moses journey to mount sinai

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The Landscapes of Palestine
The Rulers of Palestine
The Climate of Palestine
Major Jewish Religious Festivals
What is the New Testament?
Who wrote the Gospels?
English Translations of the New Testament
John's mission foretold
The birth of John
John's message
John begins baptising
John criticises Herod
Was John the promised Elijah?
Jesus's birth announced
Mary & Joseph go to Bethlehem
The birth of Jesus
Shepherds visit the infant
Jewish religious rituals
Wise men visit Jerusalem
The holy family flees to Egypt
The holy family returns to Nazareth
Jesus grows up
Jesus starts his ministry
Jesus is tempted
Jesus returns to Galilee
Jesus goes back to Nazareth
Jesus travels to Jerusalem
Jesus passes through Samaria
Jesus performs healing miracles
Jesus teaches in Capernaum
Jesus's teachings on a hillside
Jesus upsets the Pharisees
Jesus crosses the Sea of Galilee
Jesus heals & teaches in Jerusalem
Jesus teaches how to receive the Holy Spirit
Jesus journeys among the Gentiles
Jesus walks on the Sea of Galilee
Jesus in Tyre and Sidon
Who is Jesus?
Jesus is changed on the slopes of Mount Hermon
Jesus pays the Temple Tax
Jesus claims God's personal name
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
The Parable of the Prodigal Son
Lazarus, Come out!
Jesus's entry into Jerusalem
Jesus curses a fig tree
Jesus heralds the end of the sacrificial system
Jesus in Jerusalem during Passover week
The Parable of the Sheep & the Goats
Paying taxes to Caesar
Jesus is betrayed
The Last Supper
Jesus crosses the Kidron Valley
Jesus is arrested
Jesus is taken to the Praetorium
Jesus is tried by Pilate
The death of Judas
Jesus is executed by crucifixion
The Pharisees mount a guard on the tomb
Jesus rises from the tomb
Jesus appears to his followers
Jesus is taken into God's presence
Jesus appears to Peter, James & Paul
Who were Jesus's followers?
The believers are filled with the Holy Spirit
Peter & John heal a crippled man
The believers share their possessions
Opposition in Jerusalem
Stephen is killed & the believers are scattered
Philip's Journeys
Peter's Journeys
Peter hands over the leadership to James
The Gentile Church at Antioch
Saul's Early Life
Saul persecutes the believers
The beginning of Saul's ministry
Saul & Barnabas in Antioch & Jerusalem
Paul starts his 1st Missionary Journey
Paul, Barnabas & Mark in Cyprus
Paul, Barnabas & Mark sail to Pamphylia
Paul & Barnabas travel inland
Paul & Barnabas in Iconium
Paul & Barnabas in Lystra
Paul & Barnabas return to Perga
Paul & Barnabas return to Antioch in Syria
Paul & Barnabas attend the Council of Jerusalem
Paul & Barnabas take the decision to Antioch
Paul starts his 2nd Missionary Journey
Paul travels to Troas
Paul sails across to Europe
Paul arrives in Philippi
Paul travels to Amphipolis & Apollonia
Paul in Thessalonica
Paul in Berea
Paul in Athens
Paul in Corinth
Paul returns to Jerusalem
Paul starts his 3rd Missionary Journey
The Ephesians are filled with the Holy Spirit
The silversmiths riot in Ephesus
Paul travels to Corinth
Paul returns to Macedonia
Eutychus falls from a window in Troas
Paul leaves for Assos
Paul sails to Miletus
Paul visits Cos and Rhodes
Paul visits Philip in Caesarea
Paul meets violent opposition in Jerusalem
Paul addresses the crowds
Paul in Caesarea
Paul appeals to Emperor Nero
Paul sets sail for Rome
Paul is shipwrecked
Paul in Malta
Paul heads for Rome
An Introduction to Paul's Letters
Paul's Letter to Galatia
Paul explains his personal background
Alive in Christ
Set free from Slavery
The Fruit of the Spirit
Paul's 1st Letter to Thessalonica
Paul hopes to visit Thessalonica
The Day of the Lord
How Christians should behave
Paul's 2nd Letter to Thessalonica
The coming Day of the Lord
Saved by the power of the Holy Spirit
Paul's 1st Letter to Corinth
The Holy Spirit helps us understand
Temples of the Holy Spirit
Advice on Marriage & Relationships
Running the Race of Life
The Lord's Supper
Spiritual Gifts
Worship in the early church
The risen Lord Jesus appears to his followers
Paul's 2nd Letter to Corinth
Paul explains his revised plans
Christ's Victory Parade & the New Covenant
How God changes lives
Paul's plans for the future
Paul defends himself against criticism
Paul's weaknesses
Paul's Letter to Rome
How to be put right with God
God's covenant promise fulfilled
New life in the power of the Holy Spirit
Persecution by the Jews
Paul's mission
Paul's Letter to Ephesus
God's secret plan
The new life
The armour of God
Paul's Letter to Colossae
Jesus is exactly like God
Saved by Christ's death
Practical advice for believers
Paul's Letter to Philemon at Colossae
Paul's Letter to Philippi
To live is Christ
Warnings about the Jewish Law
Introduction to Paul's Pastoral Letters
Paul's 4th Missionary Journey
Paul's 1st Letter to Timothy in Ephesus
Worship among the believers
Holding onto the truth
Paul's Letter to Titus in Crete
Appointing Church Leaders
Paul's 2nd Letter to Timothy at Ephesus
The 'last days'
Paul's Final Sacrifice
The Letter to the Jewish believers
God speaks through the prophets & Jesus
Jesus is greater than Moses
Jesus speaks to God for believers
Jesus - a priest like Melchizedek
The New Covenant agreement
God does not want animal sacrifices
Having faith
Looking forwards, not backwards
The General Letters: James, Jude, Peter & John
The Letter of James to the Jewish believers
Faith without actions is worthless
The power of words
The Letter of Jude to the Jewish believers
Signs of 'the last days'
The 1st Letter of Peter to the Jewish believers
The living hope
Living stones
Baptism & the flood
The 2nd Letter of Peter to the Jewish believers
Peter speaks out against immorality
The 'Last Days' & The 'Day of the Lord'
Introduction to John & his 3 Letters
The 1st Letter of John
The 'logos' of God
The 'new' commandment
The last days
Filled with the Holy Spirit
Love one another
God's love drives away fear
The 2nd Letter of John
The 3rd Letter of John
Introduction to the Revelation of John
John's Letter to the 7 Churches of Asia Minor
The messages to the believers on the coastal plain
The messages to the believers living inland
John's vision of God's heavenly rule
The satan's rebellion against God
The downfall of Rome & it's empire
The resurrection of the dead
The final judgement
The new heaven & the new earth
Introduction to the Romano-Jewish world
Roman Emperors in the New Testament
Jewish Religious Leaders
New Testament Languages
Jewish & Greek Names
Jewish & Roman Currency
Jewish Nationalists
The Romano-Jewish War
Constantine & the Helena Churches
Ecumenical Church Councils
Palestine - A Land Bridge
Routes across Palestine
The River Jordan
Ancient Israel
The Message of the Old Testament
Who wrote the Old Testament?
Dating events in the Old Testament
The Biblical account of Creation
Adam's Journey from the Garden of Eden
Cain is sent on a journey to the east of Eden
Enoch founds a city in Mesopotamia
Noah journeys to Aratta on the flood
The Colonisation of the Ancient World
The Tower of Babylonia
Abram's Journey to Canaan
Abram settles in Canaan
Abram travels north to rescue Lot
The birth of Ishmael
Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed
Abraham journeys south and Isaac is born
Abraham's sacrifice on Mount Moriah
Abraham's wife dies at Hebron
Abraham seeks a wife for Isaac
Abraham dies at Hebron
Isaac moves to Beersheba
Jacob cheats Esau and flees to Mesopotamia
Jacob returns to Canaan and meets Esau
God blesses Jacob at Bethel
Joseph is sold into slavery in Egypt
Joseph becomes Vizier of Egypt
Jacob's family joins Joseph in Egypt
The Israelites in Egypt
Prince Moses escapes to Midian

Moses is called by God at Mt Sinai

Egypt suffers ten plagues
The Israelites flee from Egypt
The Israelites cross the Sea of Reeds
Moses receives the Ten Commandments
Moses constructs the Ark of the Covenant
The Israelites rebel against God
The Israelites are counted
Hardships encountered in the desert
Moses sends spies into Canaan
Korah leads a rebellion against Moses
The Israelites remain at Kadesh Barnea
The Israelites attempt to enter Canaan
The Israelites journey north to Moab
The Israelites defeat King Sihon and King Og
Balaam blesses the Israelites
The Israelites defeat the kings of Midian
The boundaries of Canaan are agreed
More laws and religious practices
Moses dies at Mount Nebo
The Israelites cross the River Jordan
The Israelites conquer Jericho and Ai
Joshua builds an altar at Mt Ebal
Joshua is deceived by the Hivites
Joshua conquers the Southern Cities
Joshua embarks on the Northern Campaign
Canaan is divided among the twelve tribes
Six Cities of Refuge are set up
Joshua says farewell
The Israelites fight the remaining Canaanites
God appoints inspirational leaders
Israel under the 'judges': Othniel and Ehud
Deborah and Barak defeat Sisera
Gideon defeats the Midianites
Abimelech becomes king
Jephthah defeats the Ammonites
Samson challenges the Philistines
The conquest of Laish
Gibeah is destroyed & the Benjamites punished
Job is faced with adversity
Ruth's journey to Bethlehem
Samuel is taken to Shiloh
The Ark of the Covenant is captured at Aphek
The Ark is taken to Ashdod
The Ark is moved to Ekron
The Ark is returned to the Israelites
Samuel administers justice from Ramah
Saul's Journey to Kingship
Jonathan demolishes the Philistine pillar at Geba
Samuel condemns Saul at Gilgal
David defeats Goliath of Gath
Saul becomes jealous of David
Samuel dies and is buried at Ramah
David marries Abigail
Saul is killed by the Philistines at Mt Gilboa
David becomes King of Judah and Israel
David captures Jerusalem
The Ark of the Covenant is brought to Jerusalem
David's victories over Israel's neighbours
David's affair with Bathsheba
Absalom's flight & his rebellion against David
Further events during David's reign
Solomon succeeds his father David
Solomon's alliance with Egypt
Solomon builds the Temple in Jerusalem
Solomon builds a palace and furnishes the Temple
The Ark of the Covenant is installed in the Temple
Solomon rebuilds the cities of Israel
Solomon's overseas trading expeditions
The Queen of Sheba travels to Jerusalem
Solomon builds a network of chariot cities
Solomon turns away from God
Solomon dies and the kingdom is divided
Jeroboam builds temples to worship Baal
Israel and Judah fight each other
Israel descends into civil war
Jezebel kills the prophets & Elijah escapes
Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal
Elijah organises the opposition to King Ahab
King Ahab seizes Naboth's vineyard
Elijah is taken up to heaven
Elisha performs miracles and healings
Elisha displays spiritual gifts
Jehu races to Jezreel to depose King Joram
King Joash repairs the Temple in Jerusalem
Pharaoh Shoshenk I rescues Israel
Jeroboam II restores the boundaries of Israel
Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria invades Israel
Israel falls & the exiles are led to Assyria
Assyrians settle in Samaria
King Hezekiah of Judah rebels against Assyria
Sennacherib attacks and destroys Lachish
Isaiah prophesies the destruction of Judah
King Josiah ushers in religious reforms
Assyria is conquered by the Babylonians
King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invades Judah
Jerusalem falls and the exile in Babylon begins
Biblical sources relating to Judah in exile
The middle years of exile (586-539BC)
Daniel interprets dreams and riddles
Daniel's vision of the 'Son of Man'
Daniel's vision of the 'end times'
The later years of exile & the return to Judah
The completion of the Second Temple in Jerusalem
A third group of exiles returns with Ezra
A fourth group of exiles returns with Nehemiah
Nehemiah becomes Governor of Judah
The people renew their covenant with God
Jerusalem's new walls are dedicated
Esther becomes Queen of Persia
Mordecai uncovers a plot to kill the king
The origin of the Jewish festival of Purim
What are the Psalms?
Some psalms of King David
Songs of Praise and Despair
Later psalms ... and the earliest
Some Memorable Sayings
The wisdom of Solomon's words
The Ways of the LORD
Quarrelling, drinking & gossiping
The Philosopher
More wise words from the Philosopher
More from the Lovers
Love is as strong as death
The Mourner
The LORD's love and mercy continue
Introduction to the Old Testament Prophets
Introduction to the Book of Amos
Amos denounces social injustice in Israel
Introduction to Hosea's prophesy
Hosea laments the unfaithfulness of Israel
The Lord promises to punish Israel
Introduction to Micah's prophesy
Micah decries social injustice in Israel and Judah
Introduction to the Book of Isaiah
Prophecies written before the fall of Jerusalem
Isaiah predicts a future golden age
Isaiah reassures King Ahaz of God's support
Troubled times and a glorious future kingdom
Isaiah foresees the return of the exiles
Isaiah warns of six catastrophes
The final years before the fall of Judah
Words of comfort after the fall of Jerusalem
The LORD will help Israel
God chooses Cyrus to save his people
The suffering servant of the LORD
Encouragement for those in exile
Those returning are encouraged to follow the LORD
The LORD's blessing will rest on Jerusalem
Introduction to the Book of Jonah
Jonah is thrown overboard to appease the gods
Jonah arrives at Nineveh
Introduction to the Book of Nahum
Nahum predicts the fall of Nineveh
Introduction to the Book of Jeremiah
Jeremiah says idolatry will bring Judah's fall
Jeremiah prophesies the destruction of Jerusalem
Jeremiah calls for repentance
Plots are hatched against Jeremiah
Jeremiah is beaten and arrested
Jeremiah is charged with treason
Words of hope and consolation
Miscellaneous flashbacks to earlier times
Jeremiah attempts to leave Jerusalem
Jerusalem falls to the Babylonians
Gedeliah is murdered & Jeremiah goes to Egypt
Jeremiah sees disaster in Egypt
Messages to the surrounding nations
Introduction to the Book of Zephaniah
Zephaniah warns of the punishment of Judah
Introduction to the Book of Habakkuk
Habakkuk asks why the cruel Babylonians succeed
Introduction to the Book of Ezekiel
Ezekiel is called to be a prophet
Ezekiel's vision of idolatry in the Temple
Ezekiel speaks through prophesies and parables
Ezekiel's message of impending doom
Further prophecies & the fall of Jerusalem
Hope for the future - New life for Israel
The defeat of Gog and Magog
Ezekiel's vision of the New Jerusalem
Ezekiel sees the glory of the LORD
The restored land of Israel
Introduction to the prophecy of Obadiah
Obadiah prophesies the resurgence of Israel
Introduction to the Book of Haggai
Haggai urges the exiles to re-build the Temple
Introduction to the Book of Zechariah
Zechariah has visions of horses & horns
The vision of the measuring line
Further visions about Jerusalem
The LORD promises to restore Jerusalem
Prophesies about the coming of the Messiah
Prophesies about the Last Days
An Introduction to the Book of Malachi
Malachi announces the Day of the LORD
God promises to send Elijah
Introduction to the Book of Joel
Joel foresees the Day of the LORD
The Names of the God of Israel
Foreign gods
Pharaohs of the Old Testament
The Old Testament & the Jewish Tanakh
Sources of the History of Israel and Judah
The Dead Sea Scrolls
Between the Old and the New Testaments
The Old Covenant & The New Covenant
Who is my neighbour?
Seeking revenge or Offering forgiveness?
The Commandments - Impossible to keep?
Was Jesus the Jewish Messiah?
Was Jesus an outspoken rabbi or was he God?
How to get right with God: Sacrifice or Faith?
How to get right with God: By water or the Spirit?
The power of the Holy Spirit - for everyone?
A new nation? Or eternal life in God's kingdom?
1. From Cain & Abel to the Judges
2. From the Kingdom of Israel to the Exile
3. From the Exile to the Birth of Jesus
4. From the Birth to the Death of Jesus
5. From Acts of the Apostles to John's Revelation
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1 Jan. John 2:1-11
2 Jan. Luke 4:14-30
3 Jan. Luke 4:31-37
4 Jan. John 3:1-7
5 Jan. John 3:9-19
6 Jan. John 4:1-9
7 Jan. John 4:7-13
8 Jan. John 4:15-26
9 Jan. Mark 1:14-15
10 Jan. John 4:43-53
11 Jan. Luke 7:11-17
12 Jan. Mark 1:16-20
13 Jan. Mark 1:21-27
14 Jan. Mark 1:29-34
15 Jan. Mark 1:35-42
16 Jan. Matthew 4:25 - 5:10
17 Jan. Matthew 5:13
18 Jan. Matthew 5:14-16
19 Jan. Matthew 5:38-48
20 Jan. Matthew 6:5-13
21 Jan. Matthew 6:19-24
22 Jan. Matthew 7:1-5
23 Jan. Matthew 7:7-12
24 Jan. Matthew 7:13-14
25 Jan. Matthew 7:24-29
26 Jan. Mark 2:1-6
27 Jan. Mark 2:13-17
28 Jan. Mark 2:21-22
29 Jan. Mark 2:23-27
30 Jan. Mark 3:7-12
31 Jan. Mark 3:13-19
1 Feb. Mark 3:20-30
2 Feb. Mark 4:1-8
3 Feb. Mark 4:30-34
4 Feb. Mark 4:35-41
5 Feb. Mark 5:1-15
6 Feb. Mark 5:21-43
7 Feb. Mark 6:1-6
8 Feb. Mark 6:6-13
9 Feb. Mark 6:14-16
10 Feb. John 5:1-18
11 Feb. Luke 11:1-4
12 Feb. Luke 11:5-13
13 Feb. Luke 12:13-21
14 Feb. Mark 6:31-44
15 Feb. Mark 6:45-52
16 Feb. Mark 7:1-13
17 Feb. Mark 7:24-30
18 Feb. Mark 7:31-36
19 Feb. Mark 8:11-21
20 Feb. Mark 8:22-29
21 Feb. Mark 8:31-33
22 Feb. Mark 8:34-9:1
23 Feb. Mark 9:2-9
24 Feb. Mark 9:11-13
25 Feb. Mark 9:14-27
26 Feb. Mark 9:33-37
27 Feb. Matthew 17:24-27
28 Feb. Luke 17:11-19
1 Mar. John 7:14-24
2 Mar. John 7:37-44
3 Mar. John 7:44-52
4 Mar. John 8:12-20
5 Mar. John 8:21-59
6 Mar. John 9:1-34
7 Mar. Mark 9:42-43
8 Mar. Luke 10:25-37
9 Mar. Luke 15:11-24
10 Mar. Luke 15:25-32
11 Mar. Luke 17:20-21
12 Mar. John 10:1-10
13 Mar. John 10:11-18
14 Mar. John 10:22-33
15 Mar. John 10:40-11:11
16 Mar. John 11:17-44
17 Mar. John 11:45-54
18 Mar. Luke 19:1-10
19 Mar. Mark 11:1-7
20 Mar. Luke 19:28,35-40
21 Mar. Luke 19:41-44
22 Mar. John 12:12-19
23 Mar. Mark 11:12-14,20-24
24 Mar. Mark 11:15-19
25 Mar. Mark 11:27-33
26 Mar. Matthew 23:1-28
27 Mar. Matthew 25:31-46
28 Mar. Mark 12:1-12
29 Mar. Mark 12:13-17
30 Mar. Mark 12:18-27
31 Mar. Mark 12:28-34
1 Apr. Mark 12:41-44
2 Apr. Mark 14:1-9
3 Apr. Mark 14:12-16
4 Apr. John 13:1-15
5 Apr. John 13:21-30
6 Apr. John 14:1-11
7 Apr. John 14:15-26
8 Apr. John 15:1-11
9 Apr. Mark 14:22-25
10 Apr. Mark 14:26-31
11 Apr. Mark 14:32-42
12 Apr. Mark 14:43-52
13 Apr. John 18:12-14,19-24
14 Apr. Mark 14:53-59
15 Apr. Mark 14:60-65
16 Apr. Mark 14:66-72
17 Apr. Luke 23:1-11
18 Apr. John 18:28-40
19 Apr. Matthew 27:27-40
20 Apr. Matthew 27:62-66
21 Apr. Matthew 28:1-10
22 Apr. Luke 24:35-43
23 Apr. John 20:24-29
24 Apr. John 21:1-13
25 Apr. Matthew 28:16-20
26 Apr. Luke 24:45-53
27 Apr. 1 Corinthians 15:1-9
28 Apr. John 21:20-25
29 Apr. Acts 1:1-5
30 Apr. Acts 1:15-26
1 May. Acts 2:1-4
2 May. Acts 2:5-13
3 May. Acts 2:14-42
4 May. Acts 2:43-47
5 May. Acts 3:1-10
6 May. Acts 3:11-26
7 May. Acts 4:1-31
8 May. Acts 4:32-5:11
9 May. Acts 5:12-16
10 May. Acts 5:17-42
11 May. Acts 6:1-7
12 May. Acts 6:8-15
13 May. Acts 7:1-60
14 May. Acts 8:1,11:19-21
15 May. Acts 8:5-8
16 May. Acts 8:9-13
17 May. Acts 8:14-25
18 May. Acts 8:26-40
19 May. Acts 2:1-2,3:1-2,5:1-3,8:14-17
20 May. Acts 9:32-43
21 May. Acts 10:1-23
22 May. Acts 10:23-48
23 May. Acts 11:1-18
24 May. Acts 12:1-19
25 May. Acts 7:58-8:3,9:1-9
26 May. Acts 9:10-19
27 May. Galatians 1:11-2:2
28 May. Acts 11:19-26
29 May. Acts 11:27-13:3
30 May. Acts 13:1-5
31 May. Acts 13:4-12
1 June Acts 13:13
2 June. Acts 13:14-52
3 June. Acts 14:1-7
4 June. Acts 14:8-20
5 June. Acts 14:21-28
6 June. Acts 15:1-20
7 June. Acts 15:22-35
8 June. Acts 15:36-16:5
9 June. Acts 16:6-8
10 June. Acts 16:9-10
11 June. Acts 16:13-15
12 June. Acts 16:16-24
13 June. Acts 16:25-34
14 June. Acts 16:35-40
15 June. Acts 17:1
16 June. Acts 17:1-9
17 June. Acts 17:10-15
18 June. Acts 17:16-33
19 June. Acts 18:1-11
20 June. Acts 18:12-17
21 June. Acts 18:18-23
22 June. Acts 18:24-28
23 June. Acts 19:1-7
24 June. Acts 19:8-10
25 June. Acts 19:11-20
26 June. Acts 19:23-20:1
27 June. Acts 20:1-3
28 June. Acts 20:3-6
29 June. Acts 20:7-12
30 June. Acts 20:13-38
1 July Acts 21:1-7
2 July Acts 21:7-15
3 July Acts 21:17-26
4 July Acts 21:27-40
5 July Acts 22:1-29
6 July Acts 22:30-23:11
7 July Acts 23:12-32
8 July Acts 24:1-26
9 July Acts 24:27-25:12
10 July Acts 25:13-27
11 July Acts 26:1-32
12 July Acts 27:1-6
13 July Acts 27:7-20
14 July Acts 27:21-44
15 July Acts 28:1-10
16 July Acts 28:11-31
17 July Colossians 4:2-17
18 July 2 Peter 1:1-2,3:1-16
19 July Galatians 1:1-24
20 July Galatians 2:1-10
21 July Galatians 3:1-14
22 July Galatians 3:19-29
23 July Galatians 4:1-31
24 July Galatians 5:16-25,6:1-18
25 July 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
26 July 1 Thessalonians 2:1-16
27 July 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13
28 July 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
29 July 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11
30 July 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28
31 July 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12
1 Aug. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-15
2 Aug. 2 Thessalonians 3:1-18
3 Aug. 1 Corinthians 1:1-9
4 Aug. 1 Corinthians 1:10-17
5 Aug. 1 Corinthians 1:18-31
6 Aug. 1 Corinthians 2:1-16
7 Aug. 1 Corinthians 3:1-23
8 Aug. 1 Corinthians 4:1-17
9 Aug. 1 Corinthians 6:1-11
10 Aug. 1 Corinthians 7:1-16
11 Aug. 1 Corinthians 9:1-27
12 Aug. 1 Corinthians 10:16-17,11:20-34
13 Aug. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
14 Aug. 1 Corinthians 12:12-31
15 Aug. 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
16 Aug. 1 Corinthians 14:1-25
17 Aug. 1 Corinthians 14:26-40
18 Aug. 1 Corinthians 15:1-26
19 Aug. 1 Corinthians 15:35-55
20 Aug. 1 Corinthians 16:1-24
21 Aug. 2 Corinthians 1:1-11
22 Aug. 2 Corinthians 2:12-17
23 Aug. 2 Corinthians 3:5-18
24 Aug. 2 Corinthians 4:1-6
25 Aug. 2 Corinthians 4:7-18
26 Aug. 2 Corinthians 5:1-10
27 Aug. 2 Corinthians 5:14-21
28 Aug. 2 Corinthians 6:1-18,7:1
29 Aug. 2 Corinthians 8:1-12
30 Aug. 2 Corinthians 11:16-33
31 Aug. 2 Corinthians 12:1-10
1 Sept. 2 Corinthians 13:5-14
2 Sept. Romans 1:1-7
3 Sept. Romans 1:18-32
4 Sept. Romans 2:1-11
5 Sept. Romans 3:19-31
6 Sept. Romans 4:1-16
7 Sept. Romans 5:1-11
8 Sept. Romans 6:1-14
9 Sept. Romans 7:1-6
10 Sept. Romans 8:5-17
11 Sept. Romans 8:18-30
12 Sept. Romans 8:31-39
13 Sept. Romans 10:1-13
14 Sept. Romans 12:1-21
15 Sept. Romans 13:1-10
16 Sept. Romans 14:1-12
17 Sept. Romans 15:1-33
18 Sept. Romans 16:1-27
19 Sept. Ephesians 1:1-10
20 Sept. Ephesians 1:11-22
21 Sept. Ephesians 2:1-10
22 Sept. Ephesians 2:11-22
23 Sept. Ephesians 3:1-13
24 Sept. Ephesians 3:14-21
25 Sept. Ephesians 4:1-16
26 Sept. Ephesians 4:17-32
27 Sept. Ephesians 5:1-20
28 Sept. Ephesians 5:21-33
29 Sept. Ephesians 6:1-9
30 Sept. Ephesians 6:10-18
1 Oct. Ephesians 6:18-24
2 Oct. Colossians 1:1-14
3 Oct. Colossians 1:15-23
4 Oct. Colossians 2:1-15
5 Oct. Colossians 2:16-23
6 Oct. Colossians 3:1-17
7 Oct. Colossians 3:18-4:6
8 Oct. Colossians 4:7-18
9 Oct. Philemon 1:1-7
10 Oct. Philemon 1:7-25
11 Oct. Philippians 1:1-11
12 Oct. Philippians 1:12-26
13 Oct. Philippians 2:1-18
14 Oct. Philippians 3:1-21
15 Oct. Philippians 4:1-23
16 Oct. 1 Timothy 1:1-7
17 Oct. 1 Timothy 1:12-20
18 Oct. 1 Timothy 2:1-15
19 Oct. 1 Timothy 3:1-13
20 Oct. 1 Timothy 4:1-16
21 Oct. 1 Timothy 5:1-22
22 Oct. 1 Timothy 6:3-21
23 Oct. Titus 1:1-14
24 Oct. Titus 2:1-15
25 Oct. Titus 3:1-15
26 Oct. 2 Timothy 1:1-18
27 Oct. 2 Timothy 2:1-26
28 Oct. 2 Timothy 3:1-17
29 Oct. 2 Timothy 4:6-22
30 Oct. James 1:1-21
31 Oct. James 2:14-19,4:11-12
1 Nov. Jude 1:1-24
2 Nov. 1 Peter 1:1-11
3 Nov. 1 Peter 2:1-10
4 Nov. 2 Peter 1:1-19
5 Nov. 2 Peter 3:1-16
6 Nov. 1 John 1:5-9
7 Nov. 1 John 1:1-4
8 Nov. 1 John 2:7-17
9 Nov. 1 John 2:18-19
10 Nov. 1 John 2:20-29
11 Nov. 1 John 3:11-24
12 Nov. 1 John 4:7-20
13 Nov. 2 John 1:1-13
14 Nov. 3 John 1:1-15
15 Nov. Revelation 1:1-11
16 Nov. Revelation 2:1-7
17 Nov. Revelation 2:8-11
18 Nov. Revelation 2:12-17
19 Nov. Revelation 2:18-27
20 Nov. Revelation 3:1-6
21 Nov. Revelation 3:7-13
22 Nov. Revelation 3:14-22
23 Nov. Revelation 4:1-11
24 Nov. Revelation 5:1-14
25 Nov. Revelation 6:1-17
26 Nov. Revelation 7:1-17
27 Nov. Revelation 12:1-9
28 Nov. Revelation 17:1-18:19
29 Nov. Revelation 20:1-15
30 Nov. Revelation 21:1-27
1 Dec. Luke 1:5-20
2 Dec. Luke 1:26,39-56
3 Dec. Luke 1:57-80
4 Dec. Luke 3:1-16
5 Dec. Luke 3:15-20
6 Dec. Mark 1:1-8
7 Dec. Matt 3:13-17, John 1:28-34
8 Dec. Mark 6:14-29
9 Dec. Matthew 11:2-15
10 Dec. Luke 1:26-38
11 Dec. Luke 2:1-5
12 Dec. Luke 2:6-7
13 Dec. Matthew 1:1-17,22-23
14 Dec. Luke 2:8-14
15 Dec. Luke 2:15-20
16 Dec. Luke 2:21-24
17 Dec. Luke 2:25-35
18 Dec. Matthew 2:1-6
19 Dec. Matthew 2:7-9
20 Dec. Matthew 2:10-12
21 Dec. Matthew 2:13-14
22 Dec. Matthew 2:14-15
23 Dec. Matthew 2:16-18
24 Dec. Matthew 2:19-23
25 Dec. John 1:1-14
26 Dec. Luke 2:40-43
27 Dec. Luke 2:43-52
28 Dec. Hebrews 1:1-4
29 Dec. Hebrews 3:1-4:1
30 Dec. Hebrews 4:14-5:6
31 Dec. Hebrews 9:1-5,11-15
1 Jan. Genesis 1:1 - 2:3
2 Jan. Genesis 2:4-24
3 Jan. Genesis 2:8-17
4 Jan. Genesis 3:1-23
5 Jan. Genesis 4:1-16
6 Jan. Genesis 4:17-26
7 Jan. Genesis 6:5-22
8 Jan. Genesis 7:11-24
9 Jan. Genesis 8:1-17
10 Jan. Genesis 9:1-16
11 Jan. Genesis 10:11-12,32
12 Jan. Genesis 11:1-9
13 Jan. Genesis 11:27&37,12:1-7
14 Jan. Genesis 12:6,8-20
15 Jan. Genesis 13:1-18
16 Jan. Genesis 14:8-20
17 Jan. Genesis 15:1-11,17-21
18 Jan. Genesis 16:1-16
19 Jan. Genesis 17:1-16
20 Jan. Genesis 18:1-16
21 Jan. Genesis 19:1-26
22 Jan. Genesis 21:1-21
23 Jan. Genesis 22:1-18
24 Jan. Genesis 23:1-19
25 Jan. Genesis 24:1-61
26 Jan. Genesis 24:61-67
27 Jan. Genesis 25:1-11
28 Jan. Genesis 25:19-21,24-34
29 Jan. Genesis 26:1-9,12-15,23-25
30 Jan. Genesis 27:1-23,30-33,42-45
31 Jan. Genesis 28:10-22
1 Feb. Genesis 29:1-30
2 Feb. Genesis 29:31-35,30:1-12,17-24
3 Feb. Genesis 30:25-43
4 Feb. Genesis 31:1-21
5 Feb. Genesis 31:25-55
6 Feb. Genesis 32:1-8,13,22-30
7 Feb. Genesis 33:1-11
8 Feb. Genesis 33:12-20
9 Feb. Genesis 35:1-7
10 Feb. Genesis 35:9-15
11 Feb. Genesis 35:16-21,27-29
12 Feb. Genesis 37:1-11
13 Feb. Genesis 37:12-24
14 Feb. Genesis 37:25-34
15 Feb. Genesis 39:1-6
16 Feb. Genesis 39:6-22
17 Feb. Genesis 40:1-23
18 Feb. Genesis 41:1-14
19 Feb. Genesis 41:15-37
20 Feb. Genesis 41:39-57
21 Feb. Genesis 42:1-38
22 Feb. Genesis 43:1-33
23 Feb. Genesis 45:1-28
24 Feb. Genesis 46:1-7,28-30
25 Feb. Genesis 47:1-7,11-12,27-31
26 Feb. Genesis 50:1-26
27 Feb. Exodus 1:1-14
28 Feb. Exodus 1:15-22
1 Mar. Exodus 2:1-10
2 Mar. Exodus 2:11-15
3 Mar. Exodus 2:16-22
4 Mar. Exodus 3:1-10
5 Mar. Exodus 3:11-20
6 Mar. Exodus 4:1-17
7 Mar. Exodus 4:18-31
8 Mar. Exodus 5:1-21
9 Mar. Exodus 5:22-6:9
10 Mar. Exodus 7:14-21
11 Mar. Exodus 11:1-10
12 Mar. Exodus 12:1-17
13 Mar. Exodus 12:21-30
14 Mar. Exodus 12:29-40
15 Mar. Exodus 13:17-14:4
16 Mar. Exodus 14:5-31
17 Mar. Exodus 15:1-27
18 Mar. Exodus 16:1-18,31
19 Mar. Exodus 17:1-7
20 Mar. Exodus 17:8-16
21 Mar. Exodus 18:1-27
22 Mar. Exodus 19:1-11,14-19
23 Mar. Exodus 20:1-20
24 Mar. Exodus 21:1-23:17
25 Mar. Exodus 24:12-18
26 Mar. Exodus 25:1-26,33
27 Mar. Exodus 32:1-20
28 Mar. Exodus 32:21-35
29 Mar. Exodus 34:1-22,27-29
30 Mar. Exodus 40:1-21,33-36
31 Mar. Leviticus 1;1-14:4
1 Apr. Numbers 1:1-2:34
2 Apr. Numbers 10:11-11:35
3 Apr. Numbers 12:1-16
4 Apr. Numbers 13:1-33
5 Apr. Numbers 14:1-38
6 Apr. Numbers 14:41-45
7 Apr. Numbers 16:1-40
8 Apr. Numbers 16:41-17:11
9 Apr. Numbers 20:1-13
10 Apr. Numbers 20:14-21:4
11 Apr. Numbers 21:4-9
12 Apr. Numbers 21:10-20
13 Apr. Numbers 21:21-35
14 Apr. Numbers 22:1-24:25
15 Apr. Numbers 25:1-18
16 Apr. Numbers 26:1-65
17 Apr. Numbers 27:12-23
18 Apr. Numbers 31:1-16,25-31
19 Apr. Numbers 32:1-38
20 Apr. Numbers 34:1-18,35:1-12
21 Apr. Deuteronomy 8:1-11
22 Apr. Deuteronomy 34:1-12
23 Apr. Joshua 1:1-18
24 Apr. Joshua 2:1-24
25 Apr. Joshua 3:1-17
26 Apr. Joshua 4:1-24,5:1
27 Apr. Joshua 6:1-27
28 Apr. Joshua 7:1-26
29 Apr. Joshua 8:1-29
30 Apr. Joshua 8:30-35
1 May. Joshua 9:1-27
2 May. Joshua 10:1-28
3 May. Joshua 10:29-43
4 May. Joshua 11:1-14
5 May. Joshua 13:1-8,14:1-4,18:1
6 May. Joshua 20:1-9
7 May. Joshua 22:1-16,21,28,30-34
8 May. Joshua 23:1-16,24:14-16,22-27
9 May. Joshua 24:29-33
10 May. Judges 1:1-11,17-19
11 May. Judges 2:1-5,10-15
12 May. Judges 2:16-23
13 May. Judges 3:5-11
14 May. Judges 3:12-30
15 May. Judges 4:1-24,5:31
16 May. Judges 6:1-27
17 May. Judges 6:33-40
18 May. Judges 7:1-25
19 May. Judges 8:4-28
20 May. Judges 8:29-9:21
21 May. Judges 9:22-49
22 May. Judges 9:50-57
23 May. Judges 10:1-16
24 May. Judges 10:17-11:33
25 May. Judges 11:30-31,34-40
26 May. Judges 12:1-6
27 May. Judges 12:7-15,13:1
28 May. Judges 13:2-25
29 May. Judges 14:1-11
30 May. Judges 14:12-20
31 May. Judges 15:1-8
1 June Judges 15:9-20
2 June Judges 16:1-3
3 June Judges 16:4-15
4 June Judges 16:16-31
5 June Judges 17:1-13
6 June Judges 18:1-31
7 June Judges 19:1-30
8 June Judges 20:1-48
9 June Judges 21:1-23
10 June Job 1:1-22
11 June Job 2:1-13
12 June Job 3:11-13:8
13 June Job 38:1-42:17
14 June Ruth 1:1-22
15 June Ruth 2:1-23
16 June Ruth 3:1-18
17 June Ruth 4:1-17
18 June 1 Samuel 1:1-20
19 June 1 Samuel 1:21-2:2
20 June 1 Samuel 2:11-12,18-26
21 June 1 Samuel 3:1-21
22 June 1 Samuel 4:1-18
23 June 1 Samuel 5:1-12
24 June 1 Samuel 6:1-21,7:1
25 June 1 Samuel 7:2-17
26 June 1 Samuel 8:1-22
27 June 1 Samuel 9:1-27,10:1
28 June 1 Samuel 10:1-11
29 June 1 Samuel 10:13-25
30 June 1 Samuel 11:1-15
1 July 1 Samuel 12:1-25
2 July 1 Samuel 13:2-7
3 July 1 Samuel 13:8-15
4 July 1 Samuel 14:1-23
5 July 1 Samuel 14:24-46
6 July 1 Samuel 14:47-15:9
7 July 1 Samuel 15:10-31
8 July 1 Samuel 16:1-13
9 July 1 Samuel 16:14-23
10 July 1 Samuel 17:1-52
11 July 1 Samuel 17:57-58,18:1-16
12 July 1 Samuel 18:17-29
13 July 1 Samuel 19:1-18
14 July 1 Samuel 20:1-47
15 July 1 Samuel 21:1-9
16 July 1 Samuel 21:10-11,22:1-5
17 July 1 Samuel 22:6-19
18 July 1 Samuel 23:1-13
19 July 1 Samuel 24:1-22
20 July 1 Samuel 25:1-44
21 July 1 Samuel 26:1-25
22 July 1 Samuel 27:1-12
23 July 1 Samuel 28:1-20
24 July 1 Samuel 29:1-11
25 July 1 Samuel 30:1-31
26 July 1 Samuel 31:1-13
27 July 2 Samuel 1:1-16
28 July 2 Samuel 2:1-7
29 July 2 Samuel 2:8-17
30 July 2 Samuel 3:1,6-21
31 July 2 Samuel 3:22-32
1 Aug. 2 Samuel 4:1-12
2 Aug. 2 Samuel 5:1-12
3 Aug. 2 Samuel 5:17-25
4 Aug. 2 Samuel 6:1-23
5 Aug. 2 Samuel 7:1-17
6 Aug. 2 Samuel 8:1-14
7 Aug. 2 Samuel 9:1-13
8 Aug. 2 Samuel 10:1-14
9 Aug. 2 Samuel 11:1-17,26-27
10 Aug. 2 Samuel 12:1-18
11 Aug. 2 Samuel 12:24-31
12 Aug. 2 Samuel 13:1-39
13 Aug. 2 Samuel 14:21-33
14 Aug. 2 Samuel 15:1-12
15 Aug. 2 Samuel 15:13-37
16 Aug. 2 Samuel 16:1-22
17 Aug. 2 Samuel 17:1-29
18 Aug. 2 Samuel 18:1-33
19 Aug. 2 Samuel 19:1-18
20 Aug. 1 Kings 1:5-27
21 Aug. 1 Kings 1:28-53
22 Aug. 1 Kings 2:1-12
23 Aug. 1 Kings 2:13-46
24 Aug. 1 Kings 3:1-15
25 Aug. 1 Kings 3:16-28
26 Aug. 1 Kings 4:7,20-34
27 Aug. 1 Kings 5:1-18
28 Aug. 1 Kings 6:1-22,38
29 Aug. 1 Kings 7:1-12
30 Aug. 1 Kings 7:13-30,37-38,45-46
31 Aug. 1 Kings 8:1-11
1 Sept. 1 Kings 8:22-34,54-57,62-63
2 Sept. 1 Kings 9:1-9
3 Sept. 1 Kings 10:1-10,13
4 Sept. 1 Kings 11:1-13
5 Sept. 1 Kings 11:14-40
6 Sept. 1 Kings 11:42-12:20
7 Sept. 1 Kings 12:25-33
8 Sept. 1 Kings 14:1-20
9 Sept. 1 Kings 14:21-31
10 Sept. 1 Kings 15:1-16
11 Sept. 1 Kings 15:25-29,17-24
12 Sept. 1 Kings 16:1-22
13 Sept. 1 Kings 16:23-28
14 Sept. 1 Kings 16:29-33
15 Sept. 1 Kings 17:1-16
16 Sept. 1 Kings 17:17-24
17 Sept. 1 Kings 18:1-9,15-21
18 Sept. 1 Kings 18:22-40
19 Sept. 1 Kings 18:41-46
20 Sept. 1 Kings 19:1-18
21 Sept. 1 Kings 19:19-21
22 Sept. 1 Kings 20:1-22
23 Sept. 1 Kings 21:1-16
24 Sept. 1 Kings 21:17-29
25 Sept. 1 Kings 22:1-40
26 Sept. 2 Kings 1:1-18
27 Sept. 2 Kings 2:1-15
28 Sept. 2 Kings 3:1-27
29 Sept. 2 Kings 2:19-22,4:1-7
30 Sept. 2 Kings 4:8-37
1 Oct. 2 Kings 4:38-44
2 Oct. 2 Kings 5:1-15
3 Oct. 2 Kings 6:8-23
4 Oct. 2 Kings 8:7-15
5 Oct. 2 Kings 9:1-25
6 Oct. 2 Kings 9:30-37
7 Oct. 2 Kings 12:1-12
8 Oct. 2 Kings 13:1-9
9 Oct. 2 Kings 13:14-21
10 Oct. 2 Kings 14:23-29
11 Oct. 2 Kings 15:19-20,16:15-18
12 Oct. 2 Kings 17:1-18
13 Oct. 2 Kings 17:24-34
14 Oct. 2 Kings 18:1-8
15 Oct. 2 Kings 18:13-21,28-31,36
16 Oct. 2 Kings 19:1-10,19-20,32-36
17 Oct. 2 Kings 20:1-11
18 Oct. 2 Kings 20:12-21
19 Oct. 2 Kings 22:1-13
20 Oct. 2 Kings 23:1-4,8-11,21-25
21 Oct. 2 Kings 23:29-37
22 Oct. 2 Kings 24:1-7
23 Oct. 2 Kings 24:8-18
24 Oct. 2 Kings 25:1-21
25 Oct. Daniel 1:1-17
26 Oct. Daniel 3:9-15,19-20,24-30
27 Oct. Daniel 5:1-13,16-18,20-31
28 Oct. Daniel 6:1-11,16-17,19-23
29 Oct. Daniel 7:1-9,11-14,16-18
30 Oct. Daniel 11:1-9
31 Oct. Daniel 12:1-13
1 Nov. Ezra 1:1-11
2 Nov. Ezra 2:1-70
3 Nov. Ezra 3:1-13
4 Nov. Ezra 4:1-13,19-21
5 Nov. Ezra 5:1-9,6:1-4.13-22
6 Nov. Ezra 7:1-6,11-23,8:31-36
7 Nov. Nehemiah 1:1-4,2:1-10
8 Nov. Nehemiah 2:11-20
9 Nov. Nehemiah 4:1-23
10 Nov. Nehemiah 5:1-16,6:1-3,15-16
11 Nov. Nehemiah 8:1-12
12 Nov. Nehemiah 12:27-43
13 Nov. Esther 2:1-18
14 Nov. Esther 2:19-23
15 Nov. Esther 3:1-13
16 Nov. Esther 4:1-16
17 Nov. Esther 5:1-14
18 Nov. Esther 6:1-14
19 Nov. Esther 7:1-10
20 Nov. Esther 8:1-14
21 Nov. Esther 9:1-17,24-28
22 Nov. Amos 1:1-15,2:1-2
23 Nov. Amos 5:1-7,10-15
24 Nov. Hosea 1:1-11
25 Nov. Hosea 9:1-9
26 Nov. Micah 1:1-9
27 Nov. Micah 4:1-5,5:1-5
28 Nov. Isaiah 1:1-7,11-20
29 Nov. Isaiah 7:1-17,8:3-4
30 Nov. Isaiah 9:1-7
1 Dec. Isaiah 10:28-34,11:1-10
2 Dec. Isaiah 40:1-11
3 Dec. Isaiah 44:1-11
4 Dec. Isaiah 45:1-7,13-17
5 Dec. Isaiah 52:13-15,53:1-12
6 Dec. Isaiah 60:1-14
7 Dec. Nahum 2:1-13
8 Dec. Jeremiah 6:1-8,13-23
9 Dec. Jeremiah 7:1-11
10 Dec. Jeremiah 18:1-12
11 Dec. Jeremiah 19:1-13
12 Dec. Jeremiah 23:1-8
13 Dec. Jeremiah 26:1-15
14 Dec. Jeremiah 29:1-12
15 Dec. Zephaniah 1:1-13
16 Dec. Habakkuk 1:1-13
17 Dec. Ezekiel 1:1-17,22-28
18 Dec. Ezekiel 10:1-19,11:22-24
19 Dec. Ezekiel 17:1-10
20 Dec. Ezekiel 33:21-26,34:1-24
21 Dec. Ezekiel 37:1-14
22 Dec. Ezekiel 40:1-31
23 Dec. Ezekiel 43:1-12
24 Dec. Obadiah 1:1-11
25 Dec. Haggai 1:1-15
26 Dec. Zechariah 1:1-6
27 Dec. Zechariah 9:9-17
28 Dec. Zechariah 14:1-11
29 Dec. Malachi 3:1-5,4:1-6
30 Dec. Joel 2:1-11
31 Dec. Joel 2:25-32
Bible Journey 2
22. The World of the Old Testament Journeys
23.The Journeys of Adam, Enoch, Noah & Abraham
24. The Journeys of Isaac, Jacob & Joseph
25. The Israelites journey from Egypt to Mt Sinai
26. The Journey continues from Sinai to Moab
27. The Israelites move into Canaan
28. The Israelites face continuing opposition
29. The Journeys of Ruth and Samuel
30. Israel becomes a kingdom under Saul and David
31. The Golden Age of Israel under King Solomon
32. The Divided Kingdom & Journey into Exile
33. Judah after the fall of Israel
34. Judah in exile in Babylonia
35. The Exiles return to Judah
36. Songs, Prayers & Memorable Sayings
37. The Philosopher, the Lover & the Mourner
38. Amos, Hosea & Micah criticize Israel
39. Isaiah predicts the fall of Israel & Judah
40. Isaiah offers comfort to those in exile
41. Jonah goes to Nineveh & Nahum condemns it
42. Jeremiah warns of the destruction of Jerusalem
43. Zephaniah & Habakkuk foretell Judah's fall
44. Ezekiel warns of the conquest of Jerusalem
45. Obadiah foretells the punishment of Edom
46. Haggai & Zechariah encourage re-building
47. Malachi & Joel await the Day of the LORD
48. The Jewish World of the Old Testament
49. Judaism and Christianity compared

Ex 3:1-10 During his fifty years in Midian , Moses learns much about his Jewish ancestors from his father-in-law Jethro, a priest and chieftain of Midian . One day in c.1452BC, when he is seventy six years old, Moses is leading his flock of sheep and goats across the semi-arid desert to Mt Horeb (also called Mt Sinai ) (see 4 on Map 43 ).

View from the summit of Mount Sinai (Mohammed Moussa)

Quite by surprise, God speaks to Moses from a burning bush and calls him to rescue his people from Egypt and lead them back to Canaan, the land he promised to Abraham and his descendants (see Genesis 12:1-3).

Ex 3:11-22 God tells Moses, “after you lead the people out of Egypt , all of you will worship me on this mountain” (Exodus 3:12). Moses asks God what he should tell the people if they ask on whose authority he has been sent. God says, “ 'I AM WHO I AM' ... tell them, ‘ I AM sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14).

Mount Sinai

God spoke to Moses while he was tending his flock of sheep in the mountains of Midian . The traditional site of this encounter is at Mt Horeb in the Sinai Desert , a 7363 ft / 2244 m high mountain now known locally as Gebel Musa (the ‘Mountain of Moses’).

The reputed site of the burning bush (and also the traditional site where Moses received the Ten Commandments eight years later – see Exodus 20:1-17) can be visited today at St Catherine’s Monastery , a fortified monastery founded in the Sinai Desert by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in 527AD. The Chapel of the Burning Bush , built originally by the Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine I, was enclosed within the walls of the monastery. The monastery later became associated with St Catherine of Alexandria , a Christian martyr whose bones were believed to have been discovered here by monks. Just behind the monastery, a path leads to the summit of Mt Sinai .

St Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai desert (Mohammed Moussa)

The monastery is one of the oldest Christian monasteries in the world, and is still maintained today by a community of Greek Orthodox monks. It houses an incomparable collection of 6th century mosaics, early icons and Christian art, and the second largest library of early Biblical manuscripts in the world.

Twenty miles / 33 km to the south, the nearby Oasis of Feiran - the largest fertile patch of land in the Sinai peninsula - is believed by some to be the site of the Battle of Rephidim. This battle was fought between the Israelites and the Amalekites just before God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses in c.1446BC (see Exodus 17:8-14). In the mountains surrounding this area are numerous scattered remains of hermit cells, chapels and monasteries built by early Christian monks who believed this to be the site of the Biblical oasis of Elim (see Exodus 15:27). Indeed, by the Middle Ages, Feiran had become a bustling cathedral city, and the ruins of the cathedral have recently been excavated.

Ex 4:1-17 Moses asks for ‘signs’ of God’s authority, and God appoints Aaron to be his right-hand man.

Ex 4:18-31 Aaron meets Moses “at Sinai , the mountain of God” ( Mt Horeb ) (Exodus 4:27). Together they return to Egypt in c.1450BC (see 5 on Map 43 ).

Sunrise at Mount Sinai (Mabdalla)

Ex 5:1-23 The Pharaoh who brought Moses up in his royal household (probably Pharaoh Khaneferre Sobekhotep IV) had died not long after Moses’ flight from Egypt . Moses and Aaron approach the recently crowned Pharaoh - probably Djedneferre Dudimose (c.1450-1446BC) - but he will not let the Israelites leave Egypt to worship God in the desert. In his fury, the pharaoh makes the Israelites’ working conditions even harder by refusing to give them straw for making bricks.

Ex 6:1-30 God renews the covenant promise he made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and t he ancestors of Moses and Aaron are listed.

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What Really Happened at Mount Sinai?

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Sunrise on Mount Sinai (Moussa - Moses mountain). Ibrahim El-Mezayen - Wikimedia

The Torah’s Lawgiving Narrative

Booming- thunder and bolts of lightning accompany Moses as he descends the cloud-covered Mount Sinai, bearing aloft two heavy tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments. Most people know this cinematic version—à la Cecil B. de Mille—of the giving of the law on Sinai. The biblical version, however, is much less familiar, even to many devoted readers of the Hebrew Bible—perhaps because it is much more difficult to follow.

The Bible presents the lawgiving not as a single dramatic event but as a lengthy process that begins on Sinai but does not end until 40 years later. Moses descends Sinai not once but eight times, and more and more laws keep coming all the time. Moses commits them to writing twice; God inscribes two sets of tablets. Moses conveys laws to the Israelites time and time again.

The complete story covers three and a half of the first five books of the Bible, known as the Torah, a full 60 percent of the 187 chapters. It abounds in difficulties—at times appearing so disrupted and inconsistent, so contradictory and repetitive, that it is difficult to read as a continuous whole.

The full story—what I call the canonical account—of the giving of the law begins with the Israelites’ arrival at the foot of Mount Sinai (Exodus 19). Whereas the preceding 68 chapters, from Genesis 1 to Exodus 18, have covered thousands of years, here the pace suddenly slows. Throughout the next 119 chapters (to Deuteronomy 34), only 40 years will elapse.

The Sinai Theophany

The Israelites have been led from Egypt to Mount Sinai by God himself, who appeared by day as a cloud and by night as a fire (Exodus 13:21). At God’s summons, Moses ascends the mountain, where he is instructed to offer a covenant to the Israelite people. In light of all he has done for them, God invites the Israelites to be his treasured people forevermore, as long as they agree to obey his commands. The Israelites immediately accept the offer, though they have not yet heard the terms (Exodus 19:1–8).

Before presenting these, however, God informs Moses that he plans to hold a special audience with Moses, during which the people will be asked to “listen in” to ensure their belief in Moses’ prophecy. After some preparation, a sound-and-light presentation takes place. From the cloud-covered mountain, amidst thunder and lightning, the people overhear the voice of God saying the “Ten Words,” or Decalogue, to Moses.[1] The Ten Words are not the laws themselves, but rather a sampling of divine pronouncements, offered so that the people may hear the divine voice speak to a prophet (Exodus 19:9–20:14).[2]

Stricken with terror, the people beg Moses to excuse them from listening any further to God’s voice and pledge to obey whatever Moses relays to them in God’s name. Moses agrees, assuring them that this is what he and God had in mind all along. Moses reenters the thick cloud covering the mountaintop while the people remain at a distance (Exodus 20:15–18), and the long-awaited giving of the law begins. One after another, the laws are conveyed to Moses in a long speech (Exodus 20:19–23:19), ending with words of promise and exhortation (Exodus 23:20–33). Nothing indicates how long this takes; presumably, if the Decalogue was pronounced in the morning, this private audience occupies the remainder of the day.

Moses descends and relays the laws to the people, again orally, and the people reaffirm their willingness to comply—this time knowing full well what they are agreeing to. That night Moses, at his own initiative, sets down the laws in writing. The next morning the covenant is ratified through sacrificial rituals and the public reading of the covenant document (Exodus 24:1–8).

Moses’ Second Ascent

Moses is then told to ascend the mountain once more, this time to receive the monumental evidence of the encounter at Sinai, namely, the two stone tablets written by God (Exodus 24:12). But when he arrives, he learns that he will first receive lengthy instructions for the construction and dedication of the divine abode (the Tabernacle) and for the consecration of the priests and their vestments (Exodus 25:1–31:17). He remains on the mountain for 40 days. One of the first things he is told is that the Tabernacle will serve as a place where God will meet him to impart his laws, so that he can transmit them to the Israelites (Exodus 25:22).

Golden Calf and the First and Second Tablets

Meanwhile, the people have made the golden calf (Exodus 32:1–6). Thus, when the meeting ends and Moses receives the tablets and is ready to descend, God must first give him the bad news that the Israelites have strayed from the path of faithfulness and that he has resolved to destroy them. Moses delays his descent long enough to beseech God to forbear, then descends, breaks the tablets, destroys the calf and takes other measures to deal with the crisis (Exodus 32:7–33:23). Apparently he has abandoned the Tabernacle project for the time being. Instead, at God’s command, he makes a new set of tablets and climbs the mountain once more to have them inscribed (Exodus 34:1–4). Again, more awaits Moses on the mountaintop than he had expected. This time, before God inscribes the tablets, he gives Moses a passing glimpse of his presence and another small body of laws (Exodus 34:5–26).

Moses remains on the mountain another 40 days, and God eventually writes the new set of tablets (Exodus 34:27– 28). When Moses comes back to the camp (Exodus 34:29–35), the Israelites greet him with fear because his face reflects the awesome radiance of God. Returning to the camp, Moses convenes the people and conveys to them the instructions for building the Tabernacle and fashioning the sacred articles and vestments (Exodus 35:1–20). The remainder of the year is spent on this project (Exodus 35:21–40:16), and the Tabernacle is erected as the second year of their journey begins (Exodus 40:17–33). God’s fiery majesty enters the Tabernacle, and Moses is summoned to begin to receive the laws, which God conveys to him there (Exodus 40:34-Leviticus 1:1).

This new method of lawgiving, in which Moses receives the laws in a series of audiences with God in the Tabernacle and conveys them orally to the people, goes on for several weeks until the Israelites leave Sinai on the 20th of the next month (Leviticus 1:2–Numbers 10:11). After the decree of 40 years’ wandering in the wilderness is announced (Numbers 14:26–35), the process continues intermittently for the duration of the wandering. Only when the Exodus generation has died off and the second generation of Israelites arrives at the edge of Canaan does the Torah inform us that the lawgiving has ended (Numbers 36:13).

40 Years Later, a Second Covenant

Yet this is not the end of the process at all. Two months before the end of the 40th year, Moses convenes the Israelites to deliver a series of orations (Deuteronomy 1:1–5), which consists primarily of a new set of laws (Deuteronomy 12–26). He informs them that these laws were communicated to him by God at Mount Sinai after the Ten Words were pronounced (Deuteronomy 5:25–6:3 etc.). The delivery of these laws is also called a covenant, said to be in addition to the one made at the mountain (Deuteronomy 28:69).

Only then does the lawgiving truly conclude: Moses presides over a third and final covenant with Israel, calling on the people to swear allegiance to the laws he has just given them. He then commits to writing the whole text of his oration, referred to as “this torah,” or this teaching. He charges the Levites with the safekeeping of this document and its public reading every seven years. Then, his life’s mission accomplished, Moses dies (Deuteronomy 29–31, 34).

Difficulties in the Narrative

For all its detail, this lengthy narrative abounds in incongruities and other difficulties. Here are some of the main problems:

In the first half of Exodus 19:9, God announces to Moses that the Sinai theophany will soon take place. The second half of the verse says that Moses next conveyed the people’s response to God. Response to what? Their positive response to the covenant proposal has already been conveyed (Exodus 19:8); no response to anything else has been solicited.
Several verses (Exodus 19:12–13, 21–25) indicate that the Israelites are eager to burst forward and gaze directly on the theophany at Sinai. Extensive measures are necessary to prevent them from storming the mountain, since this would have fatal consequences. Other verses, though, give the opposite impression. The people are said to be taken by dread, and Moses has to bring them to the foot of the mountain and make them listen (Exodus 19:16–17). After God has spoken but ten sentences, they are so stricken by terror that they refuse to listen any further (Exodus 20:15– 17). Were the Israelites attracted irresistibly or repulsed with fear?
The narrative emphasizes that the Sinai experience of the divine was only auditory. The cloud covered the mountaintop, so nothing was seen but thunderbolts. The entire purpose of the event was for the people to overhear God speaking with Moses. Deuteronomy reaffirms this: Fire and cloud were indeed present, but nothing divine was seen; only sound was experienced (Deuteronomy 4:9–12). So what is the reader to make of the story’s insistence that YHWH himself descended in full sight of the entire people (Exodus 19:11, 21)?
After the Decalogue has been heard, Moses alone, at the people’s request, remains on the mountain for God to tell him the actual laws. When these have been delivered (Exodus 23:33), Moses is still on the mountaintop with God. Why, then, does God instruct Moses to “come up to the Lord” (Exodus 24:1)? Isn’t Moses already on the mountaintop with him? Indeed he is, which is why he does precisely the opposite: “Moses came down and told the people” (Exodus 24:3).
Moses ascends the mountain (Exodus 24:18) to obtain the tablets that God has written (Exodus 24:12). When he arrives, however, he finds he has been summoned for an entirely different reason: to receive the Tabernacle instructions, about which he had not previously been notified. Moses is informed that he will receive something as a parting gesture—not the tablets, however, but something called an ’edut, or as usually translated, a “testimony” (Exodus 25:16).[3]
God informs Moses that the tabernacle is to serve as the place from which he will convey “all that I have to command you for the Israelites” (Exodus 25:22). But haven’t all the commands been given and the covenant made and ratified? And when Moses ascends to have the second set of tables inscribed, why is he given yet another covenant and another small collection of laws (Exodus 34:10–26), almost all of which duplicate the laws given earlier?
When Moses returns with the new tablets (Exodus 34:29–33), the Israelites are dismayed by his fearsome radiance. Yet this is Moses’ eighth descent from the mountain, following his eighth meeting with God. Why was the radiance not noticed earlier?
At the end of his career (Deuteronomy 19–28), Moses reminds the Israelites that after the Decalogue was pronounced, he stayed alone with God on the mountaintop to receive the remaining laws. But the way Moses describes the event does not correspond to what appears in Exodus: He fails to mention that he then descended and proclaimed the laws to the people, wrote them down and ratified them. The widespread impression that the Deuteronomic law is a “repetition” of the law (as denoted by the name Deuteronomy, or “second law”) is nowhere implied in the text, and in fact is not the case.
What is the relationship between the version of the laws Moses writes down at Sinai and the “book of the Torah” that he writes at the end of his career (Deuteronomy 31:9)? Is the reader to assume that by the time Moses died there were two written law books?

Why is the story so inconsistent and discontinuous? Why were the laws given in stages? Why not convey them all to the people at one time, either on the mountaintop or in the Tabernacle? Why do the laws given at these separate stages duplicate and contradict each other in hundreds of particulars? These and similar questions have plagued readers for thousands of years, and traditional commentators have done their best to suggest harmonizing answers to them.

Explaining the Difficulties Using Source Criticism

The source-critical theory of the composition of the Torah, also known as the documentary hypothesis, is a modern attempt to answer these questions.[4] It begins by acknowledging that (1) the laws given on the mountaintop and conveyed immediately to the people as part of a covenant (Exodus 20:19–23:33), (2) the laws given to Moses as part of another covenant when he returns to have the new tablets inscribed (Exodus 34:11–26), (3) the laws conveyed to Moses in the Tabernacle over a 40-year period (Leviticus 1:1- Numbers 36:13), and (4) the laws given on the mountaintop but conveyed to the people only 40 years later (Deuteronomy 6:1–28:69) are four separate law codes.

Each of these law codes is presented as the law code. In each case the narrative gives no intimation that some laws have preceded and more are to follow. Moreover, the law codes themselves are, for the most part, internally consistent, but they often duplicate and contradict each other.

Four Documents That Became One

Source criticism concludes from the existence of these four separate law codes, and four separate accounts of the lawgiving, that the canonical Torah, here as elsewhere, is made up of four independent documents that have been combined. Each account originally included one, and only one, story of how the laws were given to Moses, how they were transmitted to the people and how (and if) they were written down. And each included one, and only one, law code, the four codes differing not only in length and scope but also in the substance of the provisions.

The process of reconstituting the original narratives is remarkably easy: Follow each story line according to its narrative flow, and when it is disrupted, search for where it seems to resume; learn to recognize its presuppositions, its stylistic features and vocabulary; pay attention to each story’s uniqueness, and avoid imposing on one story the events told in another; assume, unless the evidence is clearly otherwise, that the four stories have been preserved virtually in their entirety.

When this is done, the same picture emerges in the story of the lawgiving as has emerged elsewhere in the Torah. In the material preceding Deuteronomy, three narrative strands can be detected (known as J, E and P); in Deuteronomy we hear a fourth (D), similar to one of the three preceding but not identical. [5]

Let us see if we can divide the text into these sources. Three distinct stories (J, E and P) seem to have been intertwined in Exodus. One of these (P) continues into Leviticus and Numbers. When read separately (see sidebar to this article), this is what emerges:

E – The Elohist Narrative

The next morning, Moses obtains the covenant monument, the two stone tablets prepared by God. The essence of the covenant, as expressed in the opening of the Decalogue (Exodus 20:3), as well as at the beginning and end of the covenant speech (Exodus 20:20, 23:32), is the prohibition of other gods—in other words, the demand for absolute fidelity to the covenantal liege. The making of the calf is thus the archetypal act of covenantal disloyalty (Exodus 32:4). Moses’ reaction, the destruction of the covenant document (Exodus 32:19), indicates its nullification, creating the need either to reestablish it or abandon it for good. The new tablets, upon which God rewrites the Ten Words, provide the resolution (Exodus 34:1, 4, 28). With their presentation to Moses, the story ends (Exodus 34:28).

Several stylistic elements allow us to connect this version with other identifiably Elohistic passages in the Torah. For example, E never refers to Mount Sinai as such, but speaks of “the mountain” or “the mountain of God.” E’s version is characterized, as E is elsewhere, by distinctly prophetic features. Believability is a major concern for prophets. Why should anyone who is not present when the deity speaks to the prophet believe that he did? E’s solution: When the prophetic office is first established, God forces the people to hear God speak to the prophet. Further, when the covenant is jeopardized by the people’s infidelity, Moses reacts in classical prophetic manner, interceding on the people’s behalf to save them from God’s wrath (Exodus 32:11–13).[6]

(1) to hear the covenant proposal,

(2) to convey the people’s acceptance and receive instructions for the verbal revelation,

(3) after the Decalogue, to receive the laws,

(4) to receive the first tablets, at which time he remains 40 days and 40 nights,

(5) to intercede on the people’s behalf, and

(6) to have the new tablets inscribed, again remaining 40 days and 40 nights. Of course, he also comes down six times.

J – The Yahwist Narrative

The J, or Yahwistic, narrative could well be called “The Appearances of YHWH on Mount Sinai.” Here the Sinai events are essentially visual, primarily concerned with the question of who may behold the countenance of YHWH (“the Lord”) and under what conditions. Here the mountain is called Sinai.

The story is fragmentary. Its opening lines seem not to have been preserved. We enter at the point when preparations are ordered for a theophany on Mount Sinai. These preparations are entirely restrictive: The people must remain pure, launder their clothing and wait in anticipation for three days (Exodus 19:10–11). Above all, when the Lord arrives they must remain at a safe distance; violators will be executed (Exodus 19:12–13). The danger that the deity may surge forth and destroy those who come too close is so great that the Lord refuses to make his appearance until he is absolutely certain that his warnings have been received and heeded (Exodus 19:20–25).

The theophany as described in J takes place all at once on the third day. The Lord comes down in the sight of all the people, but the different groups of participants, arranged in tiers, experience it in varying ways. The people are charged to stand back and watch; they witness fire, smoke and the trembling of the mountain, but they are not to attempt to gaze at YHWH. They may not even approach until the signal is given that it is safe to do so (Exodus 19:18, 20–21). Aaron, his sons (the priests) and the elders, collectively referred to as “the leaders” (Exodus 24:11),[7] accompany Moses up the mountain, but only a certain distance, after which they stop and bow low from afar. From this vantage point they are vouchsafed a view of the God of Israel and are graciously spared death, which would normally result from such a vision. Only Moses continues on alone and comes near the Lord (Exodus 24:1–2, 9–11).

Here the fragmentary nature of J is apparent. In what remains of J, the story tells next of Moses’ lonely climb to the cleft of the rock, where God gives him a brief rear glimpse of himself, proclaims his name and attributes (Exodus 33:12–23, 34:2–3, 5–9), and makes a covenant, charging Moses with the religious laws contained in Exodus 34:10– 26. Did this actually occur at this point in the story? Perhaps—but it seems more likely that the story of Moses’ lone ascent to Sinai is part of another episode in J, one in which some terrible sin has been committed and the pressing need for atonement and forgiveness is the central theme (Exodus 32:25–29, 33:1–6). If this is true, then the Yahwist’s narrative actually tells of the theophany at Sinai and the giving of the law as two separate events. The Sinai theophany was probably an experience in its own right, in which the people as a whole participated, though in varying degrees.

The covenant at Sinai, in which the laws were given, was made later, as a mark of reconciliation in the wake of some crisis, the complete story of which has been lost.

In what has been preserved of the first part of this story, Moses climbs the mountain four times:

(1) to report the people’s words (whatever they may have been) to the Lord,

(2) to warn the people to prepare for the theophany,

(3) to receive (on the day of the theophany) God’s instruction to warn the people again, and

(4) to view the Lord, along with Aaron, the priests and the elders. He also descends four times, each time carrying out the task assigned.

Despite the laconic nature of J’s story, enough is clear to connect it with other Yahwistic passages in the Torah. The tetragrammaton, YHWH, features prominently and is proclaimed by the Lord himself when the covenant is made. Like other J narratives in the Torah, the J passages here are characterized by bold anthropomorphism, with YHWH’s descent on the mountain (Exodus 19:20), the great danger of his bursting forth (Exodus 19:22), the explicit prohibition of gazing on him (Exodus 19:21), and the open references to his face, posterior and feet (Exodus 24:10, 33:23). As seems to be the case with other J stories, this narrative appears not to have survived in its entirety.

P – The Priestly Narrative

The P, or Priestly, narrative I would call “The Laws Given by God in His Earthly Abode.”[8]

In P the Israelites arrive at Sinai in the third month after the Exodus (Exodus 19:1). The fire cloud encasing the majesty of God takes up residence atop the mountain. Moses enters the cloud, and God gives him, at great length, the instructions for building and furnishing the Tabernacle, preparing the vestments and performing the investiture of the priesthood, and consecrating the altar (Exodus 24:18, 25:8–31:17). Though some of these matters involve permanent legislation, Moses is told that the actual lawgiving will commence only after the Tabernacle instructions are carried out (Exodus 25:22).

Then, as promised, God concludes the session by presenting Moses with a testimony, to be deposited in the Tabernacle ark, and dismisses him. As Moses descends with the testimony (Exodus 34:29), the residual radiation of the divine reflection shines from his face, causing the people to flee. He explains the source of his fearsome radiance to Aaron and the tribal chiefs, who coax the people to return and face Moses. Moses transmits to them the words of God—with the understanding that thereafter he will cover his radiant face (Exodus 34:29–35).[10]

Moses assembles the people and reports to them, ordering them to supply the needed materials and build the Tabernacle (Exodus 35:1–19). Ten months after arriving at Sinai, the Israelites complete the portable abode for the deity, and Moses dutifully deposits the testimony in the magnificent ark (Exodus 40:20). At the beginning of the second year, as the fire cloud descends from Sinai, God takes up residence in the Tabernacle, filling the tent and finally shrinking into the divine throne room (Exodus 40:34–35). This visual arrival of God is thereafter repeated each time camp is struck and reversed each time the journey is to continue (Exodus 40:36–38; Numbers 9:15–23). God calls to Moses from within the tent (Leviticus 1:1), and the lawgiving process begins.

The first laws to be imparted pertain to the methods of offering sacrifices (Leviticus 1–7), as the consecration of the priesthood and dedication of the Tabernacle (Leviticus 8–9) cannot take place until these laws have been elucidated. Then the rest of the law code is unfolded a section at a time by the voice speaking to Moses from within the tent. Most of the laws are given before the departure from Sinai (Leviticus 11–27), and the rest are conveyed periodically for the remainder of the Israelites’ sojourn in the wilderness—the better part of 40 years (most of Numbers 1–36, intermittently).

In P’s account the giving of the law depends on the prior establishment of the Tabernacle cult. Strictly speaking, Mount Sinai is not the place of lawgiving. The laws are given in the Tabernacle: Sinai is merely where the majesty of God rested before the lawgiving commenced and where the Tabernacle was first erected; it is not the holy mountain of God. God does not dwell on the mountain; the fire cloud comes from heaven, settles temporarily on the mountain and finally descends to earth.

There is no prophetic Moses as in E. Here Moses merely receives divine commands and conveys them to the people. He is not attributed with initiative, intercession or impulsiveness. P nowhere refers to these events or any part of them as a covenant; in P the covenant is the promise to the patriarchs (Genesis 17:4–8), not the giving of the law.[9] No Decalogue or other such sample of divine law is proclaimed. The divine fire cloud and divine fire are part of a prolonged public theophany. The subsequent meetings between God and Moses also have their theophanic aspect, in the residual radiance of the divine presence beheld by the people each time Moses reports to them. Thus the private stage of the lawgiving ultimately involves the repeated, vicarious participation of the people.

P envisions not only intermittent meetings with God for receiving the laws but also regular assemblies of the entire Israelite people, at which Moses conveys laws to them. Furthermore, in P Moses is said to have received the laws and to have conveyed them orally to the people, but nowhere is he charged with writing them down, and nowhere is it related that he did so. P knows of no written Torah! In this account, Moses ascends Mount Sinai only once, to receive the Tabernacle instructions, and descends once, to carry them out. When the Tabernacle is ready, all further revelation takes place there.

The unique Priestly view of the connection between the giving of the law and the presence of God in the Tabernacle reflects the Priestly conception of the relationship between Israel and its God. Observance of the law is, after all, what will ensure the enduring presence of God among the Israelites, upon which their national existence depends.

D – The Deuteronomic Narrative

What of D, the Deuteronomic version? There the account of these events (as everything else in Israel’s history) is contained in Moses’ farewell speech to the Israelites.

Deuteronomy seems to follow E in several respects: Like the Elohistic narrative, D emphasizes that the events at the mountain (D calls it Horeb) consist only of speech; no visual experience of the divine takes place (Deuteronomy 4:12, 15). Though E records thunderbolts and cloud cover (Exodus 19:16), and D recalls mostly fire (Deuteronomy 4:11, 5:4–5), both describe natural forces concealing the mountain, filling the people’s hearts with terror. The basic chain of events in D, then, is the same as in E, including the making of the golden calf (Deuteronomy 9:16), Moses’ prayer of intercession (Deuteronomy 9:26–29) and the receipt, smashing and replacement of the tablets (Deuteronomy 9:11, 17, 10:3–4).

D also contains the prophetic motif, relating that after the Decalogue is proclaimed directly by God, the people beg Moses to receive the laws on their behalf so that they are not consumed by the terrible fire, and the Lord and Moses agree (Deuteronomy 5:19–28). Only two major points are changed. First, in D the laws communicated to Moses after the theophany are not given to the people until 40 years later, on the eve of entry to the land of Canaan. The covenant at Horeb included the Decalogue only; the only covenant made over a larger corpus of laws is made in the steppes of Moab, just before Moses dies (Deuteronomy 28:68). Second (and a result of the first), according to D, Moses writes down the Torah not at Horeb but rather just before he dies, depositing it with the Levites for posterity (Deuteronomy 31:24–26).

Redacting the Four Documents

It should be evident that these four accounts were not composed to complement or supplement each other. In fact, each account ignores the existence of the others. Even D, which is clearly parallel to E, does not pick up where E leaves off. Rather, it is a similar but competing account, contradicting E not only in its view of how Israel received the laws but also, and primarily, in the laws themselves, which differ in scope, in underlying viewpoint and in substance from the laws given in E. The same is true of the other accounts.

Source criticism theorizes that the separate documents were combined by redactors, scribes whose task was to create a single, continuous Torah from the ones already in existence. [10] To imagine how the redactors worked, we should start by recognizing that they assumed all their sources to be “true.” As far as they were concerned, all the events took place, and all the laws were given by God. They treated the several existing documents as sacred literature, and they strove to combine them maximally, not selectively. Merging the several stories of the giving of the law into one was a major component of this endeavor. We do not know precisely how this took place, but we can at least describe it to some degree.

P Is the Foundation, J and E the Insertion, and D the Conclusion

The Priestly version seems to have served as the framework.[11] The lengthy Tabernacle narrative of P is by far the longest story, and P contains the most extensive corpus of laws. It also provides precise dates (Exodus 19:1, 40:17; Numbers 1:1, 9:1, 10:11). Assuming that the other stories must somehow fit into and around P, the redactors proceeded to draw a series of logical conclusions.

First, they reasoned, since both E and J tell of an awesome theophany at a mountain, they must be referring to the same event. Thus, they merged the E and J stories into one, combining the visual (J) with the auditory (E)—the descent of YHWH on the mountain (J) with the voice heard from the heavens (E).

Second, this event must have taken place as soon as the Israelites arrived at Sinai. This is only logical, since the Israelites got to work building the Tabernacle immediately after Moses informed them that God had ordered them to do so and since the Israelites left Sinai very soon after the Tabernacle was built. Thus, J’s story of the theophany, E’s story of the covenant and E’s law code, all merged into one, were inserted right at the beginning of the P framework, before P’s account of Moses ascending the mountain to receive the Tabernacle instructions.

Fourth, since the testimony received according to P was placed in the ark and kept there for good, while the tablets in E were destroyed and replaced, the testimony of P must have been given twice. Thus, the Tabernacle story was made to straddle the account of the golden calf—the instructions and the first testimony being given before the calf was made, and the second testimony, followed by the prompt execution of the task, after forgiveness was granted. The result of this, of course, was that in the combined account, Moses first receives the Tabernacle instructions when he climbs the mountain to get the first set of tablets, but he only conveys them to the people when he returns with the second set.

It must have seemed obvious that the J account of Moses’ lone ascent to Sinai to receive a covenant of reconciliation corresponded to E’s account of his ascent to receive the second set of tablets. Thus the story of J’s covenant, as well as J’s brief law code, became part of the calf cycle; henceforth, J’s covenant took on the appearance of a “covenant renewal”—though it is never referred to that way.

Once the Tabernacle was built, the enormous body of P’s legislation, communicated to Moses in the Tabernacle over 40 years’ time, fit in perfectly. Of course, it now appeared to be supplementary to the legislation given at Sinai.

Finally, since D explicitly states that the Deuteronomic Torah was delivered by Moses at the end of his lifetime, the only possible place to position it was following the conclusion of the Priestly law code. Thus the impression was created that it amounted to a repetition of the law, though this too is never stated in the text. It further emerges that Moses wrote down a second law book in addition to the one he had written at Sinai.

When Did the Redaction Happen?

We may never know when this extremely sophisticated literary process took place. Scholars differ on the origin and interrelationship of the separate documents.[13] Many scholars suggest that they were combined into one around the time of the return from the Babylonian Exile (fifth century B.C.E.), when the imperial Persian authorities granted legal and religious autonomy to the Jews in Judea, allowing them—actually ordering them (Ezra 7:1–26)—to govern themselves according to their written teachings, perhaps requiring them to produce a single, authoritative version of their sacred law.

Whatever the precise circumstances may be, the composition of the Torah represents the crowning achievement in the process of collating, canonizing and codifying the aggregate of tradition, religious and legal practice, and historical memory that the First Temple period produced. What traditional interpretation saw as a single Mosaic text, critical analysis views as a mosaic of texts. It is no less significant for this. In fact, some would argue, a collection consisting of four impressionistic paintings and one collage is actually a better record of an encounter with the ineffable than a single, one-dimensional photograph.[14]

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Untangling three accounts of the giving of the law.

Key: P-maroon red E-green J-dark blue

Exodus 19 [15]

(1) On the third new moon after the Israelites had left the land of Egypt, on that very day they arrived at the wilderness of Sinai. (2) Having journeyed from Refidim, they arrived at the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. Israel encamped there in front of the mountain, (3) and Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob and declare to the children of Israel: (4) ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, that I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Me. (5) Now then, if you will obey Me and keep my covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples. Indeed, all the earth is Mine, (6) but I shall have you as My kingdom of priests and holy nation.’ These are the words you shall speak to the children of Israel.” (7) Moses came down and summoned the elders of the people, and put before them all the words that the LORD had commanded him. (8) All the people answered as one, saying, “Whatever the LORD says, we will do!” Moses brought back the people’s words to the LORD. (9) And the LORD said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a thick cloud, in order for the people to overhear Me speaking with you and so believe in you ever after.” Moses reported the people’s words to the LORD. (10) The LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and have them remain pure today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothes. (11) Let them be ready for the third day; for on the third day the LORD will come down, in the sight of all the people, on Mount Sinai. (12) Set up bounds for the people round about, saying, ‘Beware of going up the mountain or even touching its edge; whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. (13) No hand shall touch him, but he shall be either stoned or shot. Beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they may go up the mountain.” (14) Moses came down from the mountain to the people and warned the people to stay pure, and they washed their clothes. (15) He said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not have contact with a woman.” (16) On the third day, as morning dawned, there was thunder and lightning, and a dense cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the horn; and all the people in the camp trembled. (17) Moses led the people out of the camp toward God, and they positioned themselves at the foot of the mountain. (18) Mount Sinai was all in smoke, for the LORD was coming down upon it in fire; the smoke rose like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled violently. (19) The blare of the horn grew louder and louder. Moses would speak, God responding to him with. (20) The LORD came down upon Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain, and the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain and Moses went up. (21) The LORD said to Moses, “Go down, warn the people not to break through to the LORD to gaze, lest many of them perish. (22) The priests also, who are going to approach the LORD, must purify themselves, lest the LORD break out against them.” (23) But Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, since You Yourself warned us, saying, ‘Set bounds about the mountain and sanctify it.’” (24) So the LORD said to him, “Go down, and come back up together with Aaron and the priests, but let not the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest He break out against them.” (25) And Moses went down to the people and told them.

(1) God spoke all these words, saying, “I am YHWH your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage; you shall have no other gods besides Me….[until Exod 20:14]” (15) When the people saw the thunder and lightning, the blare of the horn and the mountain smoking, they fell back and stood at a distance. (16) They said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will obey; but let not God speak to us, lest we die.” (17) Moses answered the people, “Do not worry, for God has only come in order to give you an experience, so that the fear of Him may be ever with you, in order that you go not astray.” (18) So the people remained at a distance, while Moses entered the thick cloud where God was. (19) Then the LORD said to Moses: “Thus shall you say to the Israelites: ‘You yourselves have seen that I spoke to you from the heavens. (20) You shall make no other gods with Me….. [ Exodus 21 ] (1) And these are the statues you shall set before them…. [until 23:33] ”

(1) But to Moses He had said, “Come up to the LORD, with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel, and bow low from afar. (2) But only Moses shall come near the LORD; the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him at all.” (3) Moses came down and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the statutes, and the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the LORD has said we will do!” (4) Next Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD, arose early the next morning, and set up an altar at the foot of the mountain and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. (5) He delegated some young men of the Israelites and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed bulls to the LORD as sacrifices of well-being. (6) Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and the other half he dashed against the altar. (7) Then he took the written covenant and read it aloud to the people. They said, “Everything that the LORD has said we will do and obey!” (8) Moses took the blood and dashed it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has hereby made with you over all these words.” (9) So Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel ascended, (10) and they saw the God of Israel. Under His feet there was a likeness of a pavement of sapphire, like the very sky for splendor. (11) Yet He did not raise His hand against the leaders of the Israelites; they gazed upon God, and they ate and drank. (12) The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the teaching and commandments which I have written to instruct them.” (13) So Moses and his attendant Joshua arose, and Moses ascended the mountain of God. (14) To the elders he had said, “Wait here for us until we return to you. You have Aaron and Hur with you; let anyone who as a legal matter approach them.” (15) Moses ascended the mountain; the cloud covered the mountain. (16) The Majesty of the LORD abode on Mount Sinai, and the cloud hid it for six days. On the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. (17) The Majesty of the LORD appeared in the sight of the Israelites as a consuming fire on the top of the mountain. (18) Moses went inside the cloud and ascended the mountain, and Moses remained on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.

(1) The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (2) “Speak to the Israelites and have them bring Me gifts… (8) let them make Me a sanctuary so that I may dwell among them… (10) they shall make an ark of acacia wood… (17) make a cover of pure gold… (18) make two cherubim of gold… (21) place the cover on top of the ark and deposit inside the ark the testimony which I will give you. (22) There I will meet with you, and I will tell you, from above the cover, from between the two cherubim that are on top of the ark of the testimony, all that I have to command you for the Israelites.” …. [until 31:17]

Exodus 32 – E only

(1) Meanwhile, when the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they people gathered against Aaron and said to him, “Come make us a god who shall go before us, for that man Moses, who brought us from the land of Egypt—we do not know what has happened to him…..”

Exodus 31 – P only

(18) When He finished speaking with Him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony , [ Exodus 32 ] (15) Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand. [ Exodus 34 ] (29) As Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, Moses was not aware that the skin of his face was radiant from speaking with Him. (30) But Aaron and the Israelites saw that the skin of Moses’ face was radiant, so they were afraid to come near him. (31) So Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the chieftains in the assembly returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. (32) Afterwards all the Israelites came near, and Moses commanded them everything that the LORD had told him on Mount Sinai. (33) When he finished telling them, he put a veil over his face. (34) (Thenceforth, whenever Moses would go in to the presence of the LORD to speak with Him, he would leave the veil off until he came out; when he had come out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, (35) the Israelites would see how radiant the skin of Moses’ face was. Moses would then put the veil back over his face until the next time he went in to speak with Him). [ Exodus 35 ] (1) Moses convoked the whole Israelite community and said to them, “These are the things that the LORD has commanded… (4) take from among you gifts… and make all that the LORD has commanded: the tabernacle, its tent….” [until 40:33] [ Exodus 40 ] (34) …the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Majesty of the LORD filled the tabernacle. (35) Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud had settled upon it and the Majesty of the LORD had filled the tabernacle. (36) (Thenceforth, whenever the cloud would lift from the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out on their various journeys; (37) but if the cloud did not lift, they would not set out until such time as it did lift. (38) For a cloud of the LORD rested over the tabernacle by day, and fire would appear in it by night, in the view of all the house of Israel throughout their journeys.) [ Leviticus 1 ] (1) So He called to Moses. The LORD spoke to him from within the Tent of Meeting, saying: (2) “Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘When any you presents an offering….’” [until end of Leviticus, and intermittently in Numbers; see the narrator’s superscriptions in Lev 7:35-38; 26:46; 27:34; Num 36:13]

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Note: This essay originally appeared under the same title in Bible Review (13.05, pp. 20-30, 46) in October 1997. It is reprinted here with permission of the author and permission of the Biblical Archaeology Society. Schwartz has long been engaged in the source-critical study of the Pentateuchal accounts of the giving of the law. The brief and popular essay reprinted here, one of his first to appear on the topic, reflects his thinking at the time in broad, general terms, avoiding too much detail. Schwartz’s subsequent work and scholarly publications show that on a few points in the analysis his opinion has evolved over the years.

[1] On the Decalogue, see the articles collected in Ben-Zion Segal, ed., The Ten Commandments in History and Tradition (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1987).

[2] See Moshe Greenberg, “nsh in Exodus 20:30 and the Purpose of the Sinaitic Theophany,” Journal of Biblical Literature 79 (1960), pp. 273–276.

[3] See Choong-Leow Seow, “The Designation of the Ark in Priestly Theology,” Hebrew Annual Review 8 (1984), pp. 185–198, and Menahem Haran, Temples and Temple-Service in Ancient Israel (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978; reprint, Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1985), pp. 142, 255, 272–273.

[4] Source criticism of the Torah in general, and the documentary hypothesis in particular, has been central to biblical studies for over a hundred years. The classical English introductions are Joseph E. Carpenter and George Harford, The Composition of the Hexateuch (London: Longmans, Green, 1902); Samuel R. Driver, Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament , 9th ed. (Edinburgh: T & T Clark 1913), pp. 1–159; A.T. Chapman, An Introduction to the Pentateuch (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1911). One of the first works to present a synopsis of the separate sources in English is William Edward Addis, The Documents of the Hexateuch (London: Nutt; New York: Putnam, 1893–1898). For recent introductions see Richard E. Friedman, Who Wrote the Bible? (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1987), and Antony F. Campbell and Mark A. O’Brien, Sources of the Pentateuch (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993), esp. chap. 1, pp. 1–20; see also Joseph Blenkinsopp, The Pentateuch , Anchor Bible Reference Library (New York: Doubleday, 1992). One recent critic of the source theory is Roger N. Whybray, The Making of the Pentateuch (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1987).

[5] J, or the Yahwistic source (in German, Jahwistic), is named for its assumption that the divine name, YHWH (often vocalized Yahweh), was known from the beginning of time (Genesis 4:26). E, or the Elohistic source, is so named because it insists that God was known as Elohim until the tetragrammaton was revealed to Moses (Exodus 3:15).

P, the Priestly source, is distinguished for its interest in the priesthood and in ritual law. D, the Deuteronomic source, makes up most of the Book of Deuteronomy. See Victor Hurowitz, “P—Understanding the Priestly Source,” BR 12:03; Moshe Weinfeld, “Deuteronomy’s Theological Revolution,” BR 12:01.

[6] See Yohanan Muffs, “His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition: A Study in Prophetic Intercession,” Conservative Judaism 33:3 (1978–1980), pp. 25–37.

[7] The Hebrew word is ’asilim, usually translated “nobles.” It is used in this sense only here, so the exact meaning is uncertain; some would connect it with the root ’sl, “to set apart,” the “elect” of Israel, those chosen to participate in this theophany.

[8] The following section is based on Baruch J. Schwartz, “The Priestly Account of the Theophany and Lawgiving at Sinai,” in Texts, Temples and Traditions—A Tribute to Menahem Haran , ed. Michael V. Fox et al. (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1996), pp. 103–134.

[9] See Menahem Haran, “The Shining of Moses’ Face—A Case Study in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Iconography,” in In the Shelter of Elyon: Essays on Ancient Palestinian Life and Literature in Honor of G.W. Ahlström , 4/30/13 Printable Page www.basarchive.org.proxy.library.emory.edu/bswbPrintPage.asp?PubID=BSBR&Volume=13&Issu=5&ArticleID=7&UserID=2377& 11/11ed. W. Boyd Barrick and John R. Spencer (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1984), pp. 159–173.

[10] Although divided into the Five Books of Moses, the Torah is truly a continuous narrative, recounting the development of Israel and its introduction to God’s laws. The unity of the text is expressed in its Greek name, the Pentateuch, which originally meant not five books but rather a single book divided into five parts.

[11] See Schwartz, “Priestly Account,” pp. 130–132.

[12] Scholars have suggested numerous theories. My approach is close to that of Martin Noth as elucidated in “The ‘Priestly Writing’ and the Redaction of the Pentateuch,” which appeared in 1943. The English translation of this work appeared only in 1987 (in Martin Noth, T he Chronicler’s History [Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1987], pp. 107–147), so English-speaking scholars seem not to have consulted it, relying instead on Noth’s A History of Pentateuchal Traditions (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1972), pp. 8–19, 234–247.

[13] Throughout P, the object presented to Moses is called the testimony, with no mention of the tablets (Exodus 16:34, 25:16, 21, 22, 26:33–34, 27:21, 30:6, 36, 40:20; Leviticus 16:13, 24:3; Numbers 17:19, 25), while E and D refer everywhere to tablets, never mentioning the testimony. Only in three places does the traditional text refer to the “two tablets of the testimony” (Exodus 31:18a, 32:15, 34:29), and all three occur at precisely the points where P has been merged with E. In my opinion, P originally contained a continuous passage that began as follows: “When he finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, he gave Moses the testimony.” In E’s narrative, immediately following Exodus 24:18b, E told of a similar event: “He then gave Moses two tablets, stone tablets which had been inscribed by the finger of God.” The redactor combined the two into one verse, Exodus 31:18. P originally continued immediately with “As Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the testimony in his hand”; the words “two tablets of the” have been added in this verse (Exodus 34:29) by the redactor. In E, however, after Moses learns of the calf (Exodus 32:7–14), the story originally continued: “Thereupon Moses turned and went down the mountain bearing the two tablets, tablets inscribed on both their surfaces.” Here (Exodus 32:15) the words “of the testimony” have been added by the redactor. Thus, in the three passages cited, the phrase “the two tablets of testimony” was created by the redactor, who identified P’s testimony with E’s tablets.

[13] The classical work still available is Julius Wellhausen, Prolegomena to the History of Ancient Israel (in German) (Berlin: Reimer, 1878), English trans. by John Sutherland Black and Allan Menzies (Edinburgh: A & C Black, 1885; reprint, New York: Meridian, 1957). All subsequent scholarship uses Wellhausen as the starting point, accepting or rejecting various aspects of his construction; see Victor Hurowitz, “P—Understanding the Priestly Source,” BR 12:03; Moshe Weinfeld, “Deuteronomy’s Theological Revolution,” BR 12:01; and the works cited in note 4 and their bibliographies.

[14] For this insight I am indebted to Professor Yohanan Muffs.

[15] The translation is based on that found in: Tanakh—The Holy Scriptures , Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1985; I have deviated from it when necessary.

Prof. Baruch J. Schwartz holds the J. L Magnes Chair in Biblical Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he earned his Ph.D. He writes and lectures on the J, E, P and D documents, the uniqueness of each, and how they were compiled to create the five-book Torah. Schwartz is especially interested in how academic biblical scholarship and traditional Jewish belief and observance may co-exist.

Appendix 2. The Route of the Exodus.

The route of the Exodus has been hotly debated. Since there are no archaeological artifacts from the Exodus itself and place names seldom match places identifiable today, we are left to sort out the probable route based on clues from the biblical accounts and the land itself. Three main routes of the Exodus to Mt. Sinai have been proposed.

1. Northern Sinai Route

The Northern Route sees the "Reed Sea" as Lake Serbonis, then along the Mediterranean coast of Sinai. It finds Mount Sinai in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula. However, this route was heavily fortified by the Egyptians, since it constituted the route enemies would take to attack Egypt. This route is explicitly excluded by the text:

"When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter . For God said, 'If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.' So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea." (Exodus 13:17-18)

Moreover, the present Lake Serbonis probably didn't yet exist at the time of Moses.

2. Central Sinai Route

A route directly east of the end of Wadi Tumilat across the center of the Sinai Peninsula doesn't have enough wells to support this body of people and animals.

I've recently seen a variation on this -- not held by any reputable scholar -- that claims the "real" Red Sea ("Reed Sea") is the Gulf of Aqaba, the "real" Mt. Sinai is Jebel el Lawz in Arabia. The theory holds that Pharaoh's chariots chased the Israelites across the center of the Sinai Peninsula, then down the steep canyon of Wadi Watir, across Nuweiba beach, and a slightly submerged land bridge into Arabia. 1 The problem with this view is that the Scripture shows the confrontation between Pharaoh and Moses at the Red Sea before the trek across the Sinai Peninsula, not after it. It just doesn't fit the facts of Scripture.

3. Southern Sinai Route (Traditional)

Below is a map that shows the traditional route that makes the most sense to me.

The traditional route crosses the "Reed Sea" at perhaps Lake Timsah or the Bitter Lakes, then down Sinai's west coastlands, then east through the mountains and wadis to a southern Mount Sinai, perhaps Jebel Musa, then back up northeastward by Sinai's east coast and desert to Kadesh-barnea. This route has the advantage that it:

Steers clear of nearly all Egyptian presence.
The Shur desert was also called the desert of Etham (Numbers 33:8), in the latitude of the east end of Wadi Tumilat. So, moving through that desert for three days (if the middle way of Seir is excluded) has to be southward along the west coast of Sinai. 2
The west coast of Sinai has a number of known watering places.

Of course, no one knows the route for sure. Very few of the stages of the journey outlined in Numbers 33 have been identified with any certainty, with the exception of Ezion Geber, Kadesh Barnea, and the plains of Moab.

Nevertheless, let's discuss some of the locations that we're more sure about -- plus a couple of others.

Ramses, Pithom, and Succoth (Exodus 12:37)

The locations of both Ramses and Succoth have been fairly well established. Scholars identify Rameses ("house of Rameses") as Qantir or Tell el-Dab`a, the ancient Avaris/Pi-Ramesse. 3 It was originally built on the eastern bank of the Pelusiac, the easternmost of the Nile's five ancient branches. Later, prior to 1069 BC, the course this branch of the Nile migrated away from the city, and the site was abandoned.

Succoth 4 (the modern Tell el-Maskhuta) is found in the Wadi Tumilat of the southeast delta. 5 The name Succoth in Hebrew means "temporary shelters, tents, booths," which corresponds to the Egyptian name Tjeku.

Kitchen makes a strong case to identify Pithom ("house of the god Atum") as Tell er-Retabe along the Wadi Tumilat, a few miles due west of Succoth. 6

Location of the Red Sea or yām sûp

We just don't know the exact location of the body of water identified in the text as the "Red Sea." The Hebrew is yām sûp , a term used in the Old Testament to identify a number of different bodies of water. Yām is used in the Old Testament over 300 times to refer to "sea" and about 70 times for "west" or "westward." 7 The word sûp means "reed, waterplant," a general term for marsh plants. 8 What we know as the Red Sea today lies to the south, with two northern branches, the Gulf of Aqabah to the east of the Sinai Peninsula and the Gulf of Suez to the west of the Sinai Peninsula.

According to 1 Kings 9:26 and other passages, 9 the term yām sûp is used to describe Gulf of Aqabah (Elat), the body of water east of the Sinai Peninsula. Of course, in many many passages, yām sûp is the sea of the Exodus. 10

We conclude, then, that the "Red Sea" ( yām sûp ) refers to some body of water east of the Nile delta. Scholars have found evidence of ancient canals in this area. Here are the primary possibilities of bodies of water we see today along the line of the present-day 101-mile Suez Canal, which opened in 1869. North to south, these are:

Lake Ballah
Lake Timsah
Great Bitter Lake
Little Bitter Lake

Water tables, no doubt, are different now than they were 3,000 years ago, so we can't judge just by what we see today. Some believe that the Gulf of Suez gradually receded over the centuries, its coastline slowly moving farther and farther southward away from Lake Timsah and the Greater Bitter Lake to its present coastline today. 11 "It is plausible, even if they were marshy areas, that the Israelites crossed while the area was flooded, which occurred periodically." 12 The exact spot of the crossing is impossible to determine with certainty, but it probably occurred either at Lake Timsah or at the Great Bitter Lake.

The Sinai Coast

If, indeed, the Israelites took the traditional southern route, it would have been a difficult trip. Beno Rothenberg notes:

"Sinai's broad southern littoral [area near the shoreline] is for the most part a sandy waste. In the wadi-estuaries and in a few depressions between the sea and the mountains of Sinai the yellow sand is relieved by white patches of chalk and limestone, sometimes mingled with loess. In such parts there is water and vegetation: tamarisks, date-palms, and acacias. But the parched soil shrivels and crumples up in the fierce desert heat." 13

Marah (Exodus 15:23)

Marah has been traditionally identified with Ain Hawara, but there can be no certainty. Beno Rothenberg observed in 1957 that Ain Hawara is "a spring now completely buried in sand. Only a cluster of date-palms and a damp spot nearby are there to tell of its existence." 14

Elim (Exodus 15:27)

It has always been tempting for scholars to try to locate the oasis of Elim.

"Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water." (Exodus 15:27)

Elim ( ʾ�lim ) is the plural of ʾayil , "terebinth, great tree," so Elim means "(place of) great trees." 15 Some scholars identify Elim with the modern day Wadi Gharandel, located on the west coast of the Sinai Peninsula and the site of numerous palm trees, 16 but it is by no means proven.

Mount Sinai

The exact location of Mount Sinai (sometimes referred to as Mount Horeb) is unknown. There are three theories as to its general location:

Northern Sinai . Candidates suggested are Jebel Helal, Jebel Kharif, Jebel Sin Bisher, Jebel Yeleq, Jebel Magharah, Jebel Karkom, or Kadesh-barnea itself.
Arabia . Mountains suggested are present-day Petra, el-Khrob, or Hala el-Bedr. This has a long tradition, but is unlikely. 17
Southern Sinai . The traditional southern route of the Exodus suggests four possible peaks, which I think are most likely, all clustered together: Jebel Musa ("Mountain of Moses") is 7,498 feet in elevation, Jebel Katarina is 8,551 feet, and Ras Safsafa is 7,113 feet. Jebel Serbal (6,739 feet) is west a few miles, near the Monastery of St. Catherine. Which of these peaks is the real Mount Sinai, God only knows, but each has its proponents. 19

The location of Rephidim is unknown. However, many have placed it near the Oasis of Feiran. Yohanan Aharoni comments:

"Wadi Feiran is one of the largest and most famous wadis in Sinai. It is 81 miles long and begins in the region of Jebel Musa, where it is called Wadi el Sheikh. Feiran boasts the chief oasis in Sinai, one of the wonders of the Peninsula. In the heart of the bleak and forbidding granite mountains a green parkland suddenly comes into view: over 6 miles of date-palm groves, tamarisks, reeds, rushes, and other vegetation, with a small sparkling stream to delight the eye, artesian wells, and even a petrol engine to draw up the water. The inhabitants are Bedouin." 20

Kadesh-Barnea

Kadesh is almost certainly to be identified with Ain el-Qudeirat in the Wadi el-Ain of the northern Sinai. "The vegetation near Ain el-Qudeirat and its ample supply of water suit very well the topographical requirements of the wilderness narratives." 21 Ain el-Qudeirat is the richest spring in the Sinai, having a flow of about 40 cubic meters per hour. 22

The actual location of Mount Hor is unknown, but was considered in Edomite territory. Josephus identified Mount Edom as Jebel Nebi Harim near Petra. But a more likely location might be Jebel Madura, about 15 miles northeast of Kadesh at the edge of Edom's territory. 23

Ezion-geber (Numbers 33:35; Deuteronomy 2:8)

Ezion-geber is almost surely located at Tell el-Kheleifeh at the north end of the Gulf of Aqaba.

Dizahab (Deuteronomy 1:1)

Dizahab must surely be related to the present town of Dahab, as both names are phonetic equivalents and both have to do with places of gold. 24

Jotbathah (Numbers 33:33)

Jotbathah is quite likely to be the oasis of Taba, located about seven miles south of Ezion-geber on the eastern side of the Sinai Peninsula. 25

Of course there are many speculations as to other identifications, but these are the most likely.

1 . This view is "explained" in a series of slides on the Grace upon Grace Ministries website.� http://graceupongraceministries.org/video-feed� It is explained by Russell and Colin Standish, Holy Relics or Revelation (Rapidan, VA: Hartland Publications).

2 . This analysis draws heavily on K.A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the New Testament (Eerdmans, 2003), pp. 265-274. See also Peter Enns, "Exodus Route and Wilderness Itinerary," DOTP, pp. 272-280.

3 . P. Enns, "Exodus Route and Wilderness Itinerary," DOTP pp. 272-280, especially p. 273.

4 . Exodus 12:37; 13:20; Numbers 33:5-6

5 . W.L. Thompson, Jr., "Succoth," ISBE 4:648); Kitchen, Reliability , pp. 256-259.

6 . Kitchen, Reliability , pp. 256-259. J.H. Walton, "Exodus, Date of," DOTP, p. 262.

7 . Paul R. Gilchrist, yām , TWOT #871a.

8 . R.D. Patterson, sûp, TWOT #1479. Exodus 2:3, 5; Isaiah 19:6; Jonah 2:5.

9 . Also Exodus 23:31; Numbers 14:25; 21:4; Deuteronomy 1:40; 2:1; Judges 11:16; Jeremiah 49:21.

10 . Exodus 15:4, 22; Joshua 2:10; 4:23; Psalm 106:7, 9, 22.

11 . "Suez Canal," Wikipedia, 12 Dec 2010, citing Édouard Naville, "Map of the Wadi Tumilat" (plate image), in The Store-City of Pithom and the Route of the Exodus (London: Trubner and Company, 1885); S Rappoport, History of Egypt (London, Grolier Society, undated, early 20th century), Volume 12, Part B, Chapter V: "The Waterways of Egypt," pages 248-257.

12 . P. Enns, "Exodus Route and Wilderness Journey," DOTP, p. 276.

13 . Ben Rothenberg, God's Wilderness , p. 93, plate 30.

14 . Ben Rothenberg, God's Wilderness , p. 94, plate 33.

15 . ʾAyil , BDB 18.

16 . Kitchen, Reliability , p. 269, who sees it "possible, but not proven."

17 . Arguments pro and con are presented in Beitzel, Atlas , pp. 90-91.

18 . Map relies on Beitzel, Atlas , pp. 86-87, map 25.

19 . Kitchen ( Reliability , p. 270) says, "In practical terms, the immediate conjunction of clear space plus impressive mountain at Gebel Musa suits the biblical narrative much better than does Gebel Serbal.... Certainty is not attainable, but Gebel Musa may lead Gebel Serbal by a short head."

20 . Yohanan Aharoni in God's Wilderness , pp. 135-136.

21 . R.K. Harrison, "Kadesh," ISBE 3:1-2

22 . Moshe Dothan, "The Fortress at Kadesh-Barnea," Israel Exploration Journal , 1965, pp. 134-51. A number of photos of Kadesh-barnea can be found in God's Wilderness , plates 10-17.

23 . Harrison, Numbers , p. 272.

24 . Beitzel, Atlas , p. 92 and Map 25.

25 . Beitzel, Atlas , p. 92 and Map 25.

You can purchase one of Dr. Wilson's complete Bible studies in PDF, Kindle, or paperback format -- currently 48 books in the JesusWalk Bible Study Series.

Old Testament

Abraham, Faith of
Jacob, Life of
Moses the Reluctant Leader
David, Life of
Songs of Ascent (Psalms 120-134)
28 Advent Scriptures (Messianic)
Rebuild & Renew: Post-Exilic Books
Christmas Incarnation (Mt, Lk)
Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5-7)
Luke's Gospel
John's Gospel
Seven Last Words of Christ
Jesus and the Kingdom of God
Resurrection and Easter Faith
Early Church (Acts 1-12 )
Apostle Paul (Acts 11-28)

Pauline Epistles

Romans 5-8 (Christ-Powered Life)
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Philippians
Colossians, Philemon
1 & 2 Thessalonians
1 &2 Timothy, Titus

General Epistles

1 & 2 Peter, Jude
1, 2, and 3 John
Conquering Lamb of Revelation
Glorious Kingdom, The
Grace: Favor for the Undeserving
Great Prayers of the Bible
Holy Spirit, Disciple's Guide
JesusWalk: Beginning the Journey
Lamb of God
Listening for God's Voice
Lord's Supper: Disciple's Guide
Names and Titles of God
Names and Titles of Jesus

Life of Moses Timeline From Exodus to His Death

The Bible divides Moses' life into three major sections that each last roughly forty years. The first is from his birth in Egypt to his fleeing the country for the safety of Midian (Acts 7:20 - 29). The second encompasses his living in Midianite territory until God commissions him, through a burning bush, to free Israel (Acts 7:30 - 34).

The third and last part of Moses' life is from the Exodus to his death at the age of 120 (Acts 7:36). This timeline begins with the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. It then covers all the major events in his life during the time he wandered the wilderness for forty years. Moses' secret death at the hands of God is also covered along with a rather odd incident that took place after he perished.

April 1445 B.C.

God, through Moses and Aaron, frees the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage. The people officially leave the country starting on Nisan 15 (sunset on April 11), a "night to be much observed" (Exodus 12:37 - 42, HBFV throughout).

Gathering of the Manna by the Israelites

The shortest route from Egypt to the Promised Land was by hugging the Mediterranean coast and passing through Philistine territory. The Bible reveals, however, that the Lord chose not to use this route, "lest the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt" (Exodus 13:17). God knew that the powerful war-loving Philistines would almost certainly fiercely attack his people and would fight to the last man to defend their territory!

God, instead, decides to take the Israelites roughly southeast from Egypt through the wilderness of the Red Sea (Exodus 13:18).

Further Study

Why Were the Philistines the Greatest Enemy?

Who Were the Philistines?

Pharaoh's Failed Pursuit

Pharaoh, as the Lord predicted to Moses, regretted freeing the Israelites and decides to forcibly bring his former slaves back home. He amasses all the chariots he can muster on a short notice, 600 of them, along with troops and officers, and begins to pursue God's people (Exodus 14:1 - 9).

Pharaoh's army catches up with the Israelites as they are camping near the sea. The people see Egypt's army approaching and begin to panic. Moses then encourages the people by saying, "Fear not! Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord . . . !" (Exodus 14:13).

God first stops the Egyptian advance by placing a cloudy pillar between his people and Pharaoh's army. He then has Moses miraculously part the sea, after which the Lord dries the sea floor to allow his people to cross on dry ground (Exodus 14:19 - 20)!

The Egyptians are then allowed to pursue the Israelites to the middle of the sea where the Lord causes them to become confused and their chariot wheels to loosen. He then has Moses return the sea to normal, causing Pharaoh's army to drown without survivors (Exodus 14:21 - 28).

Where Did Israel Cross the Sea?

The Journey Continues

The Israelites continue their journey by traveling south to Marah whose waters are undrinkable. The Lord has Moses miraculously heal the waters by having him throw a tree into it (Exodus 15:23 - 25). The people then travel to Elim.

May 1445 B.C.

Manna from heaven.

Moses leads the Israelites from Elim to the wilderness of Sin. They arrive in the wilderness on the 15th day of the second month (Exodus 16:1), or Iyar 15 (May 12).

The children of Israel, because of their lack of faith (Hebrews 4:2), continue a pattern of whining, complaining and condemning. They cried out to God when they were slaves in Egypt (see Exodus 2:23 - 24, 3:7, 9) and continue to do so even after they see countless miracles!

O that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots, when we ate bread to the full, for you (Moses and Aaron) have brought us forth into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger! (Exodus 16:3).

God response to the complaints is to provide, after sunset, quail to eat (Exodus 16:8, 12 - 15). He also graciously provides manna six mornings each week which the people must gather. This miracle will continue to occur for the next forty years (Exodus 16:35)!

The Lord uses the miracle of manna, which includes a double portion on the sixth day each week, to teach his people about his holy Sabbath day (Exodus 16:4, 25 - 26).

It should be noted that Israel is taught about the Bible Sabbath (sunset Friday to sunset Saturday), and punished for not keeping it (see Exodus 16:27 - 30), BEFORE they receive the Ten Commandments!

Where Is the Wilderness of Sin?

What Is Manna?

What Does Bread Symbolize?

Why Keep the Sabbath?

No Water in Meribah

Israel then journeys to a place named Rephidim (Exodus 17:1) which is also called Meribah (verse 7). They then cry to Moses that there is no water to the point where he believes they want to stone him to death (verses 4)! The Lord has Moses strike a certain rock with his rod which then produces a supernatural stream of water for the thirsty people (Exodus 17:5 - 7).

A Surprise Attack!

The Israelites, while staying in Rephidim, experience a surprise attack by the Amalekites. Moses, in response, has Joshua gather and lead an army against the enemy. As the battle rages Moses is taken to a hill overlooking the battle. His outstretched arms over the battle ensures Joshua's forces are victorious.

And it came to pass when Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed. And when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands became heavy. And they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side . . . (Exodus 17:11 - 12).

While Israel is camping at Rephidim, which is close to Mount Sinai, Moses' father-in-law Jethro comes for a visit. He brings Moses' wife Zipporah and their two sons with him. During the visit Jethro suggests selecting wise, capable Israelite men to help judge the people (Exodus 18).

Timeline of Israel's Wars

June 1445 B.C.

Preparation for the commandments.

On the sixth day of the third Hebrew month or Sivan 6 (June 1, Exodus 19:1), Moses goes up Mount Sinai to talk with God. He is instructed to ask the Israelites if they are willing to enter into a covenant with him (verses 3 - 6). After coming down off the mount he tells Israel's elders what God said and they convey it to the people. Moses, after the people agree to the covenant, the next day (likely June 2) he goes back up the mount to convey their answer to God (verses 7 - 8).

The Lord then instructs Moses to tell the people to consecrate themselves for the next two days as on the third day he will come down on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:10 - 11, 15 - 16).

The Giving of the Law

On the morning of Pentecost, a Sunday, Moses brings the people out of their camp to the base of Mount Sinai. At the foot of the mount they witness thunder and lightning as a thick cloud covers the mountain. The Lord then descends upon it with fire which causes Sinai to smoke like a furnace (Exodus 19:16 - 19). After descending He gives the Ten Commandments, as well as many judgments, to the children of Israel (Exodus 20 - 23).

Moses, Aaron, Aaron's two sons and seventy of Israel's elders are then invited to a covenant meal before God on Sinai!

And they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the heavens in clearness. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay his hands. Also they saw God, and ate and drank (Exodus 24:10 - 11).

Was Jesus the God of the Israelites?

Sapphires in the Bible

Mid-June to July 1445

The written law.

Moses, after partaking of the covenant meal, is commanded by God to go up Mount Sinai to receive a written copy of the law. He goes up the mount, with Joshua in tow, and waits six days. On the seventh day the Lord, from a cloud that covers the mountain, calls him to come up still further by himself (Exodus 24:12 - 17).

Moses spends another 39 days communing with God (for 40 total), without eating or drinking, in order to receive further instructions and a written version of the law (Exodus 24:18 - 31:18).

Are the Ten Commandments Still Relevant?

Ten Commandments in the New Testament

The Golden Calf

While Moses is on the mount, the Israelites have Aaron make them a golden pagan calf they can worship after which they indulge themselves in sexual perversions (Exodus 32:1 - 6). After receiving God's law, written by his own finger (Exodus 31:18), Moses is warned to hurry off the mount as the people have corrupted themselves.

God's anger at Israel's rebellion is such that he wants to destroy them completely and fulfill his promises through Moses! The patriarch intervenes, however, and has the nation spared (Exodus 32:9 - 14). When he personally sees the immorality for himself, however, he breaks the law's stone tablets to punish the people. He also has those who instigated the idolatry killed (verses 15 - 28). The Lord will ultimately create two more tablets of stone with his commandments (Exodus 34).

How Did Aaron Humorously Hide His Sin?

What Does God Hate?

July 1445 to March 1444

Tabernacle in the wilderness.

Moses, sometime after the above events, begins to accept offerings of gold, silver, cloth and so on for the building of the tabernacle in the wilderness (Exodus 35:4 - 19). The tabernacle is a temporary structure whose purpose is to facilitate the worship of God (Exodus 25:8).

Work for the tabernacle, and all its furniture and implements, takes place under the supervision of a man named Bezaleel (Exodus 35:30 - 35).

Why Was Acacia Wood Used for Tabernacle?

March 18, 1444

Tabernacle anointed.

The tabernacle is anointed by Moses, in service to the Eternal, on the first day of the first month of the second year after leaving Egypt (Exodus 40:1 - 2, 17). This date, Nisan 1 in Hebrew civil year 2317, corresponds to Saturday (the Sabbath) on March 18.

Who Made the Ark of the Covenant?

Taking a Census

Moses is commanded, "on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt," or Iyar 1 (April 17) to take a census of Israel (Numbers 1).

The Book of Numbers

Leaving Sinai

On Iyar 20 (May 6), the cloud over the Ark of the Covenant that symbolized God's presence lifted high above it (Numbers 10:11). This signaled that Moses, and the Israelites, were to move from the wilderness of Sinai to the wilderness of Paran (verses 12 - 13).

More Whining

After traveling for three days (Numbers 10:33) the Israelites begin, again, to complain about their situation. The Lord's response was swift.

And the people complained about their distress, speaking evil in the ears of the Lord. And the Lord heard it, and His anger was kindled. And the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some in the outermost parts of the camp (Numbers 11:1).

Some of the Israelites, even after the above incident, begin to whine that they want more than manna to eat.

Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic (Numbers 11:4 - 5).

Moses Wants to Die!

Moses then complains to God about his workload and the constant complaining from his brethren he has to endure. The burden of leading the people is so great that he wishes he were dead (Numbers 11:11 - 17). God decides to alleviate some of Moses' burden by placing his spirit in seventy elders to help him govern.

The Lord, in order to teach his people a lesson, provides them with a month's worth of meat at one time (Numbers 11:18 - 23)! Their lusting after flesh to eat so angers God that when they begin to consume it, he unleashes a great plague upon the people that kills many (verses 33 - 34). The Israelites then travel to Hazeroth (verse 35).

Israel's Wilderness Camp

May to August 1444

Disrespecting moses.

Aaron and Miriam, after the Israelites settle in Hazeroth, begin to criticize their brother Moses for a woman he married. Their real disagreement, however, was based on their envy of his authority.

"Has the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Has He not also spoken by us?" (Numbers 12:2).

Their disagreement with Moses seems even more bizarre when one realizes he was about 81 at the time with Aaron being 84 and Miriam being between 91 and 93 years old!

God's solution to the criticism was to confront Aaron and Miriam and then turn Miriam white with leprosy! Moses quickly intervenes for his sister and has her healed, but she is confined to live outside the camp for seven days (Numbers 12:4 - 15). After she comes back to the camp the Israelites leave for the wilderness of Paran.

What Was the Race of Moses' Wife?

Does the Bible Condemn Interracial Marriage?

August 1444

Spies sent to promised land.

Moses, in August (when the first ripe grapes appear on vines, Numbers 13:20), sends twelve spies into the Promised Land. He sends the men on their special expedition to get answers to the following questions.

And see the land, what it is, and the people that live in it, whether it is strong or weak, few or many. And see what the land is that they live in, whether it is good or bad; and what cities they dwell in, whether in tents or in strongholds; And what the land is, whether fat or lean, whether there is wood in it or not . . . (Numbers 13:18 - 20).

September 1444

The faithless report.

The twelve spies spend forty days spying out the Promised Land (Numbers 13:25). On their return they give Moses, Aaron and all Israel a report of what they found.

The spies relay that the Promised Land is indeed flowing with milk and honey (Numbers 13:27). Ten of the spies, however, focus the majority of their report on why the Israelites (from a human standpoint) would be incapable of taking possession of their inheritance.

The land, according to the ten spies, has large and fortified cities populated by powerful people whose men are huge in stature such as the Amalekites, Hittites and Amorites. Even bigger people, giants known as the Anak, also dwell in Canaan (Numbers 13:28 - 29, 32 - 33). Their conclusion is the following.

We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we (Numbers 13:31).

In spite of the efforts of Caleb and Joshua who also are spies (Numbers 13:30, 14:6 - 9), the Israelites believe in the faithless (and somewhat exaggerated) report they hear from ten of the spies. The people then begin to whine against Moses and even discuss stoning him to death (Numbers 14:2 - 4, 10)!

Punished to Wander

The Lord's initial response to Israel's rejection is to destroy his people with pestilence (Numbers 14:12). Moses intervenes for the people, however, and has their lives spared (verses 13 - 20).

God's punishment on his people for refusing to enter that land he swore he would give them is that all those 20 years old or older will not enter the Promised Land (except Joshua and Caleb). The Israelites, he declares, will wander in the wilderness a total of 40 years until a new generation can enter Canaan.

And your children shall feed in the wilderness forty years and bear your whoredoms until your dead carcasses have been consumed in the wilderness (Numbers 14:33, HBFV).

God also causes a plague that kills the ten faithless spies sent by Moses (Numbers 14:36 - 37).

Israel, rather surprisingly, is shocked by the punishment they received and the judgment against the ten spies. Their hard hearts foolishly attempt, in spite of being warned not to do so, to take the land of Canaan on their own. They are, as predicted, beaten back by those in the land (Numbers 14:40 - 45).

Giants in the Bible!

Map of Division of Promised Land

October 1444 to March 1406

Korah's rebellion.

A Levite named Korah and several other prominent Israelite leaders question the authority of Moses and Aaron over the people (Numbers 16). God's judgment of this unrighteous group is in two parts. Korah, as well as three Reubenites and their families, are swallowed up when the earth under their feet splits in two!

And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who were for Korah, and all their goods (Numbers 16:32).

250 other Israelite leaders who supported Korah's rebellion are burned alive with fire that proceeded from the Lord (Numbers 16:35).

March to April 1406

The death of miriam.

The children of Israel travel to the desert of Zin and camp at Kadesh in the first month (Nisan) of their 40th year of wandering (Numbers 20:1). This month corresponds to the period between March 20 and April 18. Miriam, Moses' older sister, dies during the month and is buried.

Forfeiting the Promised Land

In Kadesh the people discover there is no water available (Numbers 20). They, as they have done in the past, complain and argue with both Moses and Aaron about their situation.

And why have you made us to come up out of Egypt to bring us into this evil place? It is not a place of seed or of figs or of vines or of pomegranates. And there is no water to drink (Numbers 20:5).

The Lord instructs Moses and Aaron to take Moses' staff and speak to a certain rock which will then produce water. Moses tells the Israelites at the rock, "Hear now, you rebels. Must we bring water for you out of this rock?" (Numbers 20:10). He then, no doubt out of frustration with the people, hastily uses his staff to strike the rock twice (Numbers 20:7 - 11). His error of drawing attention to himself and Aaron, and away from God, brings a penalty.

And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe Me, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them" (Numbers 20:12).

Why Couldn't Moses Enter the Promised Land?

June to July 1406

Rejected by edom, aaron's death.

Moses requests, from Edom's king, permission to travel through his land. He promises the Israelites will stick to the King's Highway and will not take anything in his territory. The king flatly refuses the request and backs up his answer by amassing a large and powerful army. The Israelites then decide to take another route (Numbers 20:14 - 21).

Israel leaves Kadesh and camps near Mount Hor. It is at the mount that Aaron dies and is buried at the age of 123 (Numbers 20:22 - 29, 33:38 - 39). He dies on Ab 1 (July 16), a few months after his sister Miriam perished. The children of Israel mourn his death for 30 days.

Map of the King's Highway

Where Is Mount Hor Located?

Which Biblical Patriarchs Lived the Longest?

Autumn 1406 B.C.

At war with the canaanites.

King Arad the Canaanite, in the autumn of 1406, decides to go to war with Moses and the Israelites near Hormah. Arad strikes first and takes some of the people as prisoners (Numbers 21:1). The Israelites then vow that if they are given victory over Arad, they will destroy his Canaanite cities. God grants them the victory they request which leads to the destruction of his cities (Numbers 21:1 - 3).

Fiery Serpents!

From Mount Hor the Israelites travel around Edomite territory. The people not only begin to complain that they have no bread or water, they also let it be known that they detest the miraculously manna they have been receiving! God responds by sending fiery serpents among his people which kill many.

Moses, after praying for the people, is instructed to make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole. Anyone who is then bitten by a serpent, if they look at the one placed on the pole, will live (Numbers 21:6 - 9).

Jesus will, years later, use the serpent on the pole to symbolize that he must also be lifted up off the ground (crucified). His "lifting" will make it possible for those who recognize his sacrifice and believe in him to receive eternal life (John 3:14 - 15).

What Are Vows?

What Is a Nazarite Vow?

Two Major Conflicts

The Israelites then travel and camp at several places (Numbers 21:10 - 20) until they pass through Moabite territory to its border with the Amorites. As they are camping near the Arnon River Moses asks Amorite King Sihon if he can pass through his land.

Sihon not only refuses to allow safe passage, he also initiates a war with Israel at Jahaz (Numbers 21:23)! The Israelites, with God's blessing, decimate the Amorites and take control of their land and possessions (Numbers 21:24 - 31, Deuteronomy 2:30 - 36). Moses then has Israel drive out the Amorites from their last remaining stronghold in Jaazer (Numbers 21:32).

The Israelites travel north after their victory. They journey to the land of Bashan and are attacked, at Edrei, by King Og and his army (Numbers 21:33 - 35, Deuteronomy 3:1 - 7, 11). God's people, however, soundly defeat him and claim his territory as their own.

Who Were the Moabites?

Who Were the Amorites?

What Land Did the King of Bashan Control?

Sex Sins and Idolatry

The Israelites travel to the plains of Moab and camp on the eastern side of the Jordan River across from Jericho (Numbers 22:1). While the people are camping some of Israel's men are enticed by Moabite women to not only commit sexual sins but also to indulge in open idolatry.

God's wrath is kindled against these sinful men, leading him to command those who are guilty be put to death. God then causes a plague (sickness) to spread among the people. The plague is stopped only when Aaron's grandson kills a man and woman who sinned but not before 24,000 Israelites had perished (Numbers 25:1 - 9).

The Death Penalty and the Bible

Can We Cheat Death?

What Is Idolatry?

End of 1406

The last battle.

The last war God wants Moses to execute, before his death, is against the Midianites.

Attack the Midianites and strike them. For they trouble you with their lies, with which they have deceived you in the matter of Peor . . . (Numbers 25:17 - 18).

This battle is meant to punish Midian for its role in leading the Israelites astray by encouraging them to have relationships with pagan women (Numbers 25:1 - 9). The Midianite who spearheaded this campaign to tempt Israel was the prophet Balaam.

Moses gathers 12,000 fighting men and sends them against Midian. The Israelites proceed to completely destroy the enemy. They kill all the men of war, put to death all five Midianite rulers, take all the women and children captive, and burn their cities to the ground. They also kill Balaam who was willing to curse God's people for a fee (Numbers 31:1 - 10). Amazingly, not one Israelite soldier is lost during the battle!

God then commands Moses to take a census and count all the men 20 years old or older (Numbers 26).

January to February 1405 B.C.

Moses' final message, death.

Deuteronomy 1:3 begins Moses' final recorded teachings to Israel before his death. His teachings begin on the first day of the 11th Hebrew month (Shebat 1 or January 8, 1405 B.C.).

Moses dies on Mount Nebo, at the age of 120, around February 5 (Deuteronomy 34:1 - 8). He loses his life by God's hand and is buried in an undisclosed location. The Israelites mourn for him for one month before making their preparations to enter the Promised Land.

Where Are Old Testament People Buried?

Final Notes

Moses writes the first five books of the Bible during Israel's forty years of wandering the desert (1445 to 1405 B.C.).

Although the Israelites did not know where Moses was buried after his death, the Lord's enemy, Satan the devil, certainly did! Sometime after he lost his life, in what seems to be a rather macabre and weird event, the devil sought to get his body. It took the intervention of an archangel to stop the evil thief!

But Michael the archangel, when he was personally taking issue with the devil, disputing about the body of Moses, did not presume to pronounce a reviling judgment against him, but said, "The Lord Himself rebuke you!" (Jude 1:9).

Why Did the Devil Want Moses' Body?

Part 1 of Timeline Moses' Life from Birth to Exodus

References The Christian Passover by F. Coulter Online Holy Day Calendar at cbcg.org Willmington's Complete Guide to Bible Knowledge

How many times did Moses go up Mount Sinai?

The Exodus Route: 22 stops from Mt. Sinai to Kadesh Barnea

38 continuous years at Kadesh Barnea

Thirty-eight continuous years at Kadesh

Top ten list of reasons why the exodus route was not discovered until now.

Date of the Exodus is 1446 BC . The Pharaoh of the Exodus: Tuthmoses III (1479 - 1425 BC)

Miracles of the Exodus and Red Sea Crossing

Travel times, distances, days of the week

Population of the Exodus Jews : 2.5 Million Hebrews left Egypt!

Excluding various exodus routes : Nuweiba Beach, Bitter, Ballah and Timsah lakes.

Introduction:

Israel departs from Sinai for promised land after spending 11 months, 5 days at Sinai.
Since they left on the 14th day of the first month, this means they had been traveling one year, one month and one week, since leaving Egypt. (57 weeks) So they left Sinai on 1:1:1! (year:month:week)
They navigated about 20 stops over a period of between 10.5 and 11 months between Sinai and Kadesh Barnea.
They arrived at Kadesh Barnea in the first of the month of the third year or exactly 24 months after leaving Egypt. (Numbers 20:1)
They celebrated their second Passover at Sinai, then left almost immediately afterwards for Kadesh. They arrived at Kadesh about 11 months later and immediately celebrated their third Passover. Therefore, their arrival at Kadesh was the end of the second year and was marked by their third Passover.
They spend 38 continuous years at Kadesh Barnea (they did not leave and come back), then depart for the Jordan in the 40th year.
Many take the wrong view that Israel came to Kadesh, in the third year, left, then wandered around for 38 years, then returned again to Kadesh (or a second different Kadesh). Click here for detailed discussion proving Israel arrived at Kadesh in the third year and STAYED at Kadesh for 38 more years until they left for Canaan.

I. Thirty-eight continuous years at Kadesh:

A. Discussion:

1. The easiest way to prove that Israel spent 38 continuous years at Kadesh is the itinerary list in Num 33.

a. Here we have a detailed sequential list of all the stations from Egypt to Canaan.

b. For those who believe they came to Kadesh then left shortly after the bad report came back from the spies, they are left with a huge hole in this list.

c. If they left Kadesh, why does Num 33 not list a single location?

d. This huge gap in the chronological information is devastating to those who take the "two Kadesh visits" view.

e. "The narrative has reached the point where for the next thirty-eight (?) or thirty-seven or less years there is a blank with respect to the order of events and the local residence or movements of the Israelites. In Chap. 33:16–36 there are enumerated twenty stations between Sinai and Kadesh, or twenty-two including Sinai and Kadesh." (A commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Lange, J. P., Schaff, P., Lowrie, S. T., & Gosman, A. Numbers 14:40, 1879 AD)

2. Three different views: Moses spend 38 continuous years at Kadesh vs. Moses arrived, left and returned to Kadesh:

a. The Bible clearly says they arrived at Kadesh Barnea and did not leave for 38 years until they crossed the Jordan.

b. Two visits to the same Kadesh : Some believe Moses came to Kadesh Barnea, left, wandered for a period of time then returned to the SAME location called Kadesh a second time, then crossed the Jordan.

c. Two visits to two different places called Kadesh : Others believe Moses came to Kadesh Barnea (#1), left, wandered for a time, then arrived at another geographic place called Kadesh Barnea (#2), then left, wandering for a time, then crossed the Jordan.

B. The narrative insert after Hazeroth in Numbers chapters 13-20

1. The biggest mistake is to fail to realize that many of the stories in the first five books of Moses do not follow a strictly chronological order. The Same is true of the New Testament gospels.

a. The account of their travel from Num 10:11-12 down to Numbers 12:16 follows the Numbers 33 list. However, starting in Num 13, we skip about 18 stops and go directly to Kadesh in the narration. This kind of narration style is typical in both the Old and New Testament. In fact, the statement that "the sons of Israel set out on their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai. Then the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran." (Numbers 10:12) is a summary of a larger pattern of travel to Kadesh.

b. When it says, “the cloud settled down in Paran”, that means at Kadesh. The section that follows discusses a few important things that happened before Kadesh (grumbling for meat at Taberah/Kibroth-hattaavah [ch 11]; Miriam's and Aaron's challenge to Moses Egyptian wife at Hazeroth [ch 12]) and events that happened at Kadesh: spying out the land; The man caught gathering sticks on the Sabbath; Koran's rebellion, death of Miriam, Moses striking the rock, Moses requests the kings of Edom and Moab to allow passage to the Jordan. As we can see, these events spanned 38 years. They came to Kadesh once, then they left for the Jordan river which they crossed in 1406 BC.

2. The key is to view the entire section between Num 12:16 - 20:1 as an overview of the major events of the entire 38 years at Kadesh. It begins in 12:16 where they jump from Hazeroth forward 18 stops to Kadesh. This overview ends at 20:1, where it recounted that they came to Kadesh in the first month after leaving Sinai (11 months later).

3. Some misuse Numbers 20:1 as evidence that Israel came to Kadesh, but then left to wandered somewhere else for 38 years, then returned in year forty: " In the first month all the people of Israel arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried." Many commentators mistakenly believe this was the 40th year , but they are wrong. The verse tells us they arrived at Kadesh in the first month but does not tell us the year! It does not say, "the first month in the 40th year". Since Israel left Sinai in the second month of the second year after leaving Egypt (14 months), this means they arrived at Kadesh in the first month of the third year after leaving Egypt or 24 months. See Exodus route calendar for more details.

C. Numbers 20:1-5 "the first month of WHAT year?" (year 3 not 40!)

"Then the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to the wilderness of Zin in the first month ; and the people stayed at Kadesh. Now Miriam died there and was buried there. There was no water for the congregation, and they assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron. The people thus contended with Moses and spoke, saying, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord! “Why then have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness, for us and our beasts to die here? “Why have you made us come up from Egypt, to bring us in to this wretched place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink.”" (Numbers 20:1–5)

1. Commentators on Num 20:1

a. A full and concise discussion that essentially proves one, not two visits to Kadesh: “Our text has become the knotty point of the greatest misunderstandings. Usually it is understood as follows. The children of Israel came once again to Kadesh in the first month of the fortieth year. And after that, all these things took place that are related afterwards. The most positive facts speak against this fixed assumption. First , the clear testimony of Deut. 1. Second , the history of the water of strife. That is to say, had the Israelites made themselves familiar with the neighborhood of Kadesh-Barnea, then they would have known also its water-springs; but according to our passage, they have hardly more than arrived in the desert of Zin, and have as yet found no springs in it. Third , the people strove with Moses saying: Would that we had perished when our brethren perished before the Lord . After forty years they could not have spoken of brothers that had perished, but only of fathers . Almost the whole generation of the fathers was now buried. They do not even seem to have experienced as yet the rebellion of Korah, for Keil justly remarks: “by that they do not mean the rebellion of Korah (Knobel), for whose destruction גָּוַע , exspirare , is no fitting expression, but those that died gradually during the thirty-eight years.” The rest of their complaint, also, agrees better with the beginning of their sojourn in the desert than with a period when they had long since accustomed themselves to the steppe. According to the internal relations, the murmuring at the want of water connects very simply with the murmuring at the want of bread or food at the Graves of Lust (11.), and falls in the period of the settlement in the desert of Paran, 12:16. Accordingly we assume, that the beginning of Chap.20. is to be understood as pluperfect. Now the children of Israel had come , i.e. the host of God with the whole congregation, into the wilderness of Zin, and the people encamped at Kadesh . More definitely the chronological order was as follows. On the 20th day of the second month of the second year (of the Exodus) the Israelites departed from Sinai (10:11). Since then about a year has elapsed until the settlement in Paran, or till the first month of which our chapter speaks, by which, therefore, is to be understood the third year, because the sentence of a forty years’ abode in the wilderness cannot well be set at a later period. Moreover, it must not be left unnoticed, that already after the meeting of the people, chap. 14, it is said: only Joshua and Caleb shall enter the land of Canaan, so that we must suppose that Moses and Aaron had already received their sentence . [ ie. Moses struck the rock for water ] It may be further added, that a failure on the part of the great man of God more probably occurred in the first years of his course than at the close, when he was so near his goal. The motive for the chronological displacement of our history, as was already intimated, was to combine in one account the fates of these two brothers and their sister. A return of the story to an older history appears to be presented also in the section 21:1–3. The account of the defeat of Israel there related is the old story of the unsuccessful raid into the south of Canaan (14:40–45). It is resumed again in this place on account of the vow that Israel made at that time, and now fulfils, of which we will treat further on. Also according to Knobel’s way of seeing the matter, the text not only speaks of two periods of abode in Kadesh, but also according to “the Jehovistic document” of a single abode there (p. 103). “The old register of encampments likewise recognizes only one abode in Kadesh.” [On the view that there was only one abode in Kadesh, and that the host arrived there not earlier than in the third year of the Exodus, and possibly later, see Tr.’s note at the end of chap,14. Dr. Lange’s appeal to Deut. 1. is an argument that deserves more amplification. The language of ver. 19, particularly: “ We went through all that great and terrible wilderness,” implies a longer journey and more varied experience than could be compressed into eighty days or so . The same may be said of ver. 33, which, compared with Num. 9:15–23, seems to refer to the wanderings from Sinai to Kadesh.—Tr.] Ver. 1. On the desert of Zin and Kadesh-Barnea, see above at 12:16. On Kadesh see also the article in Gesenius. According to Keil, and the common view, the first month falls in the fortieth year of the Exodus. A difficulty of that view is presented in the inquiry: Why is nothing said of the want of water during the first stay at Kadesh, whereas it is spoken of in reference to the second ?” (A commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Lange, J. P., Schaff, P., Lowrie, S. T., & Gosman, A. Numbers 20:1, 1879 AD)

b. “The narrative of the journey continues with the account of Israel’s arrival at Kadesh Barnea, the center of Israel’s desert wanderings for thirty-eight years . (Holman Bible Commentary, Num 20:1)

c. “ Deuteronomy says Israel reached Kadesh at once but stayed there “many days” (Deut. 1:46) and then spent thirty-eight years in the wilderness (Deut. 2:14). According to this tradition, then, the date in this verse (v. 1) would refer to the first day of the third year (cf. 10:11). Supporting this interpretation is the clause “our brothers perished” (v. 3) which can only have been said by the survivors of the Korahite plague concerning the death of their peers (17:6–15) and not by the sons concerning the death of their fathers (14:34). Also the murmurers refer to themselves as the generation of the Exodus (vv. 4a, 5a). If so, then the events leading to the punishment of Moses and Aaron (vv. 1–13) must be separated from the events of 20:14–21:35. The latter clearly refer to the fortieth year and also proceed from Kadesh” (20:14, 16, 22)" (Torah, Jewish commentary, Jacob Milgrom, Num 20:1, 1989 AD)

2. What is the antecedent of "first month" in Num 20:1? (Num 10:11)

a. "Now in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth of the month, the cloud was lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony;" (Numbers 10:11)

b. It amazes me that people miss such simple information. When the book of numbers is full of detailed chronological information and a generic "first month" (Nisan) is referenced, we must read in reverse to find the LAST full dated reference, which in this case is Numbers 10:11 which explains Num 20:1.

c. "second year, in the second month (Iyar), on the twentieth of the month. Num 10:11 and first month the following year (year 3) Num 20:1

d. So the simplest reading of Num 20:1 is that they left Mt. Sinai on 20 th Iyar in year two after leaving Egypt and arrived at Kadesh Barnea in Nisan year 3 after leaving Egypt.

3. Aaron died on the 1st day of the 5th month of the 40th year of the wilderness wandering (summer 1407 BC). Shortly after mourning Aaron for 30 days, the people left Mount Hor, defeated the Transjordan nations, and then mourned for Moses 30 days. They crossed the Jordan on the 10th day of the 1st month of the 41st year (spring, 1406 BC), four days before the 41st Passover, which was exactly 40 years to the day they left Goshen. They started counting sabbatical years and Jubilee after crossing the Jordan. (Num 33:38; 20:28; Deut 34:8; Josh 4:19; 5:10)

a. There just is not enough time to fit in all the events in Numbers 20 in four short months.

b. For a detailed discussion on all the events that took place during the 38 years while Israel was continuously camped at Kadesh, click here . (These are the events the "two Kadesh" advocates cram into 4 months)

4. There are many insurmountable problems with the view that Num 20:1 is the 40 th year and therefore must be firmly and confidently rejected.

D. Numbers 14:25 "turn tomorrow and leave Kadesh"

“Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys; turn tomorrow and set out to the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.”" (Numbers 14:25)

1. As a clear message of failure of forward progress, God commanded them to turn around and head the way they came, down the Aaraba valley towards Elat from Kadesh (Petra).

a. However the next day they began an invasion of Canaan which resulted in defeat. This would have taken days if not weeks to complete.

b. Clearly the following day they DID NOT leave Kadesh and WOULD NOT leave Kadesh in spite of the commandment of God.

c. If they did leave Kadesh, there is ABSOLUTELY no evidence they did.

d. Although God commanded Israel to leave Kadesh, they disobeyed and would not leave, which may have caused God to change His mind and just leave them there for the next 38 years. There is no evidence they ever left!

e. This is the simplest view and the one favoured by the author.

2. Another view, is that the Hebrew text for "tomorrow" is a generic expression meaning, some time in the future (in this case 38 years) you will turn and leave Kadesh.

a. “We may therefore regard Deut. 1:46: “So ye abode in Kadesh many days,” as descriptive of the whole period of thirty-seven years or less till the story is resumed, beginning again at Kadesh. Then To-morrow turn ye , etc. , Num. 14:25, is a command to abandon the invasion of Canaan on the south, and turn in that direction that was afterwards successful. This command began to be executed by what is narrated 20:14 sqq. To-morrow presents no obstacle to this view. For the Heb. מָחָר , [Strongs: 4278: machar ] that is so rendered, has not the limited meaning that “to-morrow” has in English. See Gen. 30:33; Exod. 13:14, where it is translated “in time to come,” and obviously means the remote future. This long sojourn at Kadesh was spent in a nomadic life (ver. 33, your children shall be shepherds ), and of course involved a dispersion and moving about over a considerable area, which may have embraced the most or all of the desert of Paran” (A commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Lange, J. P., Schaff, P., Lowrie, S. T., & Gosman, A. Numbers 14:25-40, 1879 AD)

"“So my honesty will answer for me later [Strongs: 4278: machar ] , when you come concerning my wages. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, will be considered stolen.”" (Genesis 30:33)
"“And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come [Strongs: 4278: machar ] , saying, ‘What is this?’ then you shall say to him, ‘With a powerful hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery." (Exodus 13:14)
We acknowledge that the majority of the time, Strongs: 4278: machar indeed means simply tomorrow but not always.

3. When the second attempt to take Canaan was made in rebellion to God demanding they leave Kadesh, this would have been a great time for Moses to leave Kadesh towards the Red Sea at Ezion Geber in obedience to God but they stayed put at Kadesh.

"But they went up heedlessly to the ridge of the hill country; neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses left the camp." (Numbers 14:44)
If there was any time or place that Moses left Kadesh Barnea in the third year, it would have been at exactly Number 14:44, which instead says THEY NEVER LEFT THE KADESH CAMP.
Imagine the scene of the disobedient Hebrews crossing the Arabah Valley to attack the Canaanited in the promised land ALL THE WHILE Moses and the Ark of the Covenant AND Aaron AND the obedient Hebrews were marching away from Petra (Kadesh), southward towards the gulf of Aqaba. What a spectacular scene that would be. BUT IT NEVER HAPPENED!
Another different way of viewing Num 14:25 is Irony:
Israel had said at this time: "So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”" (Numbers 14:4)
The verse could be paraphrase this way: "If Israel wants to return to Egypt then "LET THOSE WHO WANT, TURN BACK TOMMORROW AND RETURN TO EGYPT THE EXACT WAY THEY CAME and die at the hands of the Amalekites and the Canaanites who live in the valleys. But while you are following your LEADER and are heading to Egypt being attacked by the Amalekites and the Canaanites in the Arabah Valley, Moses and Aaron will be staying put at Kadesh in safety."
"This section of Yahweh’s speech to Moses concludes with an instruction to turn back, literally to “turn the face around and depart,” and head back down in the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea. In that the same phraseology, “Way of the Sea of Reeds,” is used in this directive, Milgrom has suggested that this geographical reference “illustrates the measure for measure principle” [ talionic justice ].… If Israel desires to return to Egypt (v. 4), then it should turn back—but only to die in the wilderness (vv. 28–29).” The usage may carry this force on a literary level, since in Exod 13:18 this is the “way” or route they followed when they departed from Egypt. But it is also a geographical statement in that the Way of the Red Sea Wilderness was the name of a road through the wilderness" (New American Commentary, Num 14:25, 2000 AD)
"Geographically this probably means they were to head south-east from Kadesh toward the Gulf of Aqabah, one of the recognized north-south routes across the Sinai Peninsula. But theologically the way to the Red Sea suggests they are returning to Egypt. Typical of the irony in this story, their punishment is made to fit their crime . They wanted to die in the wilderness and return to Egypt: in a way rather different from the one they intended, God grants their request. The long-term programme of entering Canaan will be postponed to let the generation of rebels die where they wanted." (Numbers: an introduction and commentary, G. J. Wenham, Vol. 4, Num 14:25, 1981 AD)
What is interesting about the Irony view, is that the very path Israel would take from Kadesh (at Petra) south to the gulf of Aqaba WAS ONE HUGE VALLEY BETWEEN TWO HUGE MOUNTAIN RANGES. Perhaps the statement that the "Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys" was as way to spook them and strike terror into their hearts. On the other hand, if they had left, and it is almost certain that some of the 6 million camped at Kadesh did attempt a return, that these would most likely have been killed IN THE VALLEY OF THE ARABAH as they headed back to Egypt in the most direct route possible.
Again, if the passage is irony, clearly Moses did not leave Kadesh.

E. The record of Deuteronomy proves 38 continuous years:

1. What Deuteronomy says:

a. "It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea." (Deuteronomy 1:2)

b. “Then we set out from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, just as the Lord our God had commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea ." (Deuteronomy 1:19)

c. “So you remained in Kadesh many days , the days that you spent there." (Deuteronomy 1:46)

d. “ Now the time that it took for us to come from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the brook Zered was thirty-eight years , until all the generation of the men of war perished from within the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them." (Deuteronomy 2:14)

2. What could be clearer?

a. The entire discussion and context is the time it takes to get from Sinai to Kadesh: a normal 11 day journey via a standard caravan but since Israel was disobedient, this same trip took 38 years before they moved on.

b. The bible specifically says "they spend MANY days at Kadesh" which contradicts those who claim they spend only a few days there and left for 38 years and returned again for a few days.

c. The bible specifically says that from Kadesh to crossing the Zered was 38 years. Nowhere is there any indication they left Kadesh and returned.

Conclusion:

1. The Bible is rather explicit that Israel spent 38 continuous years at Kadesh.

a. The Bible says they spent 38 years at Kadesh even calling their time there "many days"

b. There is no indication they ever left Kadesh.

c. There is no itinerary of places they went had they left Kadesh (Num 33)

d. There is no indication there was a second visit to Kadesh.

2. The events of Numbers 20:1 can be clearly dated to the Nisan (1 st month) of the third year after leaving Goshen, not the 40 th year.

a. The events of Num 20:1-13 (Korah, Miriam, water from rock etc.) cannot be fit into 2-4 months.

b. Those who were part of the events of Num 20 had recently left Egypt.

3. The material in Numbers is not in strict chronological order and the stories jump forward and backward, hence 20:1-13 happens before chapters 14-19 etc. The Material of Num 20:1-13 is elliptical.

4. The demand for water would be the very first thing Israel would make of God in a dry place like Kadesh on their first visit not their second visit.

a. In fact there is evidence that Moses' striking the rock for water happened BEFORE the spies were sent out from Kadesh to Hebron. They would not send out a scout troupe until their basic needs like water were met.

b. Notice when the spied returned that only Joshua and Caleb would cross the Jordan, indicating that Moses and Aaron had already been barred entry into the promised land because of striking rather than speaking to the rock.

c. "Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun." (Numbers 14:30)

5. The only Bible verse that suggests they left Kadesh is Numbers 14:25 where God commands them to leave Kadesh, but in fact Israel refused to leave and God may have changed his mind and allowed them to stay at Kadesh.

a. After being told to leave Kadesh, there was a plague that killed the 10 bad spies and then they left Kadesh to invade Canaan without Moses who stayed in the camp at Kadesh with the ark.

b. "But they went up heedlessly to the ridge of the hill country; neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses left the camp." (Numbers 14:44)

c. This would have been a great time to leave Kadesh towards the Red Sea at Ezion Geber in obedience to God but they stayed put at Kadesh.

6. Just because many people believe there are two Kadesh visits, does not mean they are correct.

a. They have mount Sinai wrong and even the location of Kadesh they have wrong. ( Kadesh is located at Petra not Qudeirat )

7. Israel arrived at Kadesh Barnea in the first month of the third year and never left until 38 years had passed. Then they headed south down the Arabah valley past Ezion Geber a second time, then east, then north around Edom and Moab.

II. The 22 stops of travel between Sinai and Kadesh:

A. 22 exodus route stops from Mt. Sinai and Kadesh Barnea:

1. Taberah

a. Taberah is either just before Kibroth-hattaavah, or at Kibroth-hattaavah since Deut 9:22 indicates they are distinct: "Again at Taberah and at Massah and at Kibroth-hattaavah you provoked the Lord to wrath." Deuteronomy 9:22

2. Kibroth-hattaavah: "Graves of Lust"

a. Num 11: Quail given, 70 elders are given the Holy Spirit.

b. So the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had been greedy. "

c. "They journeyed from the wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah." Numbers 33:16

d. The quail came from the sea, and east wind, a south wind. This may be useful in locating where they were geographically.

e. Exodus 10:10 + 19, shows two different and opposite directions of wind. The Hebrew word for "west" is the same word as "Sea". So "west-wind" is literally a "sea wind". There is a distinct word for "east", which is the direction of the rising sun. The tabernacle in the wilderness was oriented to be facing towards the east.

f. The Numbers 11 passage might be interpreted to say, "brought quail from the west [sea wind] or from the sea [body of water]. Quail are upland game birds that do not live near salt water. If it said that God brought pelicans from the sea, it would make more sense. Therefore, it is unclear if the text of Numbers 11 means "brought quail from the west or from the sea". Since the Ps 78:26-27 passage says the quail came from both south and east winds, perhaps God blew them in from a variety of directions: east, west, and south at different times. Or perhaps it is saying that God brought them in from near the sea (or direction of the sea) with both east and southerly winds.

g. In any case, it is not very helpful in making a determination as to where the camp was located in relation to the Red Sea.

h. " Now there went forth a wind from the Lord and it brought quail from the sea , and let them fall beside the camp, about a day's journey on this side and a day's journey on the other side, all around the camp and about two cubits deep on the surface of the ground. The people spent all day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail (he who gathered least gathered ten homers) and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very severe plague. So the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had been greedy. From Kibroth-hattaavah the people set out for Hazeroth, and they remained at Hazeroth." Numbers 11:31-35

i. "He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens. And by His power He directed the south wind . When He rained meat upon them like the dust, Even winged fowl like the sand of the seas, Then He let them fall in the midst of their camp, Round about their dwellings. So they ate and were well filled, And their desire He gave to them. Before they had satisfied their desire, While their food was in their mouths, The anger of God rose against them And killed some of their stoutest ones, And subdued the choice men of Israel." Psalm 78:26-31

3. Hazeroth

a. From Kibroth-hattaavah the people set out for Hazeroth, and they remained at Hazeroth Num 11:35

b. "Remained at Hazeroth" indicates a longer period of time. Miriam and Aaron challenged Moses over his Cushite wife (Zipporah) They also said, "Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?" God called them to the tent of meeting and Miriam turned leprous. Moses prayed and God ordered that Miriam was to be confined outside the camp for 7 days, since she was unclean.

c. "They journeyed from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth." Numbers 33:17

d. The narrative insert after Hazeroth in Numbers chapters 13-20

e. The account of their travel from Num 10:11-12 down to Numbers 12:16 follows the Numbers 33 list. However, starting in Num 13, we skip about 18 stops and go directly to Kadesh in the narration. This kind of narration style thing is typical in both the Old and New Testament. The statement that "the sons of Israel set out on their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai. Then the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran." (Numbers 10:12) is a summary of a larger pattern of travel to Kadesh. When it says, the cloud settled down in Paran, that means at Kadesh. The section that follows discusses a few important things that happened before Kadesh (grumbling for meat at Taberah/Kibroth-hattaavah [ch 11]; Miriam's and Aaron's challenge to Moses Egyptian wife at Hazeroth [ch 12]) and events that happened at Kadesh:

i. spying out the land

ii. The man caught gathering sticks on the Sabbath

iii. Koran's rebellion

iv. The death of Miriam

v. Moses struck the rock

vi. Moses requested the kings of Edom and Moab for passage to get to the Jordan.

f. As we can see, these events spanned 38 years. They came to Kadesh once, then they left for the Jordan.

g. The key is to view the entire section between Numbers 12:16 - 20:1 as an overview of the major events of the entire 38 years at Kadesh. It begins in 12:16 where they jump from Hazeroth forward 18 stops to Kadesh. This overview ends at 20:1, where it recounts that they came to Kadesh in the first month after leaving Sinai (11 months later).

h. Some misuse Numbers 20:1 as evidence that Israel came to Kadesh, but then left to wandered somewhere else for 38 years, then returned in year forty: " In the first month all the people of Israel arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried." Many commentators mistakenly believe this was the 40th year , but they are wrong. The verse tells us they arrived at Kadesh in the first month, but it does not tell us the year! It does not say, "the first month in the 40th year". Since Israel left Sinai in the second month of the second year after leaving Egypt (14 months), this means they arrived at Kadesh in the first month of the third year after leaving Egypt or 24 months after leaving Goshen. See Exodus route calendar for more details and below in a fuller discussion .

4. Rithmah : "They journeyed from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah." Numbers 33:18

5. Rimmon-perez : "They journeyed from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez." Numbers 33:19

6. Libnah : "They journeyed from Rimmon-perez and camped at Libnah." Numbers 33:20

7. Rissah : "They journeyed from Libnah and camped at Rissah." Numbers 33:21

8. Kehelathah : "They journeyed from Rissah and camped in Kehelathah." Numbers 33:22

9. Mount Shepher : "They journeyed from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher." Numbers 33:23

10. Haradah : "They journeyed from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah." Numbers 33:24

11. Makheloth : "They journeyed from Haradah and camped at Makheloth." Numbers 33:25

12. Tahath : "They journeyed from Makheloth and camped at Tahath." Numbers 33:26

13. Terah : "They journeyed from Tahath and camped at Terah." Numbers 33:27

14. Mithkah : "They journeyed from Terah and camped at Mithkah." Numbers 33:28

15. Hashmonah : "They journeyed from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah." Numbers 33:29

16. Moseroth : "They journeyed from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth." Numbers 33:30

17. Bene-jaakan : "They journeyed from Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan." Numbers 33:31

18. Hor-haggidgad .

a. Hor??? Mt. Hor? = horites

b. "They journeyed from Bene-jaakan and camped at Hor-haggidgad." Numbers 33:32

c. This mountain must be in Edomite territory as they traveled from the far east, directly to Ezion Geber.

19. Jotbathah :

a. "They journeyed from Hor-haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah." Numbers 33:33

b. From there they set out to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of brooks of water. Deuteronomy 10:7

20. Abronah : "They journeyed from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah." Numbers 33:34

21. Ezion-geber :

a. "They journeyed from Abronah and camped at Ezion-geber." Numbers 33:35

b. (Modern Aqaba, sea port on north shore of Gulf of Aqaba.)

22. Wilderness of Zin, that is, Kadesh Barnea

a. Maps from the 1500's called Kadesh "stop 33" from Egypt

b. "They journeyed from Ezion-geber and camped in the wilderness of Zin, that is, Kadesh." Numbers 33:36

c. "Then the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to the wilderness of Zin in the first month; and the people stayed at Kadesh . Now Miriam died there and was buried there." Numbers 20:1

d. Spying out the land: Num 13-14

e. "So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, at Lebo-hamath." Numbers 13:21

f. "for in the wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the congregation, you rebelled against My command to treat Me as holy before their eyes at the water." (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.)" Numbers 27:14

g. "because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, because you did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel. " Deuteronomy 32:51

h. 38 continuous years at Kadesh. They spent 38 years at Kadesh, then in the 40th year from Egypt, they went west from into the Arabah valley and camped opposite Mt. Hor where Aaron died. It was this movement after 38 years that triggered the King of Arad to become alarmed. For a detailed discussion on all the events that took place during the 38 years while Israel was continuously camped at Kadesh, click here .

II. The Deut 10:6-9 puzzle:

1. Aaron did not die at Moserah, but that was where God told Aaron that he was going to die in the wilderness for his sin, just as Moses was later told at Kadesh when he struck the rock.

a. "(Now the sons of Israel set out from Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died and there he was buried and Eleazar his son ministered as priest in his place. From there they set out to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of brooks of water. At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to serve Him and to bless in His name until this day. Therefore, Levi does not have a portion or inheritance with his brothers; the Lord is his inheritance, just as the Lord your God spoke to him.)" Deuteronomy 10:6-9

2. The real puzzle is what does this listing of 5 stops have to do with the context at all and why does it say that Aaron died at Moserah, when we know he died at Mt. Hor.

a. The puzzle is not that the towns (Beeroth Bene-jaakan and Moserah) are similar to the list in Num 33. (Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan). They are different names. Moserah is different from Moseroth. "Bene-jaakan" means " the wells of the sons of Jaakan ". Perhaps the Jaakan were a tribe or clan who dug wells for others for hire. "Beeroth Bene-jaakan" could easily be another set of wells dug or controlled by the Jaakans. They could have been outsiders or perhaps they were fellow Hebrews who were known as the "well diggers." Whatever the actual connection is, the names are not identical.

b. The puzzle is not that these two names, (assuming they are the same as the Numbers 33 list) are in reverse order to the Num 33 list.

3. The solution is not to ignore the text as an uninspired addition to scripture. Pseudepigrapha is cleverer than to contradict known revelation on two counts (stop order and where Aaron died) and invent three new stops not previously recorded in the Numbers 33 list. In addition, the narrative changes from first person to third. Perpetrators of such satanic crimes of adding to the Biblical text try to pass off their insertions by blending into the existing text so that nobody notices. If you are trying to add something to the scriptures without getting caught, this is how not to do it. We will assume it is valid and inspired scripture.

a. While we have concluded that the names are different places than the Num 33 list, we reject the suggestion that Moserah is another name for Mt. Hor or the larger area that surrounded it as a solution. If such an important event happened there the Num 33 list would have made some comments. But they are just listed without any comment. The Num 33 list does indeed stop and make comment on important events. In fact it spends three whole verses on the death of Aaron: "They journeyed from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, at the edge of the land of Edom. Then Aaron the priest went up to Mount Hor at the command of the Lord, and died there in the fortieth year after the sons of Israel had come from the land of Egypt, on the first day in the fifth month. Aaron was one hundred twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor. Numbers 33:37-39. This is in addition to: "Now when they set out from Kadesh, the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor. Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying, " Numbers 20:22-23

b. Since the words of Deuteronomy 10 were spoken by Moses only a few months after the death of Aaron at Mt. Hor, it would be highly unlikely Moses would contradict such an important and recent historical event.

4. The insertion of this mystery itinerary of stops found nowhere else in scripture that is somehow connected with the death of Aaron is the real puzzle. What does it mean and why is it here at all?

a. First we notice that the list of five stops begins and ends with places abundant with water. They always grumbled for water. Water was a sign of blessing from God.

b. Second, this listing of stops must have been well known to the Hebrews who were standing there listening to Moses at the Zered Wadi.

5. It is interesting that while Aaron was actively involved in the making of the golden calf, the Levites were absent. However, in the punishment of the people for making the golden calf, Moses called for "anyone who is with him" and the Levites came forward. It seems the Levite were not in agreement with Aaron, their high priest and patriarch of the tribe. In the same way the high priest at the time of Jesus mislead his people into crucifying him. (Matthew 26:57). It is interesting that the only Levite mentioned in the new testament was "Barnabas, which translated means Son of Encouragement" (Acts 4:36). Just as the Levites were a positive force for good with Moses, so too was Barnabas, the Levite, for the early Christians.

a. Solution: After they left Sinai, we know they traveled for about 11 months. During this time, they went through these 5 stops. Aaron did not die at Moserah, but that was where God told Aaron that he was going to die in the wilderness for his sin, just as Moses was later told at Kadesh when he struck the rock. Both before and after this proclamation, God had given them the blessings of his grace with abundant water.

6. Moserah was the stop between Sinai and Kadesh where God informed Aaron he was going to die and be replaced by his son some 40 years later and not enter the promised land.

a. This ties into the larger context of the passage where Moses is recounting the sins of the people in connection with the golden calf. Verse 1 begins with God restoring fellowship with Israel by replacing the two tablets of the ten commandments that Moses had broken when Aaron had made the golden calf.

b. “ The verse refers back to 9:20 and more generally to Aaron’s responsibility in the incident of the golden calf (9:16–21). God had been angry with Aaron and ready to destroy him (9:20) because of the calf incident; Moses, however, had prayed for him, and the brief reference to Aaron here (in 10:6) indicates that that prayer had been answered .” (NICOT, Deuteronomy 10:6)

7. This conclusion is reinforced by the fact that nowhere else in scripture records where Aaron was told, like Moses was told, that he would not enter the promised land because of his grave sin of making the golden calf.

By Steve Rudd: Contact the author for comments, input or corrections .

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Map of the Route of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt

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Map of the Route of the Hebrews from Egypt

This map shows the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land under the leadership of Moses.

The Nile Delta was a triangular area of marshland about 150 miles from north to south, from Memphis to the Mediterranean, and about 150 - 200 miles wide.

Upper Egypt was a bit further south from Lower Egypt, starting at Memphis (bottom of the Nile Delta Triangle) and extended for about 600 miles down the Nile River Valley to Elephantine (Aswan).

Genesis 47:6 - The land of Egypt [is] before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest [any] men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.

Hosea 9:6 - For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant [places] for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns [shall be] in their tabernacles.

Exodus 14:1-2 - And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baalzephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea.

Exodus 14:21-22 - And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

Egypt in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE Egypt 1. The Basis of the Land: Though Egypt is one of the earliest countries in recorded history, and as regards its continuous civilization, yet it is a late country in its geological history and in its occupation by a settled population. The whole land up to Silsileh is a thick mass of Eocene limestone, with later marls over that in the lower districts. It has been elevated on the East, up to the mountains of igneous rocks many thousand feet high toward the Red Sea. It has been depressed on the West, down to the Fayum and the oases below sea-level. This strain resulted in a deep fault from North to South for some hundreds of miles up from the Mediterranean. This fault left its eastern side about 200 ft. above its western, and into it the drainage of the plateau poured, widening it out so as to form the Nile valley, as the permanent drain of Northeast Africa. The access of water to the rift seems to have caused the basalt outflows, which are seen as black columnar basalt South of the Fayum, and brown massive basalt at Khankah, North of Cairo. 2. The Nile Valley: The gouging out of the Nile valley by rainfall must have continued when the land was 300 ft. higher than at present, as is shown by the immense fails of strata into collapsed caverns which were far below the present Nile level. Then, after the excavations of the valley, it has been submerged to 500 ft. lower than at present, as is shown by the rolled gravel beds and deposits on the tops of the water-worn cliffs, and the filling up of the tributary valleys--as at Thebes--by deep deposits, through which the subsequent stream beds have been scoured out. The land still had the Nile source 30 ft. higher than it is now within the human period, as seen by the worked flints in high gravel beds above the Nile plain. The distribution of land and water was very different from that at present when the land was only 100 ft. lower than now. Such a change would make the valley an estuary up to South of the Fayum, would submerge much of the western desert, and would unite the Gulf of Suez and the Mediterranean. Such differences would entirely alter the conditions of animal life by sea and land. And as the human period began when the water was considerably higher, the conditions of climate and of life must have greatly changed in the earlier ages of man's occupation. Full Article

Egypt in Smith's Bible Dictionary

Egypt (land of the Copts), a country occupying the northeast angle of Africa. Its limits appear always to have been very nearly the same. It is bounded on the north by the Mediterranean Sea, on the east by Palestine, Arabia and the Red Sea, on the south by Nubia, and on the west by the Great Desert. It is divided into upper Egypt --the valley of the Nile --and lower Egypt, the plain of the Delta, from the Greek letter; it is formed by the branching mouths of the Nile, and the Mediterranean Sea. The portions made fertile by the Nile comprise about 9582 square geographical miles, of which only about 5600 is under cultivation. --Encyc. Brit. The Delta extends about 200 miles along the Mediterranean, and Egypt is 520 miles long from north to south from the sea to the First Cataract. NAMES. --The common name of Egypt in the Bible is "Mizraim." It is in the dual number, which indicates the two natural divisions of the country into an upper and a lower region. The Arabic name of Egypt --Mizr-- signifies "red mud." Egypt is also called in the Bible "the land of Ham," Ps 105:23,27 comp. Psal 78:51 --a name most probably referring to Ham the son of Noah --and "Rahab," the proud or insolent: these appear to be poetical appellations. The common ancient Egyptian name of the country is written in hieroglyphics Kem, which was perhaps pronounced Chem. This name signifies, in the ancient language and in Coptic, "black," on account of the blackness of its alluvial soil. We may reasonably conjecture that Kem is the Egyptian equivalent of Ham. GENERAL APPEARANCE, CLIMATE, ETC. --The general appearance of the country cannot have greatly changed since the days of Moses. The whole country is remarkable for its extreme fertility, which especially strikes the beholder when the rich green of the fields is contrasted with the utterly bare, yellow mountains or the sand-strewn rocky desert on either side. The climate is equable and healthy. Rain is not very unfrequent on the northern coast, but inland is very rare. Cultivation nowhere depends upon it. The inundation of the Nile fertilizes and sustains the country, and makes the river its chief blessing. The Nile was on this account anciently worshipped. The rise begins in Egypt about the summer solstice, and the inundation commences about two months later. The greatest height is attained about or somewhat after the autumnal equinox. The inundation lasts about three months. The atmosphere, except on the seacoast, is remarkably dry and clear, which accounts for the so perfect preservation of the monuments, with their pictures and inscriptions. The heat is extreme during a large part of the year. The winters are mild, --from 50 Full Article

The Exodus in Smith's Bible Dictionary

Exodus, The of the Israelites from Egypt. the common chronology places the date of this event at B.C. 1491, deriving it in this way: --In 1Ki 6:1 it is stated that the building of the temple, in the forth year of Solomon, was in the 480th year after the exodus. The fourth year of Solomon was bout B.C. 1012. Add the 480 years (leaving off one years because neither the fourth nor the 480th was a full year), and we have B.C. 1491 as the date of the exodus. This is probably very nearly correct; but many Egyptologists place it at 215 years later, --about B.C. 1300. Which date is right depends chiefly on the interpretation of the Scripture period of 430 years, as denoting the duration of the bondage of the Israelites. The period of bondage given in Ge 15:13,14; Ex 12:40,41 and Gala 3:17 as 430 years has been interpreted to cover different periods. The common chronology makes it extend from the call of Abraham to the exodus, one-half of it, or 215 years, being spend in Egypt. Others make it to cover only the period of bondage spend in Egypt. St. Paul says in Ga 3:17 that from the covenant with (or call of) Abraham the giving of the law (less than a year after the exodus) was 430 years. But in Ge 15:13,14 it is said that they should be strangers in a strange land,a nd be afflicted 400 years, and nearly the same is said in Ex 12:40 But, in very truth, the children of Israel were strangers in a strange land from the time that Abraham left his home for the promised land, and during that whole period of 430 years to the exodus they were nowhere rulers in the land. So in Ex 12:40 it is said that the sojourning of the children of Israel who dwelt in Egypt was 430 years. But it does not say that the sojourning was all in Egypt, but this people who lived in Egypt had been sojourners for 430 years. (a) This is the simplest way of making the various statements harmonize. (b) The chief difficulty is the great increase of the children of Israel from 70 to 2,000,000 in so short a period as 215 years, while it is very easy in 430 years. But under the circumstances it is perfectly possible in the shorter period. See on ver. 7 (c) If we make the 430 years to include only the bondage in Egypt, we must place the whole chronology of Abraham and the immigration of Jacob into Egypt some 200 years earlier, or else the exodus 200 years later, or B.C. 1300. in either case special difficulty is brought into the reckoning. (d) Therefore, on the whole, it is well to retain the common chronology, though the later dates may yet prove to be correct. The history of the exodus itself commences with the close of that of the ten plagues. [PLAGUES, THE TEN] In the night in which, at midnight, the firstborn were slain, Ex 12:29 Pharaoh urged the departure of the Israelites. vs. Ex 12:31,32 They at once set forth from Rameses, vs. Ex 12:37,39 apparently during the night v. Ex 12:42 but towards morning on the 15th day of the first month. Nu 33:3 They made three journeys, and encamped by the Red Sea. Here Pharaoh overtook them, and the great miracle occurred by which they were saved, while the pursuer and his army were destroyed. [RED SEA, PASSAGE OF] Full Article

The Red Sea in Smith's Bible Dictionary

The Passage of the Red Sea It is necessary to endeavor to ascertain the route of the Israelites before we can attempt to discover where they crossed the sea. The point from which they started was Rameses, a place certain in the land of Goshen, which we identified with the Wadi-t-Tumeylat. They encamped at Succoth. At the end of the second day's journey the camping place was at Etham, "in the edge of the wilderness." Ex 13:20; Nu 33:6 Here the Wadi-t-Tumeylat was probably left, as it is cultivable and terminates in the desert. At the end of the third day's march for each camping place seems to mark the close of a day's journey the Israelites encamped by the sea, place of this last encampment and that of the passage would be not very far from the Persepolitan monument at Pihahiroth. It appears that Migdol was behind Pi-hahiroth and on the other hand Baalzephon and the sea. From Pi-hahiroth the Israelites crossed the sea. This was not far from halfway between the Bitter Lakes and the Gulf of Suez, where now it is dry land. The Muslims suppose Memphis to have been the city at which the Pharaoh of the exodus resided before that event occurred. From opposite Memphis a broad valley leads to the Red Sea. It is in part called the Wadi-t-Teeh, or "Valley of the Wandering." From it the traveller reaches the sea beneath the lofty Gebel-et-Takah, which rises in the north and shuts off all escape in that direction excepting by a narrow way along the seashore, which Pharaoh might have occupied. The sea here is broad and deep, as the narrative is generally held to imply. All the local features seem suited for a great event. The only points bearing on geography in the account of this event are that the sea was divided by an east wind. Whence we may reasonably infer that it was crossed from west to east, and that the whole Egyptian army perished, which shows that it must have been some miles broad. Full Article

The Bible Mentions "Egypt" Many Times

Exodus 34:18 - The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt . Genesis 46:7 - His sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt . Jeremiah 2:18 - And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt , to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river? Jeremiah 44:14 - So that none of the remnant of Judah, which are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah, to the which they have a desire to return to dwell there: for none shall return but such as shall escape. Isaiah 19:22 - And the LORD shall smite Egypt : he shall smite and heal [it]: and they shall return [even] to the LORD, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them. 2 Kings 17:4 - And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt , and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as [he had done] year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison. Exodus 23:15 - Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt : and none shall appear before me empty:) Exodus 10:13 - And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt , and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all [that] night; [and] when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. Exodus 9:25 - And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that [was] in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field. Jeremiah 44:30 - Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give Pharaohhophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life. Ezekiel 20:5 - And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt , when I lifted up mine hand unto them, saying, I [am] the LORD your God; Numbers 11:18 - And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for [it was] well with us in Egypt : therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and ye shall eat. 1 Kings 8:16 - Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt , I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that my name might be therein; but I chose David to be over my people Israel. Joshua 5:6 - For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people [that were] men of war, which came out of Egypt , were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey. Jeremiah 43:11 - And when he cometh, he shall smite the land of Egypt , [and deliver] such [as are] for death to death; and such [as are] for captivity to captivity; and such [as are] for the sword to the sword. Genesis 47:6 - The land of Egypt [is] before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest [any] men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle. Ezekiel 29:12 - And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries [that are] desolate, and her cities among the cities [that are] laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egypt ians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. Exodus 12:42 - It [is] a night to be much observed unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt : this [is] that night of the LORD to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations. Deuteronomy 16:1 - Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. Deuteronomy 17:16 - But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt , to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. Joshua 24:4 - And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt . Judges 6:8 - That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt , and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; Genesis 41:36 - And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt ; that the land perish not through the famine. Deuteronomy 13:5 - And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn [you] away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt , and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. Joshua 24:32 - And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt , buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. Joshua 5:5 - Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people [that were] born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt , [them] they had not circumcised. Genesis 45:23 - And to his father he sent after this [manner]; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt , and ten she asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way. Exodus 8:17 - And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt . Ezekiel 30:6 - Thus saith the LORD; They also that uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord GOD. 2 Chronicles 6:5 - Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that my name might be there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people Israel:

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Searching for biblical mt. sinai.

The case for Har Karkom in the Negev and the case for Saudi Arabia

Where is Mt. Sinai? At a 2013 colloquium in Israel, an international group of scholars debated the question. At the center of the debate was Har Karkom, a mountain ridge in the Negev Desert that archaeologist Emmanuel Anati believes to be the Biblical Mt. Sinai. Or could Mt. Sinai be in Saudia Arabia, where Moses was thought to have fled after escaping Egypt? In “ Where Is Mount Sinai? The Case for Har Karkom and the Case for Saudia Arabia ” in the March/April 2014 issue of BAR , Hershel Shanks examines these candidates.

Emmanuel Anati stands before Har Karkom, a ridge in the Negev that he believes inspired the Biblical Mt. Sinai. Photo: Hershel Shanks.

Biblical Mt. Sinai has never been identified archaeologically with any scholarly consensus, though several sites have been considered. According to Shanks, none of the scholars who attended the colloquium in Israel discussed the traditional location of Mt. Sinai—the mountain called Jebel Musa looming over St. Catherine’s Monastery in the southern Sinai. Jebel Musa’s identification as Mt. Sinai developed in the early Byzantine period with the spread of monasticism into the Sinai desert. Curiously, no Exodus-related archaeological remains have been recovered in the Sinai Peninsula—through which the Israelites must have traveled out of Egypt—dating to the traditional period of the Exodus, around 1200 B.C.E.

FREE ebook: Ancient Israel in Egypt and the Exodus .

Having conducted more than 30 years of archaeological work on and around Har Karkom—a 2,700-foot ridge in the southern Negev—Emmanuel Anati is convinced that he has found the Biblical Mt. Sinai. At Har Karkom, Anati discovered 1,300 archaeological sites, 40,000 rock engravings and more than 120 rock cult sites. Between 4300 and 2000 B.C.E.—what Anati calls the Bronze Age Complex—Har Karkom was a religious center where the moon-god Sin was apparently worshiped. Rock art depicting ibexes, animals with crescent-shaped horns that may have symbolized the moon, are abundant. Even more intriguing, Anati believes Biblical motifs are represented on some of the rock art.

An abundance of rock art can be found at Har Karkom, including some that Emmanuel Anati interprets as Biblical motifs. A rectangular grid divided into ten spaces suggests the Ten Commandments Moses received on Mt. Sinai. In other rock art pictured in BAR , vertical and curvy lines may represent a staff and snake, recalling the story of Moses’ brother Aaron turning a staff into a snake as he stood before Pharaoh. Photo: Emmanuel Anati.

It was Har Karkom, Anati suggests, that the Biblical authors envisioned when they referred to Mt. Sinai. One major obstacle to this conclusion, Shanks notes, is that the religious center at Har Karkom flourished at least 800 years earlier than the traditional date of the Exodus. Emmanuel Anati prososes that the Exodus should be re-dated to the late third or early second millennium—if the Exodus, as described in the Bible, occurred at all. Anati believes the Biblical authors had been inspired by Har Karkom regardless.

Watch Emmanuel Anati’s lecture “ Har Karkom: Archaeological Discoveries on a Holy Mountain in the Desert of Exodus ” and other full-length lectures from the Out of Egypt: Israel’s Exodus Between Text and Memory, History and Imagination conference, which addressed some of the most challenging issues in Exodus scholarship. The international conference was hosted by Calit2’s Qualcomm Institute at UC San Diego in San Diego, CA.

Shanks proposes that we reexamine another theory: the “Midianite Hypothesis.” According to this theory, Mt. Sinai was not in the Sinai Peninsula, but in Midian in northwest Saudi Arabia. In the Bible, Moses fled to Midian after escaping Egypt (Exodus 2:15). While tending to the flock of Jethro, the priest of Midian who became Moses’ father-in-law , Moses came to “the Mountain of God” (Mt. Horeb–one of two names for the Mountain of God in the Bible) and there received God’s call to take the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 3:1,17). In contrast to the archaeologically empty Sinai during the traditional date of the Exodus, the region of northwest Saudi Arabia was thriving in the 12th century—as attested by the proliferation of Midianite ware, pottery associated with the Midianites. This distinctive painted ware had even made its way north to an Egyptian temple at Timna in the Negev Desert—but not into the Sinai.

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The location of Mt. Sinai continues to be debated in scholarship. Subscribers: Read more about the evidence at Har Karkom and in Saudi Arabia in the full article “ Where Is Mount Sinai? The Case for Har Karkom and the Case for Saudia Arabia ” by Hershel Shanks as it appeared in the March/April 2014 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review .

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This Bible History Daily feature was originally published on February 14 2014.

All-Access members, read more in the BAS Library :

Mt. Sinai—in Arabia?

Has Mt. Sinai Been Found?

Where Is Mount Sinai? The Case for Har Karkom and the Case for Saudi Arabia

What Really Happened at Mount Sinai? Four biblical answers to one question

Pharaoh’s Brick Makers

By: Marek Dospěl

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

By: BAS Staff

Painting 'He turned their waters into blood,' by the 19th-century American folk painter Erastus Salisbury Field (1805–1900). Photo: National Gallery of Art, Washington/Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch

52 Responses

Martin: If the Bible intimates that the Israeli host were already away from capture by the Pharaoh’s hosts in pursuit of them at the time of the first ascension up the mountain by Moses, then the place where they sojourned or languished was East of the Nile. Whether the modern boundaries are those identifiable by scholars as having been those known to the chroniclers and later corroborated by scientists, the biblical account of the travelling host out of Egypt suggests the absence of any more threat by the Egyptian pharaoh! The Israeli host included the live stock and the humans, both subject to the will of God! Forty years in the wilderness would have necessitated the means for sustenance of both. How else but by the Will of Almighty God could such provision be supplied? I rest my case, but remain open to “the truth”! M November 17, 2018, 0045, 24-hour clock.

I believe what I just read above. God have mercy on those who don’t trust and believe in u Lord God. Especially the Eaties who do not believe in u. Have mercy on them Lord.

Bill, Ron Wyatt was a total fraud. Please do your homework. Your making us Christians look stupid by falling for such schticks.

And I butchered the English language in my first post. I meant “you’re.”

Seems pretty likely to me that the “original” Mt. Sinai was an erupting volcano. Burning bush, covered in smoke and fire, Israelites marching toward it following a pillar of smoke/fire in the distance, etc.

I think Ron Wyatt was right when he found it in Saudi Arabia in 1979. He said it was Jabal al Lawz. He found the altar Moses built to worship God, the one Aaron built for the golden calf worship, the rock Moses split to bring forth water, the 12 pillars Moses built for each tribe, the boundaries Moses built to keep the masses away from the mountain. There is enough grasses there to feed animals and water, it all makes sense. Also on the mountain was the cave of Elijah. The top of the mountain is all black, while the bottom is not as if blackened by fire. You split the rocks and they are only black on the outside, not inside.

#3 Jonathon you are correct. More people need to see their evidence….once you see the barb wire, and the warning signs it pretty much down hill from there.

Exodus 19:1,2: In the third month of the Going Out, Of the sons of Israel From the land of Egypt – In this very day – They Have Come, Into the Wilderness of Sin. And they Journey, From Rephidim – And they Enter, the Wilderness of Sin – And they Encamp, In the Wilderness; And Israel Encampeth – There, Before the Mount.

This, is on the 60th day after Crossing Over of the muddy branch of the Nile in the Delta – Which surrounds – With its splitting into the four main threads of the time – What the confederation of oppressed Canaanites Tribes viewed to be, the northern part of the land of Cush. The land symbolized by the bee, and by the cow, and by the serpent…

Immediately after Passover, is when the windy season generally begins, in Egypt.

I always look to the Akkadian, for the nuances of Hebrew word meanings…

For Rephidim?

Rapasu(m), in Akkadian, refers to wideness; expanses. It also refers to beating; threshing. Also, to become broad; to expand; be wide; great; broad; extended.

Rappasu, is very wide.

Rapadu(m), is to roam, to wander – Especially in the outback – The desert.

Don’t you see?

Yes, Rephidim, is a place. For it is the plural, of the wide, expansive places –

Which are the Desert of the Moon, and the deserts and mountains beyond it.

Just saying…

60 days past the Sea of Reeds, the wandering in the desert, takes you to where?

Midian, is a journey of about 425 miles, using the easiest route out of the Delta and along the coast toward the Dead Sea, then southward, into Midian. As sheep graze at about 5.6 miles per day?

This would be about 76 days, if the sheep were left to just graze along…

But if you were cutting across the desert, below the Promised Land, west of the Negev?

You would shorten this journey, to about 345 miles – About 62 days, at 5.6 miles per day.

Anyway – It all works, for me…

Make of it, what you will.

If you really want to know where Mt Sinai is just google “Dr Kim and Jebel lawz.Scroll down and watch the video. You will be amazed!!!

So amazing to me.. how quickly people will chose to not believe the Bible.. Simply because they “don’t have enough evidence..”? If the first verse is true, then how come so many have such a hard time with the rest of it? Lol, and as far as “evidence”, there is so much, for so much of what has been written.. time would fail me here.. Wow it’s a complete miracle for instance, that anyone here, evem knows a Jewish person.. The Bible is so amazing awesome 🙂 I love it how it’s always showing itself correct in all ways.. over all decades.. it will only continue to do so 🙂

Not being an archaeologist this may seem ignorant. I disagree with the man that said that Mount Sinai was in Arabia just because Paul said so. Remember that when he wrote this, Arabia did indeed lay claim to the Sinai….until 106 AD which was during Paul’s life time. Median on very old biblical maps did lay claim to the eastern areas of the Sinai from Ezion Geber to the southern tip of the Sinai…an area maybe 30-45 miles wide. Personally I will go with Jebel el Tarif…it is the right distance from the starting point, and the right number of days to get to Kadesh.

The huge promotion of Ron Wyatt as a legitimate archaeologist in the comment sections of this website is great proof of how easily non-discerning Christians are fooled by cons.

Follow the highway from Magna to AlBad & the next intersection up to the left you will see a symbol to the left in Araibic & if you click on that I believe those are the Midian tombs. It used to say it in English but not now. But there are over 32 pictures. If anyone can translate they can confirm if it says Midian Tombs in Araibic script.

Look for Magna and the Well of Moses in Saudia Arabia to the north east is AlBad and somewhere near there are the Midian Tombs and to the right you can see the black topped mountains and where it looks like a great deal of water flowed once.

The evidence for the mountain in Midian is overwhelming if you do a Google map search. Look for where there are Midian graves and Well of Moses where Palm trees grow. This represents where the people complained about the water being bitter. In the book Mountain of God, there are pictures showing a mountain not far off with a cave (Elijah went into a cave on the Mountain if Moses) & a rock that looks split and evidence of water having flowed. This mountain is called Moses’ mountain by the locals. I will come back with name of towns close by so you can find it yourself in Saudia Arabia through Google Map 🙂

Well said Cheri.

It amazes me that so many Supposed learned people, dismiss men like Wyatt, who happened to have FOUND MT. Sinai , and focus instead on his lack of pedigree! When your argument is weak discredit a mans charactor? MWhat ever the reason, you find humility, self funding and using Scripture as completely accurate distasteful. It doesn’t, however, change the fact that Mr Wyatt did find Mt Sinai, along with Noah’s ark, and quite a few other sites that others “in the field” are still denying exist or are still hunting for.

Since most archeologist who hold a degree set out with the predisposed thinking of the Bible being crap, I for one find it refreshing to have someone go against the mainstream and think outside their BOX! This man nor his family have gained anything in their search except the satisfaction of knowing Yahovah’s Word is accurate and elitist men have been made foolish by the humble. ( paraphrase of Proverbs). Almost 20 years after his death the “REAL” archeologists are just now figuring out what this man knew to be true. Give men, any man the credit his lifes work is due. Don’t begrudge another his reward because you failed at his task. Blessing and peace.

A pharaoh of Egypt went to Mount Sinai and engraved his named there! In December 2013, two years after our book EXODUS was first published, an inscription made by a King of Egypt was found at Mount Gharib, which I have proposed as Mount Sinai. And more than a hundred years ago, a hieroglyphic inscription (stele) was found in the East Nile Delta, also made by a king of Egypt, describing an expedition to a location the scholars have hotly debated. But the location is now confirmed, for the same king made both inscriptions, and he found something there that only Israel could have left. This stele coupled with the inscription of the king of Egypt at Mount Gharib takes it out of the area of theory, plausibility, and circumstantial, and puts it in the arena of evidence.

Exodus by G. M. Matheny, now available on Amazon.com, Ebooks (Kindle etc.) are not available until Oct. 12th.

Saudi arabia is not 3 days from egypt through the land of the philistines. Therefore it must be in israel. The real question is where is egypt. The answer is jerusalem. 3 days north is mount meron.

And one more thing to the responder named ralph:

All that I can say is…Wow! The sixties were good to you!

I am astonished that people are still arguing about where Mt. Sinai is!!! Response # 3 and 4 are absolutely correct. Only someone with an agenda or an ignorant fool would try to deny the OVERWHELMING evidence that is to be seen in Saudi Arabia at Jabel el Lawz. This Mt. has been explored and photographed by at least three different expeditions as are mentioned previously in the above stated responses. So for the responder that said that there isn’t, “a shred of evidence” for the claims of Ron Wyatt, you are either a fool or a liar…or both!

Ron Wyatts claims are well documented by Bob Cornuke, Jim & Penny Caldwell, and Dr.David Kim. It angers me that people call Ron Wyatt a con man. Inspite of all of the evidence that he and others have brought forth they act like it is invalid because it hasn’t been “officially” documented and therefore it doesn’t count somehow and is not real. Hogwash!

It’s like, if I look out my window and see my next door neighbor’s house on fire and I call to report it, the operator telling me that because I am not a qualified fire marshall then I am not qualified to make such a report and that the house isn’t really on fire until a “qualified” fire marshall investigates to determine if indeed my neighbors house is on fire.

Gimme a break! Anyone with half a brain and a little common sense can see that the house is ablaze! And anyone who takes an honest look at Jabel el Lawz and compares it to what is described in God’s Word can plainly see that it fits the description to a tee.

Ron Wyatt was a sincere, humble, and honest man. He was interviewed on his deathbed and stuck to his story and never made even enough to cover his expenses for his work off of any of his books or dvd’s. It is easy to see that his motivation was NOT fame and fortune. It seems to me that it is just like the devil to try to discredit and invalidate Mr. Wyatt for the very reason that everything that he did say that he discovered is the truth.

Shame on anyone who speaks against this man’s reputation without doing some honest investigation because if you do you will see that when Mr. Wyatt said he found Mt. Sinai, or Noah’s Ark, or the Red Sea Crossing, or the Ark of the Covenant, etc., then that is what he found! And if any of it turns out to be incorrect ultimately it will not be because of dishonesty. It seems perfectly fitting that God would use such a lowly and humble man to find these things at a time that seems to be leading up to the fulfillment of God’s plan here on this earth.

First STOP with the e at the end…there IS NO ERA and while i am at it you egg heads can also STOP with the miscalculated calendar. WE ARE IN THE 20th CENTURY NOT THE 21st! Jesus walked the earth 33 years not a hundred.

The Jabal Haylan volcano http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/haylan.html is the only volcano in that area known to have been active around 1200…800 BC. The only problem is that it is literally far fetched: The distance is about 1850 km (1200 miles) from Eilat. There are some interesting aspects: According to Exodus 19:1 it took 60 days for Israel from Egypt to Sinai: that might be possible for the front group of that caravan. (I assume that the exodus population was far less than 600,000 men others – probably they did not use our 10-based numerical system for census. Maybe total max 30,000 people as they camped near Jabal Haylan?) And for Elijah it took 40 days to get there in 1 Kings 19:8, but he was a man in a good shape (1 Kings 18:42-46). Jabal Haylan is near Sana’a (=Sinai??). The town of Maʾrib is near, it was capital of the Sabaean kingdom from the early iron age onwards and has some Jewish and Ethiopian connections.The Maʾrib dam is near it and the first dam was built in the Middle Bronze age. Wadi Ḥarīb is near, and it sounds like Horeb. This area might be worth of some preliminary surface survey. I just wonder could archaeologists find remains of an encampment or settlement there that existed around 1200 BC and had more than average of Egyptian items? Also the eruption time of that Volcano should be double-checked with the modern methods.

Mount sinai has to be in israel. Since it is written that “the israelites didnt travel to the way of the philistines although it was closer.” Therefore it has to be past the philistines north. Perhaps the biggest miss understanding is the location of egypt. In hebrew it is written that mitzraim (egypt) had several sons. So when we are talking about the nation of egypy this includes the philistines. They israelites dwelt in egypt 430 years. Isaac was born in grar of the philistines since his time the israelittes dwell in egypt. So i beleive egypt is one of the other brothers of the philistines who dwelt near by. In jerusalem. 3 days journey from philistines grar to mount moriah. Moses says that he will travel 3 days journey to worship god. I beleive moriAh and sinai are the same.. another obvious point is the name sinai corrresponds to one of the sons of canaan. I beleive sinai and moriah and bet el are all the same mountain in israel. The garden of eden where gos choose to establish his name. Mount meron northern israel is the only mountain that can claim two of jacobs pillars that he built in bet el. Rachel was burried after they left bet el. Nahal amud is the pillar of rachel. The gilead happens to also be called gilgal rephaim or rujm el hiri and matches the description of being west of the gilgal in deuteronomy 11.

When Moses ran out of Egypt after killing the guard he fled into Midian .For the land of Egypt included the Sinai .So when the Israelite came out of Egypt they crossed the red sea into Midian were Moses got married and worked the land ,as he knew the land well there.

You are all wrong. Ex 15. Now the lord led them not by way of the philistines although it was closer. If they were coming from egypt to sinai or even saudi arabia neither way is closer if they passed the philistines who dwelt in by the western sea. Therefore mount sinai must be north of philistines. In otherwords in canaan. This is the riddle nobody can figure out. Mount meron is the real mount sinai. Arizukertorah.wordpress.com

[…] is Mt. Sinai? The investigation and study of Har Karkom has been the life work of Emmanuel Anati, an 83-year-old Italian archaeologist who has been documenting finds at the site for more than 30 […]

If we read the Bible, that is if we read the Bible, then Mt. Sinai has to be in the Land of Midian. Where is the land of Midian? Check your map, it is in Arabia. As for Mt. Karkom, yes! I believe the Hebrews were there 100% and that it is the true Kadesh Barnea.

Thanks for listening! vom

In 1985 Ron Wyatt and Dave Fasold were searching for Mt Sinai in Arabia. They thought Jabel el Lawz was the biblical Mt Sniai because the high peak of the mountain range was distinctly black. It looked as if it was solid coal . The very top portion of the entire range had been evenly scorched.. EX 19:18 And Mt Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire.. At the foot of the mountain Ron Wyatt found columns similar to the large Egyptian columns in Egypt. These were markers for a fence or border. Each was 18 ft. diameter . In Ex 19 ti tells of how a border should be put to be sure no one crossed to step on the mountain or they would die. The columns were buried only the tops showed . The Saudis do not want tourists nosing around so they could only dig around one to see what it was.. They told a Soudi Archeologist about some rock drawings of Egyption cattle.. Right after that the Saudis built a guard station and put a fence all around so no one would explore. The Saudi Bedowins call it the mountain of Moses.

The Israelites crossed the Red sea and went into Midiam .

-No, they did not.

It is not really a mystery that Mt. Sinai is in Arabia.

-‘Cause borders never change, right, John? @ralph -You may be right about the horned altar. You are incorrect about Sinai.

Har Karkom is NOT a volcano as the Bible expressly indicates.

-Nobody in all Iron Age Judah ever saw a volcanic eruption. Sometimes, a thunderstorm is just a thunderstorm.

-E. Harding, author of the Against Jebel al-Lawz site.

Like my own, reports of God’s death have been greatly exaggerated.

I heard that God was killed in tribal warfare.

The Exodus of the Children of Israel is my favorite Bible story. The story is so wonderful and I truly want to believe it occurred just as it is described in the scriptures. Yet no matter how much we search for its certain archaeological evidence it alludes us. What then are we left to conclude? Does no archaeological evidence exist? If so, then why? Was it simply because the footsteps of a pastoral people quickly disappeared in the harsh environment? Or perhaps evidence still exists that is yet to be discovered. And if evidence does still exist what could it be to substantiate such a great story to everyone’s satisfaction? My take is that after all this time if we cannot even agree on where Mt. Sinai is then we may never be able to prove that the Exodus as described even occurred at all. But I’m hoping for the miracle discovery because I want to believe. Personally I still believe in the traditional location at Jebel Musa.

[…] Searching for Biblical Mt. Sinai: The case for Har Karkom in the Negev and the case for Saudi Arabia… […]

P.S. That image of rock art is actually a Judaic horned altar. It is blocks of stone making a cubic shape, surmounted by the standard ‘horns’ that appear on the corner of all Judaic altars.

For Jonathan, The Old Midianite Hypothesis is not new, and such scholars as George Mendenhall, Larry Stager, P. Kyle McCarter Jr., and the late Frank Moore Cross Jr., have long argued for it being the most reasonable view.

See H. St. John Philby, The Land of Midian (London: Ernst Benn, 1957). M. C. A. MacDonald, “Along the Red Sea,” in Jack Sasson, et al., eds., Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, 4 vols. (N.Y.: Scribner’s Sons, 1995), 2:1350.

The solar boar of Nuah (ie: Nu) at Mt Sinai (ie: the Great Pyramid). http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jzOLtCnfZ2w/SwXUxUr0xPI/AAAAAAAAA9c/mtlMag_c-Is/s1600/Giza+-+Solar+Boat.jpg

The dove as an image of the flying Sun-disk. The Phoenix. St Peter’s Rome. http://puzzles-games.eu/data/media/30/Alabaster-Window-with-Dove-in-Cathedra-Petri-Basilica-Saint-Peter-Vatican-Rome-Italy-Close-up.jpg

. As to Noah’s Ark, that too is at the Great Pyramid.

Beside the Great Pyramid are the two great Solar Boats that rode the celestial waters of Nu (ie, Nuah). There were two boats, one for the day, one for the night (in pairs, you see). In Egyptian mythology, these boats searched for the Primaeval Mound that appeared in the chaotic waters of Nu. And the mound broke open to reveal the Phoenix, the flying Sun-disk, just as Christian iconography portrays the dove as being an image of the Sun.

. The final proof that Mt Sinai is the Great Pyramid, is the story of the wanderings for 40 years. This is not possible in reality, because 2 million people cannot live in the Sinai for 40 years. So what does this reference to 40 mean?

Actually, it is a reference to the Great Pyramid, because the GP is a 40 times copy if Pi.

If you had been initiated into the mysteries of the GP, you attached the number 40 to your story – 40 days in the wilderness, 40 years in the wilderness, or 40 years reign length. etc: etc:

The Torah account is all true, but not in the manner you expect. Ralph

. There is only one mountain that conforms to all the descriptions of Mt Sinai.

Mt Sinai was said to be: A sacred mountain of god. The tallest mountain, but small enough to be cordoned off, sharp and difficult to climb, on the edge of a desert, and with a cavern inside it. Finally, it had a black pavement at the base, that looked like the night sky. So what mountain conforms to all these points? Easy.

The Great Pyramid. And the black pavement is the black basalt pavement at the base of the GP.

See Tempest & Exodus. Ralph.

I received newsletters from Ron Wyatt from when he first started looking for Biblical things. He found chariot wheels with rims of gold and they can be found in a museum in Egypt.. He always told the Archeology people from each country what he found. Noahs Ark was found in Turkey and the Turkish Govt . was going to make it a tourist place but because of wars could not do it..Archeologists in Turkey know where it is and they tested the place..

A not-so-gullible Christian responds: Wyatt should not be considered an archaeologist. He’s a showman, and a rather poor one at that. To bring the discussion back to archaeology, we need to understand there are two approaches. One is a traditional approach that will allow for the miraculous provision of many Israelites living and traveling through a place with very few sources of water or food. This would put Jebel Musa back on the map. The other approach insists the myth of Mt. Sinai is either complete fabrication or at least something heavily exaggerated. This idea demands a naturalistic approach: the Israelites could have survived in NW Arabia easily enough, if they could get there. But before settling on one approach or the other, let’s stop pretending the argument can be settled by dismissing miraculous accounts as poo, just because we think we’ve seen it all. What lies at the heart of locating Mt. Sinai isn’t just scientific curiosity, after all.

An appeal to Ron Wyatt is counter-productive and this fellow claimed to have discovered, not only Mount Sinai, but also Noah’s ark, the ark of the covenant, the blood of Jesus, and Sodom and Gomorrah. Yet he never had a single shred of proof for any of his claims. What he did do is to sell a bunch of DVD’s to gullible Christians.

As to the Saudi Arabian proposals for a location to Mount Sinai, none of them explain why the Israelites subsequently attempted to enter the Promised Land via Kadesh Barnea and only then had to circumnavigate around the land of the Edomites in order to approach the land of Moab.

The Wilderness of Sinai The harsh conditions found in the Sinai Peninsula are vividly portrayed in the Bible account of Israel’s wanderings. (Deuteronomy 8:15) So, could a whole nation assemble at the base of Mount Sinai to receive God’s Law and later withdraw to stand “at a distance”? (Exodus 19:1, 2; 20:18) Is there a place large enough to allow for such movement of a crowd estimated to have numbered three million? A 19th-century traveler and Bible scholar, Arthur Stanley, visited the area of Mount Sinai and described the sight that confronted his party on climbing Ras Safsafa: “The effect on us, as on every one who has seen and described it, was instantaneous. . . . Here was the deep wide yellow plain sweeping down to the very base of the cliffs . . . Considering the almost total absence of such conjunctions of plain and mountain in this region, it is a really important evidence to the truth of the narrative, that one such conjunction can be found, and that within the neighbourhood of the traditional Sinai.” http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/mp/r1/lp-e/Rbi8/1984/0 http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1001061223?q=Mt . Sinai&p=par http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200275350

Har Karkom is NOT a volcano as the Bible expressly indicates. Neither is it in Midian where Moses began his journey and ended it with the Israelites. Just because a Roman women thought it might be in Sinai “scholars” have simply accepted her choice as fact. The north-western arm of the Red Sea is a – if not THE – Reed Sea. Why scholars should ever have thought (if they troubled to do that at all) that the Israelites in flight would have stayed in Sinai within Egyptian territory rather than go to a country – Midian – OUTSIDE Egyptian control. It was here that Moses worked and lived, had his family and connections and more importantly, knew the territory.

The description of Mt Sinai in Exodus is similar to ancient descriptions of erupting volcanos. We should be looking for an ancient volcano.

Read up on Ron Wyatt’s web site, wyattarchaeologicalresearch.com. He was there in 1984 and claims that in Saudi Arabia at Jabel el Lawz (the mountain of God) that all the things described in Exodus are found there. I have read both accounts ,the one in Negrev desert and I think Ron Wyatt was correct.

[…] Searching for Biblical Mt Sinai: Where is Mt. Sinai? At a recent colloquium in Israel, an international group of scholars debated […]

Saudi Arabia location has already been explored by Ron Wyatt, Bob Cornuke, and Jim & Penny Caldwell through the past 50 years. Why are the bigger organizations just now getting to it? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1VKIyNSbUk&feature=share&list=PLjSdjA_31Wszi2MTlhW-MMqVmCIfY9a6u&index=1

In the book of Exodus it says that Moses fled to Midian ( which is in Arabia ) .The Israelites crossed the Red sea and went into Midiam . Moses new the land for he spent allot of time there before he returned to Egypt . (Exodus 2:11 ) .

It is not really a mystery that Mt. Sinai is in Arabia. Paul told us that in Galatians 4:25 — “Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.” (NIV)

Plus, as mentioned in the article above, Moses fled to Midian. Every Bible map I’ve ever seen places Midian in Arabia.

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What Really Happened at Mount Sinai?

Four biblical answers to one question.

By Baruch J. Schwartz

Booming thunder and bolts of lightning accompany Moses as he descends the cloud-covered Mount Sinai, bearing aloft two heavy tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments.

Most people know this cinematic version—à la Cecil B. de Mille—of the giving of the law on Sinai. The biblical version, however, is much less familiar, even to many devoted readers of the Hebrew Bible—perhaps because it is much more difficult to follow.

The full story—what I call the canonical account—of the giving of the law begins with the Israelites’ arrival at the foot of Mount Sinai ( Exodus 19 ). Whereas the preceding 68 chapters, from Genesis 1 to Exodus 18 , have covered thousands of years, here the pace suddenly slows. Throughout the next 119 chapters (to Deuteronomy 34 ), only 40 years will elapse.

The Israelites have been led from Egypt to Mount Sinai by God himself, who appeared by day as a cloud and by night as a fire ( Exodus 13:21 ). At God’s summons, Moses ascends the mountain, where he is instructed to offer a covenant to the Israelite people. In light of all he has done for them, God invites the Israelites to be his treasured people forevermore, as long as they agree to obey his commands. The Israelites immediately accept the offer, though they have not yet heard the terms ( Exodus 19:1–8 ). Before presenting these, however, God informs Moses that he plans to hold a special audience with Moses, during which the people will be asked to “listen in” to ensure their belief in Moses’ prophecy.

After some preparation, a sound-and-light presentation takes place. From the cloud-covered mountain, amidst thunder and lightning, the people overhear the voice of God saying the “Ten Words,” or Decalogue, to Moses. 1 The Ten Words are not the laws themselves, but rather a sampling of divine pronouncements, offered so that the people may hear the divine voice speak to a prophet ( Exodus 19:9–20:14 ). 2

Stricken with terror, the people beg Moses to excuse them from listening any further to God’s voice and pledge to obey whatever Moses relays to them in God’s name. Moses agrees, assuring them that this is what he and God had in mind all along. Moses reenters the thick cloud covering the mountaintop while the people remain at a distance ( Exodus 20:15–18 ), and the long-awaited giving of the law begins. One after another, the laws are conveyed to Moses in a long speech ( Exodus 20:19–23:19 ), ending with words of promise and exhortation ( Exodus 23:20–33 ). Nothing indicates how long this takes; presumably, if the Decalogue was pronounced in the morning, this private audience occupies the remainder of the day.

Moses is then told to ascend the mountain once more, this time to receive the monumental evidence of the encounter at Sinai, namely, the two stone tablets written by God ( Exodus 24:12 ). But when he arrives, he learns that he will first receive lengthy instructions for the construction and dedication of the divine abode (the Tabernacle) and for the consecration of the priests and their vestments ( Exodus 25:1–31:17 ). He remains on the mountain for 40 days. One of the first things he is told is that the Tabernacle will serve as a place where God will meet him to impart his laws, so that he can transmit them to the Israelites ( Exodus 25:22 ).

Meanwhile, the people have made the golden calf ( Exodus 32:1–6 ). Thus, when the meeting ends and Moses receives the tablets and is ready to descend, God must first give him the bad news that the Israelites have strayed from the path of faithfulness and that he has resolved to destroy them. Moses delays his descent long enough to beseech God to forbear, then descends, breaks the tablets, destroys the calf and takes other measures to deal with the crisis ( Exodus 32:7–33:23 ). Apparently he has abandoned the Tabernacle project for the time being. Instead, at God’s command, he makes a new set of tablets and climbs the mountain once more to have them inscribed ( Exodus 34:1–4 ). Again, more awaits Moses on the mountaintop than he had expected. This time, before God inscribes the tablets, he gives Moses a passing glimpse of his presence and another small body of laws ( Exodus 34:5–26 ). Moses remains on the mountain another 40 days, and God eventually writes the new set of tablets ( Exodus 34:27–28 ). When Moses comes back to the camp ( Exodus 34:29–35 ), the Israelites greet him with fear because his face reflects the awesome radiance of God.

Returning to the camp, Moses convenes the people and conveys to them the instructions for building the Tabernacle and fashioning the sacred articles and vestments ( Exodus 35:1–20 ). The remainder of the year is spent on this project ( Exodus 35:21–40:16 ), 023 and the Tabernacle is erected as the second year of their journey begins ( Exodus 40:17–33 ). God’s fiery majesty enters the Tabernacle, and Moses is summoned to begin to receive the laws, which God conveys to him there ( Exodus 40:34-Leviticus 1:1 ).

This new method of lawgiving, in which Moses receives the laws in a series of audiences with God in the Tabernacle and conveys them orally to the people, goes on for several weeks until the Israelites leave Sinai on the 20th of the next month ( Leviticus 1:2 – Numbers 10:11 ). After the decree of 40 years’ wandering in the wilderness is announced ( Numbers 14:26–35 ), the process continues intermittently for the duration of the wandering. Only when the Exodus generation has died off and the second generation of Israelites arrives at the edge of Canaan does the Torah inform us that the lawgiving has ended ( Numbers 36:13 ).

Yet this is not the end of the process at all. Two months before the end of the 40th year, Moses convenes the Israelites to deliver a series of orations ( Deuteronomy 1:1–5 ), which consists primarily of a new set of laws ( Deuteronomy 12–26 ). He informs them that these laws were communicated to him by God at Mount Sinai after the Ten Words were pronounced ( Deuteronomy 5:25–6:3 etc.). The delivery of these laws is also called a covenant, said to be in addition to the one made at the mountain ( Deuteronomy 28:69 ).

Only then does the lawgiving truly conclude: Moses presides over a third and final covenant with Israel, calling on the people to swear allegiance to the laws he has just given them. He then commits to writing the whole text of his oration, referred to as “this torah ,” or this teaching. He charges the Levites with the safekeeping of this document and its public reading every seven years. Then, his life’s mission accomplished, Moses dies ( Deuteronomy 29–31 , 34 ).

For all its detail, this lengthy narrative abounds in incongruities and other difficulties. Here are some of the main problems:

•In the first half of Exodus 19:9 , God announces to Moses that the Sinai theophany will soon take place. The second half of the verse says that Moses next conveyed the people’s response to God. Response to what? Their positive response to the covenant proposal has already been conveyed ( Exodus 19:8 ); no response to anything else has been solicited.

•Several verses ( Exodus 19:12–13 , 21–25 ) indicate that the Israelites are eager to burst forward and gaze directly on the theophany at Sinai. Extensive measures are necessary to prevent them from storming the mountain, since this would have fatal consequences. Other verses, though, give the opposite impression. The people are said to be taken by dread, and Moses has to bring them to the foot of the mountain and make them listen ( Exodus 19:16–17 ). After God has spoken but ten sentences, they are so 024 stricken by terror that they refuse to listen any further ( Exodus 20:15–17 ). Were the Israelites attracted irresistibly or repulsed with fear?

•The narrative emphasizes that the Sinai experience of the divine was only auditory. The cloud covered the mountaintop, so nothing was seen but thunderbolts. The entire purpose of the event was for the people to overhear God speaking with Moses. Deuteronomy reaffirms this: Fire and cloud were indeed present, but nothing divine was seen; only sound was experienced ( Deuteronomy 4:9–12 ). So what is the reader to make of the story’s insistence that YHWH himself descended in full sight of the entire people ( Exodus 19:11 , 21 )?

•After the Decalogue has been heard, Moses alone, at the people’s request, remains on the mountain for God to tell him the actual laws. When these have been delivered ( Exodus 23:33 ), Moses is still on the mountaintop with God. Why, then, does God instruct Moses to “come up to the Lord” ( Exodus 24:1 )? Isn’t Moses already on the mountaintop with him? Indeed he is, which is why he does precisely the opposite: “Moses came down and told the people” ( Exodus 24:3 ).

•Moses ascends the mountain ( Exodus 24:18 ) to obtain the tablets that God has written ( Exodus 24:12 ). When he arrives, however, he finds he has been summoned for an entirely different reason: to receive the Tabernacle instructions, about which he had not previously been notified. Moses is informed that he will receive something as a parting gesture—not the tablets, however, but something called an ’ edut , or as usually translated, a “testimony” ( Exodus 25:16 ). 3

•God informs Moses that the tabernacle is to serve as the place from which he will convey “all that I have to command you for the Israelites” ( Exodus 25:22 ). But haven’t all the commands been given and the covenant made and ratified? And when Moses ascends to have the second set of tables inscribed, why is he given yet another covenant and another small collection of laws ( Exodus 34:10–26 ), almost all of which duplicate the laws given earlier?

•When Moses returns with the new tablets ( Exodus 34:29–33 ), the Israelites are dismayed by his fearsome radiance. Yet this is Moses’ eighth descent from the mountain, following his eighth meeting with God. Why was the radiance not noticed earlier?

•At the end of his career ( Deuteronomy 19–28 ), Moses reminds the Israelites that after the Decalogue was pronounced, he stayed alone with God on the mountaintop to receive the remaining laws. But the way Moses describes the event does not correspond to what appears in Exodus: He fails to mention that he then descended and proclaimed the laws to the people, wrote them down and ratified them. The widespread impression that the Deuteronomic law is a “repetition” of the law (as denoted by the name Deuteronomy , or “second law”) is nowhere implied in the text, and in fact is not the case.

•What is the relationship between the version of the laws Moses writes down at Sinai and the “book of the Torah” that he writes at the end of his career ( Deuteronomy 31:9 )? Is the reader to assume that by the time Moses died there were two written law books?

These and similar questions have plagued readers for thousands of years, and traditional commentators have done their best to suggest harmonizing answers to them. The source-critical theory of the composition of the Torah, also known as the documentary hypothesis, is a modern attempt to answer these questions. 4 It begins by acknowledging that (1) the laws given on the mountaintop and conveyed immediately to the people as part of a covenant ( Exodus 20:19–23:33 ), (2) the laws given to Moses as part of another covenant when he returns to have the new tablets inscribed ( Exodus 34:11–26 ), (3) the laws conveyed to Moses in the Tabernacle over a 40-year period (Leviticus 1:1-Numbers 36:13), and (4) the laws given on the mountaintop but conveyed to the people only 40 years later ( Deuteronomy 6:1–28:69 ) are four separate law codes. Each of these law codes is presented as the law code. In each case the narrative gives no intimation that some laws have preceded and more are to follow. Moreover, the law codes themselves are, for the most part, internally consistent, but they often duplicate and contradict each other.

The combination of the four documents resulted in the story described above, with all its difficulties. But the difficulties are a blessing in disguise, for they enable us, with painstaking labor, to separate the four strands from each other. The sudden shifts, doublets, contradictions and internal tensions act as signposts, alerting the reader that he may have left one document behind and shifted to another. And when some of the pieces begin to fit together with others that appear further on, we realize that the documents have not disappeared or been edited away but rather remain almost intact. The process of reconstituting the original narratives is remarkably easy: Follow each story line according to its narrative flow, and when it is disrupted, search for where it seems to resume; learn to recognize its presuppositions, its stylistic features and vocabulary; pay attention to each story’s uniqueness, and avoid imposing 026 on one story the events told in another; assume, unless the evidence is clearly otherwise, that the four stories have been preserved virtually in their entirety.

Let us see if we can divide the text into these sources. Three distinct stories (J, E and P) seem to have been intertwined in Exodus. One of these (P) continues into Leviticus and Numbers. When read separately ( see sidebar to this article), this is what emerges:

The E, or Elohistic, narrative of the giving of the law might be titled “The Making, Breaking and Remaking of the Covenant.” It begins with God proposing a covenant and privileged status for the Israelites in return for loyalty and obedience ( Exodus 19:3–6 ). The people’s initial willingness to accept blindly is followed by a confirmation of their enthusiasm after the terms of the covenant have been heard ( Exodus 24:3 ). The laws and statutes, orally presented to them, are written down by Moses in a document called the “Book of the Covenant” ( Exodus 24:4 , 7 ). All this seems to occur in one day. The next morning, Moses obtains the covenant monument, the two stone tablets prepared by God. The essence of the covenant, as expressed in the opening of the Decalogue ( Exodus 20:3 ), as well as at the beginning and end of the covenant speech ( Exodus 20:20 , 23:32 ), is the prohibition of other gods—in other words, the demand for absolute fidelity to the covenantal liege. The making of the calf is thus the archetypal act of covenantal disloyalty ( Exodus 32:4 ). Moses’ reaction, the destruction of the covenant document ( Exodus 32:19 ), indicates its nullification, creating the need either to reestablish it or abandon it for good. The new tablets, upon which God rewrites the Ten Words, provide the resolution ( Exodus 34:1 , 4 , 28 ). With their presentation to Moses, the story ends ( Exodus 34:28 ).

E’s version is characterized, as E is elsewhere, by distinctly prophetic features. Believability is a major concern for prophets. Why should anyone who is not present when the deity speaks to the prophet believe that he did? E’s solution: When the prophetic office is first established, God forces the people to hear God speak to the prophet. Further, when the covenant is jeopardized by the people’s infidelity, Moses reacts in classical prophetic manner, interceding on the people’s behalf to save them 027 from God’s wrath ( Exodus 32:11–13 ). 5

In E’s view, the encounter with God on the mountain consists only of sound, as the mountain was covered in a thick cloud, and the reaction of the people was one of unmitigated terror. In E, Moses climbs up the mountain six times: (1) to hear the covenant proposal, (2) to convey the people’s acceptance and receive instructions for the verbal revelation, (3) after the Decalogue, to receive the laws, (4) to receive the first tablets, at which time he remains 40 days and 40 nights, (5) to intercede on the people’s behalf, and (6) to have the new tablets inscribed, again remaining 40 days and 40 nights. Of course, he also comes down six times.

The story is fragmentary. Its opening lines seem not to have been preserved. We enter at the point when preparations are ordered for a theophany on Mount Sinai. These preparations are entirely restrictive: The people must remain pure, launder their clothing and wait in anticipation for three days ( Exodus 19:10–11 ). Above all, when the Lord arrives they must remain at a safe distance; violators will be executed ( Exodus 19:12–13 ). The danger that the deity may surge forth and destroy those who come too close is so great that the Lord refuses to make his appearance until he is absolutely certain that his warnings have been received and heeded ( Exodus 19:20–25 ).

The theophany as described in J takes place all at once on the third day. The Lord comes down in the sight of all the people, but the different groups of participants, arranged in tiers, experience it in varying ways. The people are charged to stand back and watch; they witness fire, smoke and the trembling of the mountain, but they are not to attempt to gaze at YHWH. They may not even approach until the signal is given that it is safe to do so ( Exodus 19:18 , 20–21 ). Aaron, his sons (the priests) and the elders, collectively referred to as “the leaders” ( Exodus 24:11 ), 6 accompany Moses up the mountain, but only a certain distance, after which they stop and bow low from afar. From this vantage point they are vouchsafed a view of the God of Israel and are graciously spared death, which would normally result from such a vision. Only Moses continues on alone and comes near the Lord ( Exodus 24:1–2 , 9–11 ).

Here the fragmentary nature of J is apparent. In what remains of J, the story tells next of Moses’ lonely climb to the cleft of the rock, where God gives him a brief rear glimpse of himself, proclaims his name and attributes ( Exodus 33:12–23 , 34:2–3 , 5–9 ), and makes a covenant, charging Moses with the religious laws contained in Exodus 34:10–26 . Did this actually occur at this point in the story? Perhaps—but it seems more likely that the story of Moses’ lone ascent to Sinai is part of another episode in J, one in which some terrible sin has been committed and the pressing need for atonement and forgiveness is the central theme ( Exodus 32:25–29 , 33:1–6 ). If this is true, then the Yahwist’s narrative actually tells of the theophany at Sinai and the giving of the law as two separate events. The 028 Sinai theophany was probably an experience in its own right, in which the people as a whole participated, though in varying degrees. The covenant at Sinai, in which the laws were given, was made later, as a mark of reconciliation in the wake of some crisis, the complete story of which has been lost.

In what has been preserved of the first part of this story, Moses climbs the mountain four times: (1) to report the people’s words (whatever they may have been) to the Lord, (2) to warn the people to prepare for the theophany, (3) to receive (on the day of the theophany) God’s instruction to warn the people again, and (4) to view the Lord, along with Aaron, the priests and the elders. He also descends four times, each time carrying out the task assigned.

Despite the laconic nature of J’s story, enough is clear to connect it with other Yahwistic passages in the Torah. The tetragrammaton, YHWH, features prominently and is proclaimed by the Lord himself when the covenant is made. Like other J narratives in the Torah, the J passages here are characterized by bold anthropomorphism, with YHWH’s descent on the mountain ( Exodus 19:20 ), the great danger of his bursting forth ( Exodus 19:22 ), the explicit prohibition of gazing on him ( Exodus 19:21 ), and the open references to his face, posterior and feet ( Exodus 24:10 , 33:23 ). As seems to be the case with other J stories, this narrative appears not to have survived in its entirety.

The P, or Priestly, narrative I would call “The Laws Given by God in His Earthly Abode.” 7

In P the Israelites arrive at Sinai in the third month after the Exodus ( Exodus 19:1 ). The fire cloud encasing the majesty of God takes up residence atop the mountain. Moses enters the cloud, and God gives him, at great length, the instructions for building and furnishing the Tabernacle, preparing the vestments and performing the investiture of the priesthood, and consecrating the altar ( Exodus 24:18 , 25:8–31:17 ). Though some of these matters involve permanent legislation, Moses is told that the actual lawgiving will commence only after the Tabernacle instructions are carried out ( Exodus 25:22 ). Then, as promised, God concludes the session by presenting Moses with a testimony, to be deposited in the Tabernacle ark, and dismisses him.

As Moses descends with the testimony ( Exodus 34:29 ), the residual radiation of the divine reflection shines from his face, causing the people to flee. He explains the source of his fearsome radiance to Aaron and the tribal chiefs, who coax the people to return and face Moses. Moses transmits to them the words of God—with the understanding that thereafter he will cover his radiant face ( Exodus 34:29–35 ). 8

Moses assembles the people and reports to them, ordering them to supply the needed materials 029 and build the Tabernacle ( Exodus 35:1–19 ). Ten months after arriving at Sinai, the Israelites complete the portable abode for the deity, and Moses dutifully deposits the testimony in the magnificent ark ( Exodus 40:20 ). At the beginning of the second year, as the fire cloud descends from Sinai, God takes up residence in the Tabernacle, filling the tent and finally shrinking into the divine throne room ( Exodus 40:34–35 ). This visual arrival of God is thereafter repeated each time camp is struck and reversed each time the journey is to continue ( Exodus 40:36–38 ; Numbers 9:15–23 ).

God calls to Moses from within the tent ( Leviticus 1:1 ), and the lawgiving process begins. The first laws to be imparted pertain to the methods of offering sacrifices ( Leviticus 1–7 ), as the consecration of the priesthood and dedication of the Tabernacle ( Leviticus 8–9 ) cannot take place until these laws have been elucidated. Then the rest of the law code is unfolded a section at a time by the voice speaking to Moses from within the tent. Most of the laws are given before the departure from Sinai ( Leviticus 11–27 ), and the rest are conveyed periodically for the remainder of the Israelites’ sojourn in the wilderness—the better part of 40 years (most of Numbers 1–36 , intermittently).

There is no prophetic Moses as in E. Here Moses merely receives divine commands and conveys them to the people. He is not attributed with initiative, intercession or impulsiveness.

P nowhere refers to these events or any part of them as a covenant; in P the covenant is the promise to the patriarchs ( Genesis 17:4–8 ), not the giving of the law. 9 No Decalogue or other such sample of divine law is proclaimed. The divine fire cloud and divine fire are part of a prolonged public theophany. The subsequent meetings between God and Moses also have their theophanic aspect, in the residual radiance of the divine presence beheld by the people each time Moses reports to them. Thus the private stage of the lawgiving ultimately involves the repeated, vicarious participation of the people.

In this account, Moses ascends Mount Sinai only once, to receive the Tabernacle instructions, and descends once, to carry them out. When the Tabernacle is ready, all further revelation takes place there.

What of D, the Deuteronomic version? There the account of these events (as everything else in Israel’s history) is contained in Moses’ farewell speech to the Israelites.

The basic chain of events in D, then, is the same as in E, including the making of the golden calf ( Deuteronomy 9:16 ), Moses’ prayer of intercession ( Deuteronomy 9:26–29 ) and the receipt, smashing and replacement of the tablets ( Deuteronomy 9:11 , 17 , 10:3–4 ). D also contains the prophetic motif, relating that after the Decalogue is proclaimed directly by God, the people beg Moses to receive the laws on their behalf so that they are not consumed by the terrible fire, and the Lord and Moses agree ( Deuteronomy 5:19–28 ). Only two major points are changed. First, in D the laws communicated to Moses after the theophany are not given to the people until 40 years later, on the eve of entry to the land of Canaan. The covenant at Horeb included the Decalogue only; the only covenant made over a larger corpus of laws is made in the steppes of Moab, just before Moses dies ( Deuteronomy 28:68 ). Second (and a result of the first), according to D, Moses writes down the Torah not at Horeb but rather just before he dies, depositing it with the Levites for posterity ( Deuteronomy 31:24–26 ).

It should be evident that these four accounts were not composed to complement or supplement each other. In fact, each account ignores the existence of the others. Even D, which is clearly parallel to E, does not pick up where E leaves off. 030 Rather, it is a similar but competing account, contradicting E not only in its view of how Israel received the laws but also, and primarily, in the laws themselves, which differ in scope, in underlying viewpoint and in substance from the laws given in E. The same is true of the other accounts.

Source criticism theorizes that the separate documents were combined by redactors, scribes whose task was to create a single, continuous Torah from the ones already in existence. b To imagine how the redactors worked, we should start by recognizing that they assumed all their sources to be “true.” As far as they were concerned, all the events took place, and all the laws were given by God. They treated the several existing documents as sacred literature, and they strove to combine them maximally, not selectively.

Merging the several stories of the giving of the law into one was a major component of this endeavor. We do not know precisely how this took place, but we can at least describe it to some degree.

The Priestly version seems to have served as the framework. 10 The lengthy Tabernacle narrative of P is by far the longest story, and P contains the most extensive corpus of laws. It also provides precise dates ( Exodus 19:1 , 40:17 ; Numbers 1:1 , 9:1 , 10:11 ). Assuming that the other stories must somehow fit into and around P, the redactors proceeded to draw a series of logical conclusions.

Third, since both P and E speak of Moses receiving some object from God on the mountain, it stood to reason that the two refer to the same object. Thus P’s testimony and E’s tablets must be one and the same. 11 Fourth, since the testimony received according to P was placed in the ark and kept there for good, while the tablets in E were destroyed and replaced, the testimony of P must have been given twice. Thus, the Tabernacle story was made to straddle the account of the golden calf—the instructions and the first testimony being given before the calf was made, and the second testimony, followed by the prompt execution of the task, after forgiveness was granted. The result of this, of course, was that in the combined account, Moses first receives the Tabernacle instructions when he climbs the mountain to get the first set of tablets, but he only conveys them to the people when he returns with the second set.

We may never know when this extremely sophisticated literary process took place. Scholars differ on the origin and interrelationship of the separate documents. 12 Many scholars suggest that they were combined into one around the time of the return from the Babylonian Exile (fifth century B.C.E.), when the imperial Persian authorities granted legal and religious autonomy to the Jews in Judea, allowing them—actually ordering them ( Ezra 7:1–26 )—to govern themselves according to their written teachings, perhaps requiring them to produce a single, authoritative version of their sacred law.

It is no less significant for this. In fact, some would argue, a collection consisting of four impressionistic paintings and one collage is actually a better record of an encounter with the ineffable than a single, one-dimensional photograph. 13

Booming thunder and bolts of lightning accompany Moses as he descends the cloud-covered Mount Sinai, bearing aloft two heavy tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments. Most people know this cinematic version—à la Cecil B. de Mille—of the giving of the law on Sinai. The biblical version, however, is much less familiar, even to many devoted readers of the Hebrew Bible—perhaps because it is much more difficult to follow. The Bible presents the lawgiving not as a single dramatic event but as a lengthy process that begins on Sinai but does not end until 40 years later. Moses descends Sinai […]

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J, or the Yahwistic source (in German, Jahwistic ), is named for its assumption that the divine name, YHWH (often vocalized Yahweh), was known from the beginning of time ( Genesis 4:26 ). E, or the Elohistic source, is so named because it insists that God was known as Elohim until the tetragrammaton was revealed to Moses ( Exodus 3:15 ). P, the Priestly source, is distinguished for its interest in the priesthood and in ritual law. D, the Deuteronomic source, makes up most of the Book of Deuteronomy. See Victor Hurowitz, “P—Understanding the Priestly Source,” BR 12:03; Moshe Weinfeld, “Deuteronomy’s Theological Revolution,” BR 12:01.

Although divided into the Five Books of Moses, the Torah is truly a continuous narrative, recounting the development of Israel and its introduction to God’s laws. The unity of the text is expressed in its Greek name, the Pentateuch, which originally meant not five books but rather a single book divided into five parts.

On the Decalogue, see the articles collected in Ben-Zion Segal, ed., The Ten Commandments in History and Tradition (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1987).

See Moshe Greenberg, “ nsh in Exodus 20:30 and the Purpose of the Sinaitic Theophany,” Journal of Biblical Literature 79 (1960), pp. 273–276.

See Choong-Leow Seow, “The Designation of the Ark in Priestly Theology,” Hebrew Annual Review 8 (1984), pp. 185–198, and Menahem Haran, Temples and Temple-Service in Ancient Israel (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978; reprint, Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1985), pp. 142, 255, 272–273.

Source criticism of the Torah in general, and the documentary hypothesis in particular, has been central to biblical studies for over a hundred years. The classical English introductions are Joseph E. Carpenter and George Harford, The Composition of the Hexateuch (London: Longmans, Green, 1902); Samuel R. Driver, Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament , 9th ed. (Edinburgh: T & T Clark 1913), pp. 1–159; A.T. Chapman, An Introduction to the Pentateuch (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1911). One of the first works to present a synopsis of the separate sources in English is William Edward Addis, The Documents of the Hexateuch (London: Nutt; New York: Putnam, 1893–1898). For recent introductions see Richard E. Friedman, Who Wrote the Bible? (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1987), and Antony F. Campbell and Mark A. O’Brien, Sources of the Pentateuch (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993), esp. chap. 1, pp. 1–20; see also Joseph Blenkinsopp, The Pentateuch , Anchor Bible Reference Library (New York: Doubleday, 1992). One recent critic of the source theory is Roger N. Whybray, The Making of the Pentateuch (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1987).

See Yohanan Muffs, “His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition: A Study in Prophetic Intercession,” Conservative Judaism 33:3 (1978–1980), pp. 25–37.

The Hebrew word is ’ asilim , usually translated “nobles.” It is used in this sense only here, so the exact meaning is uncertain; some would connect it with the root ’ sl , “to set apart,” the “elect” of Israel, those chosen to participate in this theophany.

The following section is based on Baruch J. Schwartz, “The Priestly Account of the Theophany and Lawgiving at Sinai,” in Texts, Temples and Traditions—A Tribute to Menahem Haran , ed. Michael V. Fox et al. (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1996), pp. 103–134.

See Menahem Haran, “The Shining of Moses’ Face—A Case Study in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Iconography,” in In the Shelter of Elyon: Essays on Ancient Palestinian Life and Literature in Honor of G.W. Ahlström , ed. W. Boyd Barrick and John R. Spencer (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1984), pp. 159–173.

See Schwartz, “Priestly Account,” pp. 130–132.

Scholars have suggested numerous theories. My approach is close to that of Martin Noth as elucidated in “The ‘Priestly Writing’ and the Redaction of the Pentateuch,” which appeared in 1943. The English translation of this work appeared only in 1987 (in Martin Noth, The Chronicler’s History [Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1987], pp. 107–147), so English-speaking scholars seem not to have consulted it, relying instead on Noth’s A History of Pentateuchal Traditions (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1972), pp. 8–19, 234–247.

Throughout P, the object presented to Moses is called the testimony, with no mention of the tablets ( Exodus 16:34 , 25:16 , 21 , 22 , 26:33–34 , 27:21 , 30:6 , 36 , 40:20 ; Leviticus 16:13 , 24:3 ; Numbers 17:19 , 25 ), while E and D refer everywhere to tablets, never mentioning the testimony. Only in three places does the traditional text refer to the “two tablets of the testimony” ( Exodus 31:18a , 32:15 , 34:29 ), and all three occur at precisely the points where P has been merged with E. In my opinion, P originally contained a continuous passage that began as follows: “When he finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, he gave Moses the testimony.” In E’s narrative, immediately following Exodus 24:18b , E told of a similar event: “He then gave Moses two tablets, stone tablets which had been inscribed by the finger of God.” The redactor combined the two into one verse, Exodus 31:18 . P originally continued immediately with “As Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the testimony in his hand”; the words “two tablets of the” have been added in this verse ( Exodus 34:29 ) by the redactor. In E, however, after Moses learns of the calf ( Exodus 32:7–14 ), the story originally continued: “Thereupon Moses turned and went down the mountain bearing the two tablets, tablets inscribed on both their surfaces.” Here ( Exodus 32:15 ) the words “of the testimony” have been added by the redactor. Thus, in the three passages cited, the phrase “the two tablets of testimony” was created by the redactor, who identified P’s testimony with E’s tablets.

The classical work still available is Julius Wellhausen, Prolegomena to the History of Ancient Israel (in German) (Berlin: Reimer, 1878), English trans. by John Sutherland Black and Allan Menzies (Edinburgh: A & C Black, 1885; reprint, New York: Meridian, 1957). All subsequent scholarship uses Wellhausen as the starting point, accepting or rejecting various aspects of his construction; see Victor Hurowitz, “P—Understanding the Priestly Source,” BR 12:03; Moshe Weinfeld, “Deuteronomy’s Theological Revolution,” BR 12:01; and the works cited in note 4 and their bibliographies.

For this insight I am indebted to Professor Yohanan Muffs.

IMAGES

Moses at Mt Sinai (Exodus 19)
Moses at Mount Sinai
The Exodus Route: Wilderness of Sinai
Moses on Mount Sinai
Moses on Mount Sinai
The Exodus Route: Wilderness of Sinai

VIDEO

Journey to Mount Sinai Part 2 [Official Trailer]
Journey to Mount Sinai II: Interview with Director Tim Mahoney
Journey to Mount Sinai 2
Синай гора Моисея Египет Монахи из Грузии Славят Бога
Journey to Mount Sinai
Evidence At Mount Sinai

COMMENTS

The Exodus Route: Travel times, distances, rates of travel, days of the
Israel spent 343 days (11 lunar months and 19 days) camped in the Wilderness of Sinai (Num 10:11) while Moses received the law and Israel built the Tabernacle tent. The journey from Mt. Sinai through Ezion Geber (Numbers 33:35-36) to Kadesh Barnea, was 20 stops over a period of about 11 months.
The Bible's Exodus Route
Exod 17:6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the. rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people. may drink. The following outlines their journey, from after the crossing of the. Red Sea (in the first month) to when they reached Mt Sinai (in the.
Moses Meets God on Mount Sinai
And the whole mountain shook. 19 The sound of the horn became louder and louder. Moses spoke, and God answered him with thunder. 20 Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. The Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and he went up. 21 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go down and tell the people not to break ...
How many times did Moses ascend Mount Sinai?
Depending on the reckoning, Moses climbed Mt. Sinai about eight times to meet with the Lord. The first ascent. After the exodus from Egypt, on the first day of the third month, the Israelites arrived at Mt. Sinai. Moses' first trip up Mt. Sinai is described in Exodus 19:2-7. He ascends the mountain in verse 3 and comes back down in verse 7.
Moses is called by God at Mt Sinai
Ex 3:1-10 During his fifty years in Midian, Moses learns much about his Jewish ancestors from his father-in-law Jethro, a priest and chieftain of Midian.One day in c.1452BC, when he is seventy six years old, Moses is leading his flock of sheep and goats across the semi-arid desert to Mt Horeb (also called Mt Sinai) (see 4 on Map 43).. View from the summit of Mount Sinai (Mohammed Moussa)
Mount Sinai (Bible)
Mount Sinai (Hebrew: הַר סִינַי‬ ‎, Har Sīnay) is the mountain at which the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by God, according to the Book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible. [1] In the Book of Deuteronomy, these events are described as having transpired at Mount Horeb. "Sinai" and "Horeb" are generally considered by scholars to refer to the same place.
Moses
The route of the Hebrews is contested by scholars, but the most likely possibility is the southern route to Jabal Mūsā, the traditional location of Mt. Sinai (Horeb), in the granite range at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. The journey there traversed some very desolate country, and Moses had to contend with bitter complaints about ...
What Really Happened at Mount Sinai?
Moses would speak, God responding to him with. (20) The LORD came down upon Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain, and the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain and Moses went up. (21) The LORD said to Moses, "Go down, warn the people not to break through to the LORD to gaze, lest many of them perish.
Sinai covenant
The event at Mount Sinai is depicted in Exodus, one of five books of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) that together are said to contain God's revealed law to the Israelites. The establishment of the Sinai covenant occurs after the liberation of the Hebrews from Egypt and their journey to Mount Sinai under Moses' leadership.
Moses at Mount Sinai
Moses at Mount Sinai. Exodus 19:1-25. God called Moses up Mount Sinai and gave him the Ten Commandments. Moses arrived at Mount Sinai three months after leaving Egypt. This day is known as the Feast of Weeks, or the Feast of Harvest, or by its Hebrew name, Shavuot. This feast is in late May or early June, which is late spring in Israel.
5. The Covenant at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19-24)
19 When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. 20 He said, 'This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.'.
Appendix 2. The Route of the Exodus. Moses Bible Study
21 Ain el-Qudeirat is the richest spring in the Sinai, having a flow of about 40 cubic meters per hour. 22. Mount Hor. The actual location of Mount Hor is unknown, but was considered in Edomite territory. Josephus identified Mount Edom as Jebel Nebi Harim near Petra.
The Exodus Route: Wilderness of Sinai
Moses saw the burning bush in the wilderness of Sinai. The burning bush probably marked the spot where Israel would camp several month later after Moses returns with the Hebrews. "After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush." (Acts 7:30)
Life of Moses Timeline: From the Exodus to His Death
The Journey Continues. ... Moses goes up Mount Sinai to talk with God. He is instructed to ask the Israelites if they are willing to enter into a covenant with him (verses 3 - 6). After coming down off the mount he tells Israel's elders what God said and they convey it to the people. Moses, after the people agree to the covenant, the next day ...
How many times did Moses go up Mount Sinai?
Though we often think about Moses going up Mount Sinai once and receiving the Law of God for the Israelites, Moses ascended Mount Sinai about eight times. Mount Sinai was also where Moses received the call from God to go to Egypt (Exodus 3:1-6, 12). Let's look at each of his ascents to learn what happened during each one.
The Exodus Route: 22 stops from Mt. Sinai to Kadesh Barnea
The entire discussion and context is the time it takes to get from Sinai to Kadesh: a normal 11 day journey via a standard caravan but since Israel was disobedient, this same trip took 38 years before they moved on. ... the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor. Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor by the border of the land of ...
Exodus 24:12-18 GW
13 Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. 14 He said to the leaders, "Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are here with you. Take all your disagreements to them.". 15 So Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered it. 16 The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai.
Map of the Route of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt
This map shows the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land under the leadership of Moses. The Nile Delta was a triangular area of marshland about 150 miles from north to south, from Memphis to the Mediterranean, and about 150 - 200 miles wide. Upper Egypt was a bit further south from Lower Egypt, starting at Memphis (bottom of ...
Searching for Biblical Mt. Sinai
Jebel Musa's identification as Mt. Sinai developed in the early Byzantine period with the spread of monasticism into the Sinai desert. Curiously, no Exodus-related archaeological remains have been recovered in the Sinai Peninsula—through which the Israelites must have traveled out of Egypt—dating to the traditional period of the Exodus ...
What Really Happened at Mount Sinai?
In my opinion, P originally contained a continuous passage that began as follows: "When he finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, he gave Moses the testimony.". In E's narrative, immediately following Exodus 24:18b, E told of a similar event: "He then gave Moses two tablets, stone tablets which had been inscribed by the finger of ...
Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai (Hebrew: הַר סִינָֽי ‎ Har Sīnay; Aramaic: ܛܘܪܐ ܕܣܝܢܝ Ṭūrāʾ dəSīnăy; Coptic: Ⲡⲧⲟⲟⲩ Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), also known as Jabal Musa (Arabic: جَبَل مُوسَىٰ, translation: Mountain of Moses), is a mountain on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt.It is one of several locations claimed to be the biblical Mount Sinai, the place where, according to the ...
Moses
Moses [note 1] was a Hebrew prophet, teacher and leader, [2] according to Abrahamic tradition. He is considered the most important prophet in Judaism [3] [4] and Samaritanism, and one of the most important prophets in Christianity, Islam, the Baháʼí Faith, and other Abrahamic religions.According to both the Bible and the Quran, [5] Moses was the leader of the Israelites and lawgiver to whom ...

How to go to Heaven

How many times did Moses ascend Mount Sinai?

Moses is called by God at Mt Sinai

What Really Happened at Mount Sinai?

The Torah’s Lawgiving Narrative

The Sinai Theophany

Moses’ Second Ascent

Golden Calf and the First and Second Tablets

40 Years Later, a Second Covenant

Difficulties in the Narrative

Explaining the Difficulties Using Source Criticism

Four Documents That Became One

E – The Elohist Narrative

J – The Yahwist Narrative

P – The Priestly Narrative

D – The Deuteronomic Narrative

Redacting the Four Documents

P Is the Foundation, J and E the Insertion, and D the Conclusion

When Did the Redaction Happen?

◊◊◊

Exodus 19 [15]

Exodus 32 – E only

Exodus 31 – P only

Appendix 2. The Route of the Exodus.

1. Northern Sinai Route

2. Central Sinai Route

3. Southern Sinai Route (Traditional)

Ramses, Pithom, and Succoth (Exodus 12:37)

Location of the Red Sea or yām sûp

The Sinai Coast

Marah (Exodus 15:23)

Elim (Exodus 15:27)

Mount Sinai

Kadesh-Barnea

Ezion-geber (Numbers 33:35; Deuteronomy 2:8)

Dizahab (Deuteronomy 1:1)

Jotbathah (Numbers 33:33)

Life of Moses Timeline From Exodus to His Death

April 1445 B.C.

Pharaoh's Failed Pursuit

The Journey Continues

May 1445 B.C.

No Water in Meribah

A Surprise Attack!

June 1445 B.C.

The Giving of the Law

Mid-June to July 1445

The Golden Calf

July 1445 to March 1444

March 18, 1444

Taking a Census

Leaving Sinai

More Whining

Moses Wants to Die!

May to August 1444

August 1444

September 1444

Punished to Wander

October 1444 to March 1406

March to April 1406

Forfeiting the Promised Land

June to July 1406

Autumn 1406 B.C.

Fiery Serpents!

Two Major Conflicts

Sex Sins and Idolatry

End of 1406

January to February 1405 B.C.

Final Notes

How many times did Moses go up Mount Sinai?

All Bible Maps

Map of the Route of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt

Map of the Route of the Hebrews from Egypt

The Bible Mentions "Egypt" Many Times

Table of Contents

21st Century King James Version (KJ21)

American Standard Version (ASV)

Amplified Bible (AMP)

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)

Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)