Mount Horeb

For other uses of "Horeb", see Horeb (disambiguation).
Moses with Tablets of the Ten Commandments, painting by Rembrandt, 1659

Mount Horeb (/ˈhɔːrɛb/; Hebrew: הַר חֹרֵב Har Ḥōrēḇ; Greek in the Septuagint: Χωρήβ, Chōrēb; Latin in the Vulgate: Horeb) is the mountain at which the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by God, according to the Book of Deuteronomy in the Hebrew Bible. It is described in two places (the Book of Exodus and the Books of Kings)[1] as הַר הָאֱלֹהִים the "Mountain of Elohim". The mountain is also called the Mountain of YHWH.[2]

In other biblical passages, these events are described as having transpired at Mount Sinai. Although most scholars consider Sinai and Horeb to have been different names for the same place,[3][4][5] there is a minority body of opinion that they may have been different locations.[2]

The Protestant reformer John Calvin 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.[6] Abraham Ibn Ezra suggested that there was one mountain, "only it had two tops, which bore these different names".[7] Locally, around Saint Catherine's Monastery, which is built adjacent to the Egyptian Mount Sinai and to Willow Peak, the latter is considered to be the Biblical Mount Horeb.[8]

  1. ^ Exodus 3:1; 1 Kings 19:8
  2. ^ a b Jacobs, Joseph; Seligsohn, Max; Bacher, Wilhelm. "Mount Horeb". Jewish Encyclopedia. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  3. ^ Coogan, Michael David. The Old Testament: A historical and literary introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures. Oxford University Press, USA, 2017: p. 108
  4. ^ Coogan, Michael David. The Oxford History of the Biblical World. Oxford University Press, USA, 2001: p. 67.
  5. ^ Wright, N. T. (2018). Paul: A Biography. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK). p. 63. ISBN 978-0-281-07875-2. OCLC 994933821.
  6. ^ "Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. 3: Harmony of the Law, Part I: Exodus 3". Sacred-texts.com. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  7. ^ Gill, John. Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible on Deuteronomy 5, accessed 2 November 2015.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Tenney2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).