Mount Sinai

Location

Mount Sinai — also called Horeb — is traditionally identified with Jebel Musa (7,497 ft) in the southern Sinai peninsula. Christian tradition since at least the fourth century (the pilgrim Egeria) has located it here; St Catherine's monastery stands at its foot. Other proposed identifications (Jebel Bishr, Har Karkom, Jebel al-Lawz) are held by minority scholars. The traditional site remains the pilgrimage-continuous location.

Biblical importance

Sinai is the mountain of the covenant. Here Moses saw the burning bush (Exodus 3). Here Israel received the Ten Commandments (Exodus 19-20) and the Torah (Exodus 21-31). Here the golden calf was made and destroyed (Exodus 32). Here Moses saw the back parts of the LORD's glory (Exodus 33-34). Here Elijah fled and heard the still small voice (1 Kings 19).

Historical timeline

• c. 1446 BC (Long Chronology) — Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-6).
• Same year — Israel arrives at Sinai in the third month after the Exodus (Exodus 19:1).
• Same year — The giving of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 19-20).
• Same year — The tabernacle instructions received (Exodus 25-31); the golden calf incident (Exodus 32); Moses sees the glory (Exodus 33-34).
• c. 872 BC — Elijah flees from Jezebel to Horeb; the still small voice (1 Kings 19).
• AD 337 (traditional) — The Chapel of the Burning Bush is built by Empress Helena over the traditional site of the bush.
• AD 548-565 — Justinian builds the walled monastery around the chapel; today known as St Catherine's Monastery.

Important biblical events

• Exodus 3:1-6 (KJV) The burning bush — 'the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.'
• Exodus 3:14 (KJV) The revelation of the divine Name: 'I AM THAT I AM.'
• Exodus 19 (KJV) Israel arrives; the LORD descends in fire; the mountain trembles.
• Exodus 20 (KJV) The Ten Commandments.
• Exodus 24:12-18 (KJV) Moses ascends and remains forty days and forty nights.
• Exodus 32-34 (KJV) The golden calf, the second tables, the glory.
• 1 Kings 19:8-13 (KJV) Elijah at Horeb; the still small voice.
• Matthew 17:1-8 // Mark 9 // Luke 9 (KJV) The Transfiguration echoes Sinai — a high mountain, a cloud, a voice.

Related People

• Moses — the mediator of the Sinai covenant.
• Elijah — the prophet of the still small voice.
• Aaron — his brother, the first high priest.
• Christ Jesus — the new Moses; the Transfiguration is a new Sinai.

Connected Places

• Egypt — the land Israel had left.
• Jordan River — the river they would cross forty years later.
• The wilderness of Sinai — the desert surrounding the mountain.

Christian tradition

• St Catherine's Monastery (sixth century, Justinian) is the oldest continuously operating Christian monastery in the world.
• The monastery library preserves some of the earliest biblical manuscripts (including Codex Sinaiticus, discovered in the nineteenth century).
• Christian pilgrimage to Sinai is described by Egeria (c. AD 385) in one of the earliest pilgrim journals.
• The 'Steps of Repentance' — a stone staircase of about 3,750 steps — leads pilgrims up Jebel Musa.

Household reflection

Sinai teaches the household to reverence what is holy. Moses took off his shoes at the bush. Every household needs to know when to stand still and take off its shoes.

The Ten Commandments were given here. Post them near the family table. It is the household's charter of freedom, not a burden.

Room connections

Where this entry meets the household in the wider house of CrossAIHub.

• Read (Library) — Read Exodus 3, 19, 20 as a household unit.
• Pray (Chapel) — Pray the Ten Commandments once a week as household examination of conscience.
• Family (Kitchen Table) — On the feast of Moses (traditional 4 September in Eastern Christian calendars), read Exodus 3 aloud.
• Sing (Choir Room) — Sing 'Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah' — the pilgrim hymn of the wilderness.
• Learn (Workshop) — Study Codex Sinaiticus — the fourth-century Bible from this monastery — as a case study of biblical transmission.

Further reading

Exodus 3, 19-34 in the KJV.

1 Kings 19.

Egeria, Travels 1-5 (late fourth century).

Gregory of Nyssa, Life of Moses (fourth century).

Elsewhere in the Atlas

• Moses
• Elijah
• Egypt
• Exodus 20
• Return to the atrium — the Atlas's main room.