SPECIAL TOPIC: HOREB

SPECIAL TOPIC: HOREB

The place of the giving of the Mosaic law

"Horeb" (cf. Exod. 3:1) is a Hebrew word for "waste" or "desolate" (BDB 351, KB 349, 350).
"Sinai" (BDB 696) is a non-Hebrew word, and they seem to both refer to the place where Moses brought Israel to meet YHWH (e.g., Horeb, Exod. 3:1; Deut. 1:6,19; 4:10,15; 5:12 and Sinai, Exodus 19; Lev. 7:38; 25:1; 26:46; 27:34; Num. 1:1,9; 3:1,4,14; 9:1,5).

However, it is possible that "Horeb" refers to a mountain range in the southern Sinai peninsula and "Sinai" refers to the highest peak.

Why the name "Horeb" is used most often in Deuteronomy and "Sinai" most often in Exodus is unknown. There is literary variety in the writings of Moses. This could refer to:

Moses using different scribes
changes by later scribes for unknown reasons
literary variety
normal variations involving oral traditions (see Walton, D. Brent Sandy, The Lost World of Scripture

SPECIAL TOPIC: LOCATION OF MT. SINAI