Mount Sinai

Biblical References

• The call of Moses: While tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, Moses came "to the mountain of God, even to Horeb." There he was called from the flame of fire in the midst of the bush and heard the name of God (Exodus 3:1-15).
• Covenant and law: After the Exodus, Israel arrived in the wilderness of Sinai in the third month and camped before the mountain (Exodus 19:1-2). There they received the Ten Commandments and the law and entered into the Sinai covenant. These events were followed by the instructions to build the tabernacle, the golden calf incident, and the giving of the second set of stone tablets. Israel departed from the place in the second month of the second year (Numbers 10:11-12).
• Deuteronomy refers to the same events chiefly under the name "Horeb" (Deuteronomy 5:2).
• Elijah: Fleeing from Jezebel, Elijah journeyed forty days and forty nights to Horeb. There he encountered God in "a still small voice" (1 Kings 19:8-12).

Background

The etymology of the name "Sinai" is uncertain. "Horeb" is sometimes interpreted as related to a word meaning "dry ground."

Scripture does not specify the mountain's exact location. Since about the fourth century, Christian monastics have identified Mount Sinai with Jebel Musa (Arabic for "Mountain of Moses") in the southern Sinai Peninsula. At its foot stands Saint Catherine's Monastery, founded in the sixth century. Scholars have proposed a number of other candidates, including sites in the northern Sinai Peninsula and in the region of ancient Midian in northwestern Arabia. Which site one favors depends on one's views of the route and date of the Exodus.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

Mount Sinai is where God called Israel to be "a kingdom of priests" (Exodus 19:5-6). In the Old Testament it is remembered as the starting point of the covenant and the law.

The New Testament takes up the mountain as a symbol of contrast.

• In Galatians, Paul likens Hagar to "mount Sinai in Arabia" and to the present Jerusalem, which is in bondage, and contrasts her with the free "Jerusalem which is above" (Galatians 4:24-26).
• Hebrews contrasts Israel, which stood before the mountain of fire and darkness, with believers, who have come to Mount Zion (Hebrews 12:18-24).
• In his speech, Stephen recounts the events at Mount Sinai (Acts 7:30-38).

Interpretations and Debates

• Sinai and Horeb: Most traditions regard the two names as referring to the same mountain. Some scholars attribute the difference in names to distinct textual traditions, and some distinguish the names as referring to the mountain range as a whole and to a particular peak.
• The status of the Sinai law: Traditions differ on how the law given at this mountain should be understood today. The Reformed tradition regards the Sinai covenant as one administration of the covenant of grace and holds that the moral law remains a norm for the believer's life. Dispensationalism regards Sinai as the beginning of the dispensation of law, distinct from the church age. Lutheranism places particular emphasis on the distinction between law and gospel.
• Connection with Pentecost: Later Jewish tradition came to regard the Feast of Weeks as commemorating the giving of the law at Sinai. Some Christian interpreters contrast this with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The biblical text itself, however, does not directly link the two.
• Some interpreters connect the appearance of Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration with the fact that both men encountered God at this mountain.

In the Korean Church

Mount Sinai is frequently mentioned in sermons on the Ten Commandments and the covenant. Holy Land pilgrimages that include Egypt commonly feature a predawn climb of Jebel Musa, with worship held while watching the sunrise.