Mount Horeb
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Mount Horeb (;
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
: ''Har Ḥōrēḇ''; Greek in the
Septuagint The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...
: , ''Chōrēb'';
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
in the
Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...
: ') is the
mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...
at which the
Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...
were given to
Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...
by
God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
, according to the
Book of Deuteronomy Deuteronomy (; ) is the fifth book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called () which makes it the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. Chapters 1–30 of the book consist of three sermons or speeches delivered to ...
in the
Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Book of Exodus The Book of Exodus (from ; ''Šəmōṯ'', 'Names'; ) is the second book of the Bible. It is the first part of the narrative of the Exodus, the origin myth of the Israelites, in which they leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through the strength of ...
and the
Books of Kings The Book of Kings (, ''Sefer (Hebrew), Sēfer Malik, Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of ancient Is ...
) as the "Mountain of Elohim". The mountain is also called the Mountain of YHWH. In other biblical passages, these events are described as having transpired at
Mount Sinai Mount Sinai, also known as Jabal Musa (), is a mountain on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It is one of several locations claimed to be the Mount Sinai (Bible), biblical Mount Sinai, the place where, according to the sacred scriptures of the thre ...
. Although most scholars consider Sinai and Horeb to have been different names for the same place, there is a minority body of opinion that they may have been different locations. The
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
reformer
John Calvin John Calvin (; ; ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French Christian theology, theologian, pastor and Protestant Reformers, reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of C ...
took the view that Sinai and Horeb were the same mountain, with the eastern side of the mountain being called Sinai and the western side being called Horeb. Abraham Ibn Ezra suggested that there was one mountain, "only it had two tops, which bore these different names". Locally, around
Saint Catherine's Monastery Saint Catherine's Monastery ( , ), officially the Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Catherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai, is a Christian monastery located in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. Located at the foot of Mount Sinai ...
, which is built adjacent to the Egyptian
Mount Sinai Mount Sinai, also known as Jabal Musa (), is a mountain on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It is one of several locations claimed to be the Mount Sinai (Bible), biblical Mount Sinai, the place where, according to the sacred scriptures of the thre ...
and to Willow Peak, the latter is considered to be the Biblical Mount Horeb.


Etymology

"Horeb" is thought to mean ''dry place'' or ''glowing''/''heat'', which seems to be a reference to the Sun, while Sinai may have derived from the name of Sin, the Ancient Mesopotamian religion deity of the
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
, and thus Sinai and Horeb would be the mountains of the Moon and Sun, respectively.


Biblical usage

The name ''Horeb'' first occurs at Exodus 3:1, with the story of
Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...
and the
burning bush The burning bush (or the unburnt bush) refers to an event recorded in the Jewish Torah (as also in the biblical Old Testament and Islamic scripture). It is described in the third chapter of the Book of Exodus as having occurred on Mount Horeb ...
. According to Exodus 3:5, the ground of the mountain was considered holy, and Moses was commanded by God to remove his sandals. Exodus 17:6 describes the incident when the
Israelites Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...
were in the wilderness without water. When Moses was "upon the rock at Horeb", he strikes the rock and obtains drinking water from the rock. Verse 7 goes on to say that Moses "called the name of the place ''Massah'' and ''Meribah'', because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, 'Is the Lord among us or not?'" The only other use of the name in Exodus is in chapter 33, where Horeb is the location where the Israelites stripped off their ornaments. This passage (i.e., Exodus 33:1–6) suggests that Horeb was the location from which the Israelites set off towards
Canaan CanaanThe current scholarly edition of the Septuagint, Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : D ...
as they resumed their Exodus journey. In
Deuteronomy Deuteronomy (; ) is the fifth book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called () which makes it the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. Chapters 1–30 of the book consist of three sermons or speeches delivered to ...
, Horeb is mentioned several times in the account of the wanderings of the Israelites in the wilderness. Moses recalled in Deuteronomy 1:6 that God had said to the Israelites at Horeb, "You have dwelt long enough at this mountain: turn and take your journey", confirming that Horeb was the location from which they set off towards Canaan. Other mentions of Horeb in Deuteronomy are found in the account of the delivery to Moses of the
Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...
, and in subsequent references back to the occasion: , , , , , and . There are similar references at Psalm 106 and Malachi 4:4. Deuteronomy 5:2 ("The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb") creates the sense that the current generation to whom Moses was speaking had been present at Mount Horeb when Moses descended with the commandments, although "the individuals who ad beenpresent had all perished with the exception of Moses, Joshua, and Caleb. henation survived, and as it was with the nation as an organic whole that the covenant had been made. It might be with propriety said that it was made with those whom Moses addressed at this time, inasmuch as they constituted the nation." 1 Kings 8:9 and 2 Chronicles 5:10 state that the
Ark of the Covenant The Ark of the Covenant, also known as the Ark of the Testimony or the Ark of God, was a religious storage chest and relic held to be the most sacred object by the Israelites. Religious tradition describes it as a wooden storage chest decorat ...
contained only the tablets delivered to Moses at Horeb. In 1 Kings 19:8-18, Elijah visits "Horeb the mount of God", and encounters God there. According to the
documentary hypothesis The documentary hypothesis (DH) is one of the models used by biblical scholars to explain the origins and composition of the Torah (or Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible: Book of Genesis, Genesis, Book of Exodus, Exodus, Leviticus, Bo ...
, the name Sinai is used in the
Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...
only by the Jahwist and Priestly Source from Judah, whereas Horeb is used only by the Elohist and Deuteronomist from Israel, which is part of the body of evidence for the hypothesis. There are no references to Horeb in the
New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
. In Galatians 4:24–25, Mount Sinai is mentioned: "One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in
Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...
and corresponds to the present city of
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
, because she is in slavery with her children." Mount Sinai/Horeb is also alluded to in Hebrews 12:18–21.


Location

The location of Horeb is disputed. Jewish and Christian scholars have advanced varying opinions as to its whereabouts since biblical times. Elijah is described in 1 Kings 19:1–21 as traveling to Horeb (taking 40 days to walk there from Beersheba), in a way which implies that its position was familiar when that was written, but there are no biblical references set any later in time. Additionally the passage identifies a cave large enough to lodge in. Also in the beginning of Deuteronomy, where Moses delivers his last speech on the plains of Moab, the location is given to be 11 days to Horeb, which is already an indication that it is not Mount Sinai (ca 500 km distance). If Horeb was the same mountain as Mount Sinai, then Beersheba should be closer to the mountain than the location of the plains of Moab. This strongly suggest a location somewhere more to the north or the east, places more familiar to the northern tribes than the deep southern Sinai. Christian tradition considers Mount Horeb to be Willow Peak, located adjacent to
Saint Catherine's Monastery Saint Catherine's Monastery ( , ), officially the Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Catherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai, is a Christian monastery located in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. Located at the foot of Mount Sinai ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horeb Mount Book of Deuteronomy Book of Exodus Books of Kings Hebrew Bible mountains Stations of the Exodus Horeb Moses Mount Sinai