the requisitions of the Scriptural narrative, so far as it relates to the assembling of the congregation to receive the law.' Water is abundant in this mountainous region, to which the Bedouins betake themselves when oppressed by drought in the lower lands. As there is water, so also is there in the valleys great fruitfulness and sometimes luxuriance of vegetation, as well as beauty. What was the exact locality from which the law was given, it may not be easy to ascertain. The book of Deuteronomy (Deu_1:6; Deu_4:18, etc.) makes it to be Horeb, which seems most probable; for this, the north end of the range, rises immediately from the plain of which we have just spoken as the head-quarters of the Israelites. Sinai is, indeed, generally reputed to be the spot, and, as we have seen, the southern extremity of the range is denominated Moses' Mount; but this may have arisen from confounding together two meanings of Sinai, inasmuch as it denotes, 1, a district; 2, a particular part of that district. It was no doubt on Horeb, in the region of Sinai, that the law was promulgated. Robinson imputes the common error to tradition, and declares that 'there is not the slightest reason for supposing that Moses had anything to do with the summit which now bears his name. It is three miles distant from the plain on which the Israelites must have stood, and hidden from it by the intervening peaks of modern Horeb. No part of the plain is visible from the summit, nor are the bottoms of the adjacent valleys, nor is any spot to be seen around it where the people could have been assembled.' Robinson also ascended the northern extremity of the ridge, and had there a prospect which he thus describes:?'The whole plain, er-R?hah, lay spread out beneath our feet with the adjacent Wadys and mountains. Our conviction was strengthened that here, or on someone of the adjacent cliffs, was the spot where the Lord ?descended in fire,? and proclaimed the law. Here lay the plain where the whole congregation might be assembled; here was the mount that could be approached and touched, if not forbidden; and here the mountain brow where alone the lightnings and the thick cloud would be visible, and the thunders and the voice of the trump be heard when ?the Lord came down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai.? We gave ourselves up to the impressions of the awful scene, and read, with a feeling that will never be forgotten, the sublime account of the transaction and the commandment there promulgated.'
Having thus given a general view of Sinai, we shall now briefly trace the Israelites in their journey to the mountain. Another article [WANDERING] will follow their course into the Land of Promise. When safe on the eastern shore, the Israelites, had they taken the shortest route into Palestine, would have struck at once across the desert in a south-easterly direction to el-Arish or Gaza. But this route would have brought them into direct collision with the Philistines, with whom they were as yet quite unable to cope. Or they might have traversed the desert of Paran, following the pilgrim road of the present-day to Elath, and, turning to the north, have made for Palestine. In order to accomplish this, however, hostile hordes and nations would have to be encountered, whose superior skill and experience in war might have proved fatal to the newly liberated tribes of Israel. They were, therefore, wisely directed to take a course which necessitated the lapse of time, and gave promise of affording intellectual and moral discipline of the highest value.
Moses did not begin his arduous journey till, with a piety and a warmth of gratitude which well befitted the signal deliverance that his people had just been favored with, he celebrated the power, majesty, and goodness of God in a triumphal ode, full of the most appropriate, striking, and splendid images; in which commemorative festivity he was assisted by 'Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron,' and her associated female band, with poetry, music, and dancing. The spot where these rejoicings were held, could not have been far from that which still bears the name of Ay?n M?sa, 'the fountains of Moses,' the situation of which is even now marked by a few palm-trees. This was a suitable place for the encampment, because well supplied with water. Here Robinson counted seven fountains, near which he saw a patch of barley, and a few cabbage plants. Hence the Israelites proceeded along the coast, three days' journey, into what is termed the wilderness of Shur. During this march they found no water. The district is hilly and sandy, with a few watercourses running into the Red Sea, which, failing rain, are dry. At the end of three days the Israelites reached the fountain Marah, but the waters were bitter, and could not be drunk. The stock which they had brought with them being now exhausted, they began to utter murmurings on finding themselves disappointed at Marah. Moses appealed to God, who directed him to a tree, which, being thrown into the waters, sweetened them. The people were satisfied and admonished. About this station authorities are agreed. It is identified with the fountain Haw?rah. The basin is six or eight feet in diameter, and the water Robinson found about two feet deep. Its taste is unpleasant, saltish, and somewhat bitter.
The next station mentioned in Scripture is Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and three score and ten palm-trees. As is customary with travelers in these regions, 'they encamped there by the waters' (Exo_16:1). This place is generally admitted to be Wady Ghurundel, lying about half a day's journey south-east from Marah. The way from Egypt to Sinai lies through this valley; and, on account of its water and verdure, it is a chief caravan station at the present-day. From Elim the Israelites marched, encamping on the shore of the Red Sea, for which purpose they must have kept the high ground for sometime, since the precipices of Jebel H?mm?in?a lofty and precipitous mountain of chalky limestone?run down to the brink of the sea. They, therefore, went on the land side of this mountain to the head of Wady Taiyikeh, which passes down south-west through the mountains to the shore. On the plain at the mouth of this valley was the encampment 'by the Red Sea' (Num_33:10).
According to Num_33:11, the Israelites removed from the Red Sea, and encamped next in the wilderness of Sin. This Robinson identifies with 'the great plain which, beginning near el-M?rkh?h, extends with greater or less breadth almost to the extremity of the peninsula. In its broadest part it is called el-K?a' (i. 106). Thus they kept along the shore, and did not yet ascend any of the fruitful valleys which run up towards the center of the district. They arrived in the wilderness of Sin on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure out of the land of Egypt; and being now wearied with their journey, and tired of their scanty fare, they began again to murmur. The contrast between the scant supply of the desert and the abundance of Egypt, furnished the immediate occasion of the outbreak of dissatisfaction. Bread and flesh were the chief demand; bread and flesh were miraculously supplied; the former by manna, the latter by quails.
The next station mentioned in Exodus is Rephidim; but in Numbers 33, Dophkah and Alush are added. The two latter were reached after the people had taken 'their journey out of the wilderness of Sin.' Dophkah is probably to be found near the spot where Wady Feir?n runs into the gulf of Suez. Alush may have lain on the shore near Ras Jehan. From this point a range of calcareous rocks, termed Jebal Hemam, stretches along the shore, near the southern end of which the Hebrews took a sudden turn to the north-east, and, going up Wady Hibr?n, reached the central Sinaitic district.
This was the last station before Sinai itself was reached. Naturally enough is it recorded, that 'there was no water for the people to drink.' The road was an arid gravelly plain; on either side were barren rocks. A natural supply was impossible. A miracle was wrought, and water was given. The Scripture makes it clear that it was from the Sinaitic group that the water was produced (Exo_17:6). The plain received two descriptive names?Massah, 'Temptation;' and Meribah, 'Strife.' It appears that the congregation was not allowed to pursue their way to Sinai unmolested. The Arabs thought the Israelites suitable for plunder, and fell upon them. These hordes are termed Amalekites. It appears that the conflict was a severe and doubtful one, which, by some extraordinary aid, ended in favor of the children of Israel. This aggression on the part of Amalek gave occasion to a permanent national hatred, which ended only in the extermination of the tribe (Num_24:20; Exo_17:14-16). In commemoration of this victory Moses was commanded to write an account of it in a book: he also erected there an altar to Jehovah, and called the name of it 'Jehovah, my banner.'




The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.


Gal_4:25 (a) This mountain represents the stern realities of the law. GOD appeared there in thunder and fire and thick darkness, for the law demands absolute obedience, or else punishment. It is in contrast with Calvary, where GOD appeared in human form, in tender loving kindness, and in love. The condition of Jerusalem at that time, with its wickedness, sin and the destruction wrought by its enemies was just a plain evidence of the tragedy that follows the broken laws of Sinai. (See Exo_19:18).
Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types
press 1957.



(Heb. Sioay', סַינִי, perhaps [if Shemitic] thorny, i.e. cleft with ravines; possibly [if Egyptian or Zabian] devoted to Sin, i.e. the moon; Sept. Σινᾶ [, v.r. in Jdg_5:5, Σειναῖ, and in Neh_9:13, Σιναῖ]; in the New Test. Σινᾶ; Josephus, τὸ Σιναῖον ὄρος, Ant. 2, 12, 1; Vulg. Sinai; A.V. “Sina” [q.v.] in a few passages), a well known mountain in the peninsula formed, by the gulfs of Suez and Akabah. The name appears to be primeval, and its meaning is unknown. It is mentioned thirty-one times in the Pentateuch and only four times in the rest of the Old Test. (Jdg_5:5; Neh_9:13; Psa_68:8; Psa_68:17) and four, in the New Test. (Act_7:30; Act_7:38; Gal_4:24-25). It would thus appear that the name had, in a great measure, become obsolete at an early period. We here present a summary of the Scriptural and other ancient notices, with the light of modern researches.
I. Biblical Notices and Occurrences. — The leading statements made regarding Sinai in the Pentateuch demand special notice, as they constitute the chief evidences in establishing its identity. A small section of the wilderness through which the Israelites passed took its name from the mountain (Exo_19:1-2). In one direction was Rephidim, only a short day's march distant; while Kibroth-hattaavah lay a day's march in another. The “desert of Sinai,” therefore, could only have been a very few miles across.
In the third month of their journey the Israelites “departed from Rephidim, came into the wilderness of, Sinai ... and camped before the mount” (Exo_19:1-2). The base of the mount in front of the camp appears to have been so sharply defined that barriers were put up to, prevent any of the people from approaching rashly or inadvertently to “touch the mount” (Exo_19:12). The “top of the mount,” was in full view from the camp; so that when the Lord “came down” upon it the thick cloud in which his glory was shrouded was “in sight of all the people” (Exo_19:11; Exo_19:16). While Moses was receiving the law on the summit of Sinai, “the thunderings and lightnings, and the voice of the trumpet” were so near the camp that the people, in terror, “removed and stood afar off,” yet still remained in sight of the mount, for “the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel” (comp. Exo_20:18;. Exo_24:17). Upon that peak the tables of the law were twice given to Moses, with all the details of the rites and ceremonies recorded in the Pentateuch (Exo_31:18; Exodus 34). Sinai was thus emphatically “the mount of the Lord” (Num_10:33). There the Lord spake with Moses “face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend” (Exo_33:11); and there he revealed himself in such glory and majesty as were never witnessed on earth.
II. Distinction between Sinai and Horeb. — Those critics who disintegrate the Pentateuch and assign to it a variety of authors are ready to support their view by pointing to a variety of diction; and one evidence of this they find in the use of Horeb throughout the book of Deuteronomy (except in the song of Moses, 33:2, which they attribute to a still different writer); whereas the person whom they suppose to have been the original composer of the first four books uses Sinai, which is the name always employed except in Exo_3:1; Exo_17:6; Exo_32:6; and these passages they attribute to a supplementary writer. This view is still strongly asserted by Ewald (Geschichte, 2, 57), who pronounces Sinai the older name, therefore occurring in the ancient song of Deborah (Jdg_5:5); whereas Horeb is not discoverable till the time of his fourth and fifth narrators, in whose age, however, it had become quite prevalent. His statement is a very fair sample of the precision and confidence with which these critics speak of matters as to which there is no evidence except their own critical sagacity, or their imagination, as others may be apt to consider it who claim no such peculiar insight. For while it is quite possible that the same writer might use two names indiscriminately for the same place, as in the case of Bethel and Luz, Baalah and Kirjath-jearim, the Sea of Galilee and the Lake of Tiberias, yet this last example indicates how readily two names may come to be in use indifferently, though originally the one was more definite than: the other. Accordingly, Gesenius suggested that Sinai might be the more general name, and Horeb a particular peak, and in this conjecture he was followed by Rosenmuller.
Another supposition was made by Hengstenberg (Pentateuch, 2, 325-327) which has gained the assent of almost all the German authorities since his time, as also of Robinson (Bib. Res. 1, 120, 591), apparently after having inclined to the conjecture of Gesenius. Hengstenberg agrees with Gesenius that the one name is more general than the other; but he differs in this respect that he makes Horeb the mountain ridge, and Sinai the individual summit from which the ten commandments were given. The reasons for this, opinion as urged by him and by others, may be arranged under a threefold division:
(1.) The name Sinai is used at the time that the Israelites were upon the very spot of the legislation that is, from Exo_19:11 and onwards till Num_3:1; whereas it is Horeb that is always used in the recapitulation in Deuteronomy; as a writer close beside a particular mountain would naturally single it out when describing his locality, though afterwards, when writing at a distance from it and taking a general retrospect, he might use the more comprehensive name of the entire mass of mountains to which it belonged. The only exception in Deuteronomy is that case in the song of Moses already alluded to (Deu_33:2), which is universally admitted to be a peculiar composition both by the impugners and by the defenders of the Mosaic authorship. When we take in the additional expression, “the wilderness of Sinai,” as denoting the place in which the Israelites encamped, we have Sinai occurring as early as Exo_19:1-2, and continuing till Num_10:12, where the march from Sinai is described. That particular spot would naturally take its name from the mountain peak beside it, whereas the name “wilderness of Horeb” is unknown to Scripture. The name Sinai never occurs in the Pentateuch after the departure from the spot except in three instances. Two of these (Num_26:64; Num_33:15) refer expressly to events in language already employed upon the spot about the census, and in the list of stations or encampments, and both use that phrase “the wilderness of Sinai,” which never occurs with the name Horeb; so that they are no exceptions in reality. The third (Num_27:6) is, therefore, the only exception — “It is a continual burned offering which was ordained in Mount Sinai;” and this also is explicable on the principle that the phrase had become so common in the legislation. Once, also, Sinai occurs before the Israelites reached it (Exo_16:1), the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai,” and here the precision of this term is thoroughly natural.
(2.) The name Horeb occurs in the earlier books thrice, all in Exodus, but it is in circumstances which best suit the general or comprehensive meaning which we attach to it. Moses, while acting as the shepherd of Jethro (Exo_3:1), “came to the mountain of God [even] to Horeb,” or, more literally, “came to the mountain of God Horeb-ward.” Our translators have identified the mountain of God with Horeb, an identification which is at least uncertain; for the original may quite as naturally be interpreted that he came to a particular peak in that mass of mountains which had the name of Horeb, to the sacred peak which is to be sought in the direction of Horeb. Particularly distinct is the second instance (Exo_17:6), “Behold I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb,” etc.; for this miraculous gift of water took place while the Israelites were encamped in Rephidim (Exo_17:1), the station before the station in the wilderness of Sinai (Exo_19:2). Probably the like should be said of the third instance (Exo_33:6), “And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb,” retiring every family apart, and every individual apart, as in other cases of humiliation and repentance; and the propriety of the use of the general rather than the specific term is the more apparent if those are right who translate the peculiar Hebrew phrase as exactly as they can, “stripped, themselves, etc. [retiring], from Mount Horeb.”
(3.) An argument may be drawn from the use of the prepositions connected with these two names. Reverting to Exo_17:6, we find the Lord saying, “Behold, I will stand upon the rock in Horeb,” that is, upon the particular spot, but in the district. Accordingly, it is the preposition in (in the English version needlessly varied into “at” once or twice) which is used with Horeb, not only here, but almost always where the name occurs in Deuteronomy, perhaps always, except “from” (Deu_1:2; Deu_1:19). The same is true of all the passages in which Horeb is mentioned in later Scripture (1Ki_8:9; 2Ch_5:10; Psa_106:19; Mal_1:4 [Hebrews 3:22]), except 1Ki_19:8, “unto Horeb the mount of God,” or better, “up to the mount of God Horeb [ward],” for it is plainly an expression referring to Exo_3:1, of which we have already spoken. With Sinai, on the other hand, there, are connected several prepositions, “in” and “from” as in the case of Horeb; also “to,” but especially “upon” (Exo_19:11; Exo_19:18; Exo_19:20; Exo_24:16), which describes the descent of the Lord, or the resting of the symbol of his presence, upon that individual peak from which the law was given, whereas we have no reason to think that it rested upon the whole mass of mountains which are clustered together. The same preposition, “upon,” is found in the only passage in later Old Test. Scripture where Sinai occurs with a preposition (Neh_9:13). Indeed, besides this text we find Sinai nowhere but in Jdg_5:5; Psa_68:8; Psa_68:17 (Heb_9:18), in passages which indisputably stand in a very close connection with Deu_33:2.
Not much can be inferred from the usage of later Scripture in regard to these names; though from what has been mentioned, it may be seen that Horeb is very decidedly the predominant name in the rest of the Old Test, as it is with one exception in Deuteronomy, and probably in both cases for the same reason that at a distance in time and place the more general name was, on the whole, more natural. Yet the distance may become so great that the peculiarities of the two names fall out of view, and mere usage may determine in favor of the one or the other appellation, now that they have become entirely equivalent. Certainly in the New Test. we find only Sinai (Act_7:30; Act_7:38; Gal_4:24-25), though reasons might be, perhaps, alleged for the use of the stricter name; for instance, in the first of these, that it is “the wilderness of Mount Sinai,” in which connection we have said that Horeb does not occur. Josephus seems also to confine himself to the name Sinai. In the Apocrypha we have noted Jdt_5:14, “to the way of Sinai,” or, according to another reading, “to the mount Sinai;” and Eccles. 48:7, where “in Sinai” and “in Horeb” occur in a poetical parallelisma but these determine nothing. Perhaps nothing can be concluded from the fact that Horeb never has the prefix “mount” except in Exo_33:6, whereas Sinai always has it in both the Old Test. and the New except in Exo_16:1, and Deu_33:2, and the passages depending upon this one, Jdg_5:5; Psa_68:8; Psa_68:17. Once more, it is very doubtful whether etymology can contribute anything to the settlement of the question. Horeb certainly means “dry,” or “dried up,” a name very descriptive of the region. But the meaning of Sinai is much debated. Gesenius suggests “muddy,” but with hesitation, and he appears to have no followers. More probably, Knobel proposes “sharp pointed,” “toothed,” or “notched.” The old derivation of Simonis and Hiller understood סַינִי, Sinai, to be equivalent to סַנְיִי, sinyai, “the bush of Jehovah,” with reference to Exo_3:2. Possibly as simple a meaning as any would be “bushy,” or “that which has the bush.” If so, the etymologies of the two names, so far as they went, would favor the view given of their respective meanings. Rodiger (additions to Gesenius, Thesaur.) makes it “sacred to the God of the moon.” Ewald and Ebers regard it as equivalent to “belonging to [the Desert of] Sin.”
Understanding Horeb to be the more general name, there might still be differences of opinion how wide a circuit should be included under it; though the common opinion seems to be that there is no necessity for taking it wider than that range (some three miles long from north to south) which is called by the modern Arabs Jebel Tur, or Jebel et-Tur, sometimes with the addition of Sina, though Robinson says extremely rarely.
III. Identification of the Particular Mountain. — In the Biblical notices there are implied three specifications, which must all be present in any spot answering to the true Sinai: 1. A mountain summit overlooking the place where the people stood. 2. Space sufficient, adjacent to the mountain, for so large a multitude to stand and behold the phenomena on the summit; and even, when afraid, to remove afar off and still be in sight. The relation between this space where the people stood and the base of the mountain must be such that they could approach and stand at ‘the nether part of the mount;' that they could also touch it; and that bounds could be set round the mount” (Biblioth. Sac. May, 1849, p. 382). There are three claimants for the name Sinai, and it will be necessary to examine them successively.;
1. Jebel Serbal. — Its claims were suggested by Burckhardt (Travels, p. 609), and are advocated by Lepsius (Letters from Egypt [Lond. 1853]), Bartlett (Forty Days in the Desert), Stewart (The Tent and the Khan), and others. The arguments in its favor may be thus summed up: It was the most conspicuous mountain in the peninsula, and therefore the best known to the Egyptian colonists. Near its northern base was the oasis of Feiran, which was probably the center of the primeval Sinaitic population; and the summit of Serbal would form their natural sanctuary. Moses, knowing such a fertile and well-watered spot as Feiran, would never have led the Israelites past it, but would naturally select it as the place of the permanent camp (Lepsius, p. 356-363). Besides, it is supposed to be more in accordance with the narration of the wilderness journey than any other mountain; and it is alleged that early historical tradition is wholly in its favor. The last two arguments are the only ones of any weight; and neither of them stands the test of critical examination. The basis of Lepsius's argument is that Rephidim is identical with Feiran, and that Moses selected this spot as the site of a permanent camp because it was well watered and fertile; but the sacred writer tells us that in Rephidim “there was no water for the people to drink” (Exo_17:1). With strange inconsistency Lepsius affirms that the “wonderful fountain of Feiran” was opened by the miracle recorded in ch. 15. If so, then how could the place have been well watered previously? But further, Rephidim was a day's march — probably a short one — from the permanent camp before Sinai (Exo_19:1). These facts totally overthrow the alleged argument from Scripture.
The historical argument is not more convincing, although dean Stanley somewhat rashly says: “It (Serbal) was undoubtedly identified with Sinai by Eusebius, Jerome, and Cosmas; that is, by all known writers till the time of Justinian” (Sinai and Palestine, p. 40). Eusebius merely states that “Rephidim is a place in the wilderness by Horeb, and that there Joshua fought with Amalek near Pharan” (Onomast. s.v.). Jerome only translates his words without addition or comment (he renders ἐγγύς by prope). The language of Cosmas is equally indefinite (Topogr. Christ. v), especially as, it is known that Pharan was a pretty large district, and that Horeb is said to be six miles distant from it.
It is hardly necessary to discuss the argument grounded on the remarkable Sinaitic inscriptions, though Lepsius presses it, and Stanley says that the natural inference from them is that Serbal “in the earlier ages enjoyed a larger support of tradition than Gebel Mousa” (p. 39). But how can this be? Wady Mokatteb, in which most of the inscriptions are found, is the leading route to Jebel Munsa as well as to Serbal. Inscriptions have also been discovered on the northern road from Egypt to Jebel MDusa by Surabet el-KhAdem; and they are much more numerous in the passes around Jebel Musa-in Wady Leja, Nukb Hawy, etc.than in Wady Aleiyat, the only pass leading to Serbal. It may be safely affirmed that the Sinaitic inscriptions do not, for the present at least, affect the question at issue in any way (Porter, Handbook, p.] 6 sq.).
But the nature of the country around Serbal is sufficient of itself to show that it could not possibly have been Sinai. Wady Feiran is three miles distant, and from it an occasional glimpse only can be got at the summit. Wady Aleiyat, which leads up to Serbal, is narrow, rugged, and rocky, affording no place for a large camp. This is acknowledged on all hands (Lepsius, p. 423 sq.; Bartlett, p. 57; Stanley, p. 44; Sandie, Horeb and Jerusalem, p. 149); and as there is no other valley or plain at the base of the mountain, it follows that Serbal cannot be Sinai .
2. Jebel Musa is the Sinai of recent ecclesiastical tradition, and it has found some advocates among moderntravelers (Wilson. Lands of the Bible, 1, 219; Sandie, Horeb, etc.). It is situated in the very center of the mountain group; but it is neither so lofty nor so commanding as some others around it. Its elevation is only about 7000 feet, while Jebel Kat-herin, three miles south, is 8700 feet, and Um Shaumer, beyond it, attains an altitude of 9300 feet. Jebel Mfisa is the highest point of a short isolated ridge which runs from northwest to southeast, between the two parallel ravines of Shueib and Leja. At one end (the southeast) it is bounded by a rugged wady called Sebalyeh, at the other by the upland plain of Er-Rahah. In Wady Shueib, on the north east of the ridge, stands the convent of St. Catherine, with the naked cliffs rising almost perpendicularly over it. In the glen of Leja, on the opposite side, is the reputed rock of Moses. The peak of Jebel Mufisa (“Moses Mountain”), which the monks identify with Sinai, is at the southern extremity of the range, overlooking Wady Sebalyeh and a confined region of rugged gravelly hills near it. The summit is a platform about thirty paces in diameter, partly covered with ruins. At its eastern end is a little chapel, and near it a mosque. Notwithstanding the elevation, the view is not extensive, and no plain is in sight on which the camp of the Israelites could have stood; nor is the base of the peak at all so clearly defined as the incidents of the sacred narrative require.
Various traditions — Jewish, Christian, and Mohammedan — have found a local habitation on this mountain. A rugged ancient path, in many places hewn into flights of steps up the granite cliffs, passes a grotto of the Virgin the cave where Elijah dwelt in Horeb, the footmarks of Mohammed's camel, and other spots equally apocryphal, in its winding course to the summit. This is the Sinai of tradition, but certainly not that of the Bible.
3. Ras es-Sufsafeh is the third claimant for the name Sinai; and its claim is valid. It forms the northwestern point of the ridge of which Jebel Mfisa is the southeastern. The name signifies “the peak (or head) of the willow;” and is derived from a willow tree which grows in a cleft on its side. The summit is very clearly defined, rising high above all the other peaks near it. In front it descends in broken crags of naked granite toWady er-Rahah. The view from it is not so extensive as that from Jebel Musa, but it is far more interesting and impressive. The whole extent of the plain of Er- Rahah, measuring more than two miles in length, and ranging from one third to two thirds of a mile in breadth, is visible. The eye, can follow its windings as it runs away among the mountains in the distance. The level expanse of Wady es Sheikh, which joins Er-Rahah, is also seen opening out on the right, while opposite it on the left is another section of plain forming a recess in the mountains. From near the summit a wild ravine runs down the front of the mountain, conveying a winter torrent into Er-Rhaha. Up this ravine the ascent may be made from the plain; it is rugged and steep, but an active mountaineer, such as Moses was, could easily accomplish it.
There can scarcely be a doubt that Ras es-Sufsafeh is Sinai, “the mount of the Lord.” Every requirement of the sacred narrative supplied and every incident illustrated by the features of the surrounding district. Here is a plain sufficient to contain the Israelitish camp, and so close to the mountain's base that barriers could be erected to prevent the rash or the heedless from touching it. Here is a mountain top where the clouds that enshrined the Lord when he descended upon it would be visible to the vast multitude, even when in fear they would withdraw from the base and retire to a distance. From this peak the thunderings and the voice of Jehovah would resound with terrific effect through the plain, and away among the cliffs and glens of the surrounding mountains.
When descending through the clouds that shrouded it, Moses could hear also the songs and shouts of the infatuated people as they danced round the golden calf; and in the brook that descends out of the mount” (Deu_9:21), through the ravine into Er-Rahah, he could cast the dust of the destroyed idol. In fact, the mountain, the plain, the streamlet, and the whole topography correspond in every respect to the historical account given by Moses. The words of dean Stanley are equally graphic and convincing: “No one who has approached the Ras Sufsafeh through that noble plain, or who has looked down upon the plain from that majestic height, will willingly part with the belief that these are the two essential features of the view of the Israelitish camp. That such a plain should exist at all in front of such a cliff is so remarkable a, coincidence with the sacred narrative as to furnish a strong internal argument, not merely of its identity with the scene, but of the scene itself having been described by an eyewitness. The awful and lengthened approach, as to some natural sanctuary, would have been the fittest preparation for the coming scene. The low line of alluvial mounds at the foot of the cliff exactly answers to the ‘bounds' which were to keep the people off from ‘touching the mount.' The plain itself is not broken and uneven, and narrowly shut in, like almost all others in the range, but presents a long retiring sweep, against which the people could ‘remove and stand afar off.' The cliff, rising like a huge altar, in front of the whole congregation, and visible against the sky in lonely grandeur from end to end of the whole plain, is the very image of ‘the mount that might be touched,' and from which the voice of God might be heard far and wide over the stillness of the plain below, widened at that part to its utmost extent by the confluence of all the contiguous valleys. Here, beyond all other parts of the peninsula, is the advtum, withdrawn, as if in the ‘end of the world,' from all the stir and confusion of earthly things!” (p. 42, 43).
The remarks of Mr. Beamont a recent and observant traveler, are of some importance, as showing that some traces of the ancient Scripture names still linger around Mount Sinai. “Two or three facts seem to me well worthy of observation. Immediately above Wady es-Sheikh rises Jebel Fureia, the front of this is named Jebel Seneh. Of this name our sheik from Tor knew nothing, but our guide on Ras es-Sufsafeh needed no prompting to give it its designation. This cluster of Fureia, or Zipporah, is nearly parallel with the cluster of Jebel Musa, and extends northward from it to the head of the central Sinaitic cluster. Separated from the same central cluster of Jebel Muisa on the left by Wady Leja, runs another parallel range of Sinatic rocks. To one of these, and separated from Jebel fureia by the broad Er-Rahah, the name Urrebbeh is given.
This name also, as Well as the name of the other group, was spontaneously assigned to it by our guide Mohammed. I was rather sceptical on the point, and made him repeat his designation three or four times, that there might be no mistake. My orthography is intended to express, as nearly as I can, the sound of his utterance for it would have been vain to ask him to spell the word. Supposing, then, that his nomenclature was correct, we have a cluster bearing the name of Seneh (Sinai; comp. Stanley, p. 42) on the right of Jebel Musa, and one bearing the name Urrebbeh, (Horeb) on the left; the central cluster itself has no local appellative, and is called after the prophet Moses. May we not, then, suppose that this central cluster bore the name Sinai or Horeb indiscriminately, serving as the nucleus to which the ranges of Sinai and Horeb trended;, and that, after the delivery of the law from the peak of Ras es-Sufsafeh, this bore the special name of ‘Mountain of Moses,' and that subsequently the local designations were restricted to the ridges on the right and left?” (Cairo to Sinai, p. 81, 82). The name Wady er-Rahah, which is given to the upland plain in front of Ras es-Sufshfeh, is also suggestive. It signifies “the vale of rest” — rest after labor, as that enjoyed by beasts of burden at the close of the day. This is very expressive as applied to the long encampment of the Israelites in this plain, after the toilsome march from Egypt; The monks, as has been stated, give the name of Jebel Musa to the southern peak of the central ridge, identifying it with Sinai; but they identify Ras es-Sufsafeh with Horeb. There are several traditional sites pointed out in Wady er-Rahah along the base of Sufsafeh, but they are so manifestly apocryphal as to be scarcely worth notice — such as the hill on which Aaron stood, the mold in which the golden calf was formed, and the pit of Korah (Porter, Handbook, p. 35). It is worthy of note that, no other district in the whole peninsula, with the exception of a small portion of Wady Feirhn, possesses such supplies of water and pasture as that around Mount Sinai. When the springs and wells are dry elsewhere, the Bedawin resort hither. On Sinai itself, on Jebel Katherin, in Wady Leja, in the convent, and in the plain of Rahah are perennial sources. The pastures, too, among the rocks and in the glens and little upland plains, are comparatively abundant (see Olin, Travels, 1, 386, 415).
4. The late Dr. Beke of England broached the theory tlihat Sinai was not in the peninsula at all, but east of the Gulf of Akabah, a position that carries its refutation on its own face. In order to accommodate it, he did not hesitate to remove the Mizraim, or “Egypt” of the Bible, into the peninsula. He finally made a visit to the region, and imagined he discovered the requisite locality in Jebel Nura, up Wady Ithm,, a short distance from Akabah; and although the main object of his journey, which was to prove “Mount Sinai a volcano,” was effectually exploded by the facts on the spot, he still maintained his general views as stoutly as ever, but without the concurrence of a single writer of note. Soon after his return he died if fatigue and disappointment, and his widow has published the notes of his journey with more affection than discretion (Sinai in Arabia [Lond. 187- 83).
IV. Description of the Region. — The physical features of the peninsula are broadly and deeply marked. In form a triangle, it is shut in on two sides by the gulfs of Aklabah and Suez, and on the third by the desert of Tih. Within these outer barriers are others, enclosing what may be termed the shrine. Along the southern edge of Tih runs, like a vast wall, a bare limestone ridge; and south of it again is a parallel belt of sandy plain, appropriately termed Debbet er-Ramleh. A naked gravelly plain called El- Kaa extends along the whole shore of the Gulf of Suez. Between El-Kaa, Debbet er-Ramleh and the Gulf of Akabah lies a group of mountains, triangular in shape, which forms, as it were, the nucleus of the peninsula, and is now called emphatically El-Tor, “the mountains.” On the north and west the group has projecting buttresses of ruddy sandstone, on which most of the inscriptions in the “written valley” are traced; but the main body and all the loftiest peaks are granite, and exhibit a variety of coloring red, yellow, purple, and green making them objects of singular beauty whea bathed in the bright sunshine. They are all, however, naked and desolate. As the eye wanders over their river sides and up their jagged peaks, not a tree, not a shrub, not a blade of grass is seen (see Olin, Travels, 1, 389). Rugged passes, almost as bare and dry and desolate as the granite cliffs overhead, wind from the outer borders up into the center of the group. On penetrating these ravines, a few acacias are here and there seen in a cranny of the rocks, and a clump of wild palms is occasionally met with fringing a well or fountain. In the heart of these mountains, in nature's profoundest solitude, amid scenery unsurpassed for wild and stern grandeur, history, tradition, and geography have combined to locate Sinai, “the mount of the Lord,” and all those wondrous events which were enacted round it.
The Sinaitic group has been arranged (Stanley, Sin. and Pal. p. 11) in three chief masses as follows:
(1.) The northwestern cluster above Wady Feir-hn; its greatest relief found in the five-peaked ridge of Serbal, at a height of 6342 feet above the sea. (For an account of the singular natural basin into which the waters of this portion of the mountain mass are received, and its probable connection with scriptural topography, SEE REPHIDIM.)
(2.) The eastern and central one; irs highest point the Jebel Katherin, at a height of 8063 (Ruppell) to 8168 (Russegger) feet, and including the Jebel Musa, the height of which is variously, set (by Schubert, Ruppell, and Russegger) at 6796, 7033, and 7097 feet.
(3.) The southeastern one, closely connected, however, with 2; its highest point, Um Shaumer, being that also of the whole. The three last named peaks all lie very nearly in a line of about nine, miles drawn from the most northerly of them, Musa, a little to the west of south; and a perpendicular to this line, traced on the map westward for about twenty miles, nearly traverses, the whole length of the range of Serbal. These lines show the area of greatest relief for the peninsula, nearly equidistant from each of its embracing gulfs, and also from its northern base, the rantge of Et-Tih, and its southern apex, the Ras Mohammed. The vegetation of the peninsula is most copious at El-Wady, near Tur, on the coast of the Gulf of Suez, in Wady Feiran, the two oases of its waste, and “in the nucleus of springs in the Gebel Mousa” (Stanley, p. 19). As regards its fauna, Seetzen (3, 20) mentions the following animals as found at Er-Ramleh, near Sinai the wild goat, the wubber, hyena, fox, hare, gazelle, panther (rare), field mouse (el- jurdy, like a jerboa), and a lizard called el-dsob, which is eaten. SEE WILDERNESS OF THE WANDERING.
It is a remarkable fact that Sinai never became a place of Jewish pilgrimage. Elijah went there, but it was at the command of God, and to(escape the vengeance of Jezebel. It has been thought possible that Paul may have visited Sinai (Gal_1:17) and been familiar with the name Hajar as given commonly to it, signifying “a rock” (Ewald, Sendschreiben, p. 493). At a very early period, however, in the Christian era, Sinai began to be an object of reverence. It appears that refugees from persecution in Egypt first sought an asylum amid the mountains. Anchorets consequently flocked to it, and convents were at length founded. The poor monks had hard fare, and were exposed during a long course of ages to persecutions and fearful massacres at the hands of the wild nomads. In the early part of the 6th century the emperor Justinian caused a church to be erected, and a fortified convent to be built round it to protect the monks from the incursions of the Ishmaelites. It is the present Convent of St. Catherine. The number of resident monks is now usually about twenty-four, though in the 14th century it is said to have been as high as four hundred. They are ruled by a prior, but there is an archbishop who always resides at Constantinople, and is one of the four independent archbishops of the Greek Church. The library of the convent contains some 1500 printed books, and about 700 manuscripts. A few of the latter are of great antiquity and value. Among them Tischendorf discovered, in the year 1859, the celebrated Codex Sinaiticus (q.v.).
V. Literature. — Mount Sinai and its vicinity have been visited by hundreds of travelers in modern times, and multitudes of descriptions have been written, few of which, however, contain anything specially new. The best accodints are those of Robinson, Bibl. Res. 1, 88-144; Burckhardt, Travels in Sysria, p. 541-590; Biblioth. Sac. May, 1849, p. 381-386; Stanley, Sin. and Pal. p. 3-77; Beamont, Cairo to Sinai, p. 58-85; Sandie, Horeb and Jerusalesm, p. 154-224. The German writers — Ritter, Pal. und Syr. vol. 1; Rippell, Reise; Schubert, Reise, vol. 2; and Niebuhr, Description de l'Arabie — may be consulted with advantage; and full descriptions of the Convent, with views, are give n Laborde's Mount Sinai and Petra, and in Bartlett's Forty Days in the Desert. The vicinity is minutely described in Poiter's Handbook for Palestine, and in Badeker's also. The results of the English Ordnance Survey — which, however, only extended over the western half of the peninsula — have been published in three noble volumes with two supplementary series of photographs (Loud. 1868-69), and a good abstract may be found in Palmer's Desert of the Exodus (Lond. and N.Y. 1872), and more briefly in his Sinai from the Monuments (Lond. 1878).



CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.





Norway

FACEBOOK

Participe de nossa rede facebook.com/osreformadoresdasaude

Novidades, e respostas das perguntas de nossos colaboradores

Comments   2

BUSCADAVERDADE

Visite o nosso canal youtube.com/buscadaverdade e se INSCREVA agora mesmo! Lá temos uma diversidade de temas interessantes sobre: Saúde, Receitas Saudáveis, Benefícios dos Alimentos, Benefícios das Vitaminas e Sais Minerais... Dê uma olhadinha, você vai gostar! E não se esqueça, dê o seu like e se INSCREVA! Clique abaixo e vá direto ao canal!


Saiba Mais

  • Image Nutrição
    Vegetarianismo e a Vitamina B12
  • Image Receita
    Como preparar a Proteína Vegetal Texturizada
  • Image Arqueologia
    Livro de Enoque é um livro profético?
  • Image Profecia
    O que ocorrerá no Armagedom?

Tags