Not much can be inferred from the usage of later Scripture in regard to these names; though from what'
has been mentioned it may be seen that Horeb is very decidedly the predominant name in the rest of the Old Test., as it is with one excejjtion in Deuteronomy, and probably in both cases for the same reason — that at a distance in time and place the more general name was, on the whole, more natural. Yet the distance may be- come so great that the peculiarities of the two names fall out of view, and mere usage maj' determine in fa- vor of the one or the other ajipellation, now that they have become entirely equivalent. Certainly in the New Test, we find onlj' Sinai (Acts vii, 30, 38 ; Gal. iv, 24, 25), though reasons might be. perhaps, alleged for the use of the stricter name; for instance, in the first of these, that it is " the wilderness of IMount Sinai," in which connection we have said that Horeb does not oc- cur. Josephus seems also to confine himself to the name Sinai. In the Apocrypha we have noted Ju<iith v, 14, " to the way of Sinai," or, according to another read- ing, " to the mount Sinai;" and Eccles. xlviii, 7, where " in Sinai" and " in Horeb" occur in a poetical jiarallel- ism: but these determine nothing. Perhaps nothing can be concluded from the fact that Horeb never has the prefix "mount" except in Exod. xxxiii, 6, whereas Sinai always has it in both the Old Test, and the New ex- cept in Exod. xvi, l,and Deut. xxxiii. 2, and the passages depending upon this one, Judg. v, 5 ; Psa. Ixviii, 8, 17.
Once more, it is very doubtful whether etymology can contribute anything to the settlement of the ques- tion. Horeb certainly means " dry," or " dried up," a name very descriptive of the region. But the meaning of Sinai is much debated. Gesenius suggests " muddy," but with hesitation, and he appears to have no follow- ers. More probably, Knobel proposes "sharp-pointed." " toothed," or " notched." The old derivation of Simonis and Hiller understood '^3''0. Sinai, to be equivalent to ■^]^3p, sinyiii, "the bush of Jehovah," with reference to Exod. iii, 2. Possibly as simple a meaning as any would be "bushy," or "that which has the bush." If so, the etymologies of the two names, so far as they went, would favor the view given of their respective meanings. Rodiger (additions to Gesenius, T/icsdur.) makes it "sacred to the (iod of the moon." Ewald and Ebers regard it as eiiuivalent to "belonging to [the Desert of] Sin."
Understanding Horeb to be the more general name, there might still be differences of opinion how wide a circuit should be included under it; though the com- mon opinion seems to be that there is no necessity for taking it wider than that range (some three miles long from north to south) which is called b\' the mod- ern Arabs Jebel Tur, or Jebel et-Tur, sometimes with the addition of Sina, though Robinson says extremely rarely.
III. Idcntifwdtinn of the Pariicvhu- Monntain. — In the Biljlical notices " there are iin])lied three specifica- tions, which must all be present in any spot answering to the true Sinai: 1. A mountain-sunnnit overlooking the place where the people stood. 2. Space siitlicient, adjacent to the moiuitain, for so large a multitude to stand and behold the ])hcnomena on the summit; and even, wlieii afraid, to remove afar off and still be in sight. 3. The relation between this space where the people stood and the base of the mountain must bo such that they could approach and stand at ' the nether part of the mount;' that they could also touch it ; and that bounds could be set round the mount" (liibliotli. Sac. May, 184!), p. 382). There are tliree claimants for the name Sinai> and it will be necessary to examine them successively.
1. .h'bcl Nerhal. — Its claims were suggested by Burck- liardt (TritKfU, ]i. (!()!)), and arc advocated by Lepsius (Let km from K'jupt | Loud. 18,");! )), Bartlett {Forty Dayx in the Desert), Stewart {The Tent and the Khan), nud others. The arginnents in its favor may be thus smn- med up: It was the most conspicuous mountain in the peninsula, and therefore the best known to the Egyp-
SINAI
769
SINAI
tian colonists. Near its north- ern base was the oasis of Feiran, whicli was probably the centre of the primeval Sinaitic popula- tion ; and the summit of Serbal would form their natural sanc- tuary. Moses, knowing such a fertile and well-watered spot as Feiran, would never have led the Israelites past it, but would naturally select it as the place of the permanent camp (Lepsius, p. 356-363). Besides, it is sup- posed to be more in accordance with the narration of the wil- derness journey than any other mountain; and it is alleged that early historical tradition is whol- ly in its favor. The last two ar- guments are the only ones of any weight ; and neither of them stands the test of critical exam- ination. The basis of Lepsius's argument is that Eephidim is identical with Feiran, and that Moses selected this spot as the site of a permanent camp be- cause it was well watered and fertile; but the sacred writer tells us that in Kei)hidim " there was no water for the people to drink" (Exod. xvii, 1). AVith strange inconsistency Lepsius affirms that the "wonderful foun- tain of Feiran" was opened by tlie miracle recorded in ch. xvii. If so, then how could the place have been well watered previously? But further: Kephidim was a day's march — probably a short one — from the perma- nent camp before Sinai (xix, 1). These facts totally overthrow the alleged argument from Scripture.