Mount Horeb

Biblical References

• Exodus 3: While tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, Moses came "to the mountain of God, even to Horeb." There God appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush and called him. God told Moses to take off his shoes and revealed His name to him (Exodus 3:12–15).
• Exodus 17:6: When the people quarreled at Rephidim because there was no water, God told Moses to strike "the rock in Horeb." Moses struck the rock, and water came out of it.
• Exodus 33:6: After the golden calf incident, the children of Israel are said to have stripped themselves of their ornaments "by the mount Horeb."
• Deuteronomy: Moses usually calls the mountain where the law was given Horeb (Deuteronomy 1:6; 4:10; 5:2; 9:8; 18:16; 29:1). Deuteronomy 1:2 records that it was "eleven days' journey from Horeb" to Kadesh Barnea.
• 1 Kings 8:9 (2 Chronicles 5:10): The ark of the covenant is recorded as containing nothing but the two tablets of stone that Moses put there at Horeb.
• 1 Kings 19: Fleeing from Jezebel, Elijah traveled forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. He stayed in a cave, and there he met God. After the wind, the earthquake, and the fire came "a still small voice."
• Elsewhere, Psalm 106:19 recalls that Israel "made a calf in Horeb," and Malachi 4:4 exhorts the people to remember the law that God commanded Moses in Horeb.

Background

The Hebrew name Horeb is commonly explained as related to a word meaning "to be dry" or "to be desolate," and it is sometimes interpreted as referring to the parched land of the wilderness. Exodus and Numbers usually call the same mountain Mount Sinai, whereas Deuteronomy usually calls it Horeb. Events recorded as taking place near Horeb include the Sinai covenant after the Exodus, the giving of the Ten Commandments, and the golden calf incident.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

Mount Horeb is the place where God revealed Himself and made His covenant. Both Moses and Elijah met God on this mountain, and the accounts of both men involve a period of forty days (Exodus 34:28; 1 Kings 19:8). For this reason, many interpreters read Elijah's journey to Horeb in parallel with the experience of Moses.

The New Testament uses the name Mount Sinai rather than Horeb. Stephen says that the burning bush episode took place in the wilderness of Mount Sinai (Acts 7:30). Paul refers to Mount Sinai as a symbol of the old covenant (Galatians 4:24–25). Paul also interprets the water that came from the rock, saying, "and that Rock was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:4). Some interpreters connect the joint appearance of Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration with the two men's experiences at Horeb, though the text does not say this directly.

Interpretations and Debates

• Relationship to Mount Sinai: Christian tradition and many scholars regard Horeb and Sinai as two names for the same mountain. Another view holds that Horeb is the name of a mountain range or region that includes Mount Sinai. In critical scholarship, the two names are sometimes explained as deriving from different source traditions.
• Location: A tradition dating back to the Byzantine period identifies Horeb with Jebel Musa ("Mountain of Moses") in the southern Sinai Peninsula. Various other sites have been proposed, including northwestern Arabia (the ancient region of Midian), but none has been confirmed. The claim that a bush at the monastery there is Moses' burning bush is a later tradition, not something Scripture states.
• The still small voice: The Hebrew expression in 1 Kings 19:12 may be rendered roughly as "a quiet, thin sound," and translations vary in how they express it. The scene is often preached as teaching that God works through a quiet word rather than through dramatic phenomena. Other interpreters, however, regard it as a special revelation given to one discouraged man, Elijah, and hold that it cannot easily be generalized into a method for hearing God's voice.

In the Korean Church

In Korean church preaching, Mount Horeb is frequently discussed in connection with two scenes: the calling Moses received before the burning bush, and the restoration of Elijah after he had collapsed in exhaustion. In everyday usage, "Mount Sinai" and "Mount Horeb" are often used interchangeably to refer to the same mountain.