Burning bush

Burning Bush. Seventeenth century painting by Sébastien Bourdon in the Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg

The burning bush (or the unburnt bush) refers to an event recorded in the Jewish Torah (as also in the biblical Old Testament). It is described in the third chapter of the Book of Exodus[1] as having occurred on Mount Horeb. According to the biblical account, the bush was on fire but was not consumed by the flames, hence the name.[2] In the biblical narrative, the burning bush is the location at which Moses was appointed by Yahweh to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into Canaan.

The Hebrew word in the narrative that is translated into English as bush is seneh (Hebrew: סְנֶה, romanizedsəne), which refers in particular to brambles;[3][4][5] seneh is a dis legomenon, only appearing in two places, both of which describe the burning bush.[4] The use of seneh may be a deliberate pun on Sinai (סיני), a feature common in Hebrew texts.[6]

  1. ^ Exodus 3:1–4
  2. ^ Exodus 3:4
  3. ^ Cheyne, T. K.; Black, J. S. (1899). "Bush". Encyclopedia Biblica, Volume 1. Toronto: George N. Morang & Company.
  4. ^ a b Jastrow, M.; Ginzberg, L.; Jastrow, M.; McCurdy, J. F. (1906). "Burning Bush". Jewish Encyclopedia – via JewishEncyclopedia.com.
  5. ^ Peake's commentary on the Bible
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference FriedmanSources was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search