SIN, THE WILDERNESS OF, the- desert tract on which the Israelites entered on turning off from the Red Sea (Exod. xvi. ; xvii. ; Num. xxxiii. 12) [SINAI], SINAI 0.24p ; .72,tva ; Alex. in Judg. v. 5, Zetva, and in Neb. ix. 13, Ewa? ; in the N. T. Ewa; Sinai), a well-known mountain in the peninsula formed by the gulfs of Suez and Akabah. The name appears to be primeval, and its meaning- is unknown. It is mentioned thirty-one times in the Pentateuch, and only four times in the rest of the O. T. (Judg. v. 5 ; Neh. ix. 13 ; Ps. Lxviii. 8, i7), and four in the N. T. (Acts vii. 3o, 38 ; Gal. iv 24, 25)• It would thus appear that the name had in a great measure become obsolete at an early period.
The leading statements made regarding Sinai in the Pentathch demand special notice, as they con stitute the chief evidences in establishing its iden tity. A small section of the wilderness through will& the Israelites passed took its name from the mountain (Exod. xix. 1, 2). In one direction was Rephidim, only a short day's march distant ; while Kibroth-hattaavah lay a day's march in another. The desert of Sinai,' therefore, could only have been a very few miles across.
In the third month of their journey, the Israelites departed from Rephidim, came into the wilder ness of Sinai . . . and camped before the mount' (xix. 1, 2). The base of the mount in front of the camp appears to have been so sharply defined that barriers were put up to prevent any of the people from approaching rashly or inadvertently to touch the mount' (ver. 12). The top of the mount' was in full view from the camp ; so that when the Lord came down' upon it, the thick cloud in which his glory was shrouded was in sight of all the people' (ver. t, 16). While Moses was re ceiving the law on the summit of Sinai, the thun derings and lightnings, and the voice of the trumpet' were so near the camp, that the people in terror removed and stood afar of,' yet still remained in sight of the mount, for 'the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel' (cf. xx. ; xxiv. 17). Upon that peak the tables of the law were twice given to Moses, with all the details of the rites and ceremonies recorded in the Pentateuch (xxxi. IS ; xxxiv.) Sinai was thus em
phatically the mount of the Lord' (Num. x. 33). There the Lord spake with Moses 'face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend' (Exod. xxxiii. It) ; and there he revealed himself in such glory and majesty as were never witnessed on earth.
In these notices there are implied three speci fications, which must all be present in any spot answering to the true Sinai A mountain summit overlooking the place where the people stood. 2. Space sufficient, adjacent to the moun tain, for so large a multitude to stand and behold the phenomena on the suromit ; and even when 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 be 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' (Bibliotheca Sac. May 1849, p. 382).
Another point of interest to the geographer is the connection established in Scripture between Horeb and Sinai.
Horeb is mentioned before Sinai. It was the spot on which Moses had his first interview with Jehovah at the burning bush ;' and it is called the mountain of God' (Exod. 2). When the people were at Rephidim, Moses was com manded to go and smite the rock in Horeb, and from it a supply of water was obtained (xvii. 6). An incidental notice in Exod. xxxiii. 6 shows that Horeb was beside the camp in the desert of Sinai ;' and another notice in Deut. iv. to-12 identifies it with Mount Sinai (cf. Dent. xviii. 16 ; Ps. cvi. 19). Perhaps Horeb may have been the name given to a mountain-group, while Sinai was restricted to one peak (see, however, Robinson, B. R. 1. 120 ; Winer, R. W. s.v . Sinai ;' Lepsius, Letters, p. 365 ; and the clever, but not convincing arguments of Sandie, pp. 208, seg.) Such, then, are the general conclusions to which an examination of the Biblical narrative leads, apart altogether from ecclesiastical tradition and modern theory ; and to these the writer feels him self bound to adhere.