SINAI (Heb. sin-ah'ee; Sept. Zoki, see nah'). (1) Name. The Hebrew name, accord ing to some, denotes a district of broken or cleft rocks, and is descriptive of the region to which it is applied. The name is a very ancient one, and its meaning not definitely fixed. If Semitic, it, perhaps, means thorny, i. e., cleft with ravines, as above indicated. A. H. Sayce (High. Crit., p. 263) says: " Sinai '(the mountain) which belongs to Sin, took its name, like the desert which it overlooked, from the Babylonian moon god, Sin." A Himyaritic inscription informs us that the name and worship of Sin had made their way to South ern Arabia, and the name of Sinai makes it plain that such had also been the case in the north.
(2) Geography. That region, according to Exod. xix a ; Lev. vii :38; Num. i :I, 3, 4), is a wild, mountainous country in Arabia Petriea, whither the Israelites went from Rephidim. after they had been out of Egypt for the space of three months. Here the law was given to Moses, which fact renders this spot one of special and lasting interest. From the magnitude and prominence of the Sinaitic group of mountains, the entire dis trict of which it forms a part has received the name of the peninsula of Sinai. This peninsula may be roughly described as formed by a line running from Suez to Allah, all that lies on the south of this line falling within the peninsula. In the present day the name Sinai is given by Chris tians to the cluster of mountains to which we have referred; but the Arabs have no other name for this group than Jebel et-Tar, sometimes adding the distinctive epithet Sinai. In a stricter sense the name Sinai is applied to a very lofty ridge which lies between the two parallel valleys of Shu `eib and el-Lega. Of this ridge the northern end is termed Horeb. the southern Sinai, now called Jebel Ansa. or Moses' Mount. The entire dis trict is a heap of lofty granite rocks, with steep gorges and deep valleys.
(3) Location. The Sinai ridge, including Ho ref,. is at least three miles in length. It rises boldly and majestically from the southern end of the plain Rahah, which is two geographical miles long, and ranges in breadth from one-third to two-thirds of a mile, making at least one square mile. This space is nearly doubled by extensions of the valley on the west and east. 'The exami nation convinced us,' says Robinson (Biblical Re searches, i. 141). 'that here was space enough to satisfy all the requisitions of the Scriptural narra tive, so far as it relates to the assembling of the congregation to receive the law.' Water is abun dant in this mountainous region, to which the Bedouins betake themselves when oppressed by drought in the lower lands. As there is water, so
also is there in the valley great fruitfulness and sometimes luxuriance of vegetation, as well as beauty. What was the exact locality. from which the law was given, it is not easy to ascertain. The book of Deuteronomy (i:6; iv:18, etc.) makes it to be Horeb, which seems most probable; for this, the north end of the range, rises immediately from the plain of which we have just spoken as the headquarters of the Israelites. Sinai is, indeed, generally reputed to be the spot, and. as we have seen. the southern extremity of the range is de nominated Moses' Mount ; but this may have arisen from confounding together two meanings of Sinai, inasmuch as it denotes (1) a district ; a particular part of that district. it was no doubt on Horeb. in the range of Sinai. that the law was promulgated. Robinson imputes the com mon error to tradition, and declares that `there is not the slightest reason for supposing that Moses had anything to do with the summit which now hears I is name. It is three miles distant from the plain on which the Israelites must have stood, and hidden from it by the intervening peaks of mod ern Horeb. No part of the plain is visible from the summit, nor are the bottoms of the adjacent valleys, nor is any spot to he seen around it where the people could have been assembled. Robinson also ascended the northern extremity of the ridge. and had there a prospect which he thus describes: 'The whole plain, er-Riihah. lay spread out be neath our feet with the adjacent wadies and moun tains. Our conviction was strengthened that here. or on some one of the adjacent cliffs. was the spot where the Lord "descended in fire," and pro claimed the law. Here lay the plain where the whole congregation might be assembled : here was the mount that could he approached and tonched. if not forbidden; and here the mountain brow where alone the lightnings and the thick cloud would be visible, and the thunders and the voice of the trump he heard when the Lord came down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai." We gave ourselves up to the impressions of the awful scene, and read with a feeling that ‘vd1 never be forgotten the sublime account of the transactions and the commandment there promul gated.' Dr. Sayce (Iligher Crit., p. 208. sq.) argues that Sinai was "a mountain of Seir, and not in the so-called Sinaitic peninsula," but adds that "the exact site of 'the mount of God' must be left for further exploration to discover."