SINAI, Mount - The name of a mountain which, according to Hebrew tradition, was the scene of the theophany of YHWH and the giving of the Law. The connexion of the name with the Moon-god Sin is very doubtful, and Meyer's suggestion that there may be a connexion between the name Sinai and the unusual Hebrew word for the burning bush, seneh, is worth noting. The location of the Sinai of Hebrew tradition is very uncertain for several reasons. In the first place, the Christian tradition placing the site of Sinai in the SW. of the Sinai peninsula is late. Early in the 4th cent. AD. it was identified with Jeb. Serbal, and from the 6th cent. with Jeb. Musa. Secondly, the fact that Hebrew sources use two names for the sacred mountain, Sinai and Horeb, is more than a literary peculiarity. Behind the literary difference lie the traditions of the various tribes which passed through the wilderness experiences. As Professor Rowley has said, 'We have to distinguish between the history behind the tradition and the tradition as it is modified by combination with the traditions of the various tribes.' Thirdly, the weight of early Hebrew tradition connects the original home of YHWH with Mount Seir and Edom (c.f Jg.5.4, Dt.33.2, Hab.3.3); moreover the early episodes of the wilderness sojourn are placed at or near Kadesh, and that place is not in the SW. of the Sinai peninsula. Fourthly, in spite of efforts to disprove it, the phenomena connected with the theophany at Sinai-Horeb are clearly volcanic, and geological evidence has shown that there are no signs of volcanic activity in the SW. corner of the peninsula, but there is abundant evidence of such activity in the region to the S. of Edom. Hence, although Jeb. Musa may have been a sacred mountain and a place of pilgrimage long before the Christian era, the weight of probability is against it as the site of the theophany of YHWH and the giving of the Law.
For the allegorical use of 'Sinai' in Gal.4.25 see article, HAGAR. [Article: Dictionary of the Bible, J.Hastings, 2nd Ed., T&T.Clark, 1963 - S.H.He.]
