Here the mountain is called Sinai. One recent critic of the source theory is Roger N. Whybray, The Making of the Pentateuch (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1987). (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. 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 time of Wandering in the Wilderness lasted 40 years. In this lesson we look at the Israelites' arrival at Mount Sinai, and some of the events there —including God's appearance on the mountain while the people watched below (Exodus 19:1-25; 20:18-22).. 1 Camping at Mount Sinai. (17) Moses led the people out of the camp toward God, and they positioned themselves at the foot of the mountain. chap. (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. W. Boyd Barrick and John R. Spencer (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1984), pp. 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. Strictly speaking, Mount Sinai is not the place of lawgiving. 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). 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). Background Reading: The Israelis Reach Mount Sinai. Academic Study of the Torah Is Essential, Not Just for Academics, Study the Torah with Academic Scholarship, By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use, https://thetorah.com/article/what-really-happened-at-mount-sinai, Sunrise on Mount Sinai (Moussa - Moses mountain). 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]. 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). [14] For this insight I am indebted to Professor Yohanan Muffs. (2) Having journeyed from Refidim, they arrived at the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. 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. The P, or Priestly, narrative I would call “The Laws Given by God in His Earthly Abode.”[8]. (9) So Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel ascended, (10) and they saw the God of Israel. Whereas the preceding 68 chapters, from Genesis 1 to Exodus 18, have covered thousands of years, here the pace suddenly slows. 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). 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. Thus the impression was created that it amounted to a repetition of the law, though this too is never stated in the text. After God has spoken but ten sentences, they are so stricken by terror that they refuse to listen any further (Exodus 20:15– 17). Why should anyone who is not present when the deity speaks to the prophet believe that he did? [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. 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. 273–276. Under His feet there was a likeness of a pavement of sapphire, like the very sky for splendor. (19) The blare of the horn grew louder and louder. 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). This would seem to present a problem given the political obstacles that stand in the way: the religious activities on the Temple Mount are currently controlled by … Observance of the law is, after all, what will ensure the enduring presence of God among the Israelites, upon which their national existence depends. 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. 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]. (14) To the elders he had said, “Wait here for us until we return to you. testimony in his hand, Moses was not aware that the skin of his face was radiant from speaking with Him. 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. If they obey me and keep my laws, they will become my special people.’ Moses went back down and told the Israelites what Jehovah had said. Moses ascends the mountain (Exodus 24:18) to obtain the tablets that God has written (Exodus 24:12). (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…. What happened at Mount Sinai? In each case the narrative gives no intimation that some laws have preceded and more are to follow. 185–198, and Menahem Haran, Temples and Temple-Service in Ancient Israel (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978; reprint, Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1985), pp. 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. (31) So Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the chieftains in the assembly returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. According to Jewish tradition, not only the decalogue but also the entire corpus of biblical text and interpretation was revealed to Moses on Sinai. We may never know when this extremely sophisticated literary process took place. Why was the radiance not noticed earlier? To answer quite simply, the Jewish people—every man, woman and child—had an encounter with God. 9.) The tetragrammaton, YHWH, features prominently and is proclaimed by the Lord himself when the covenant is made. 159–173. Several stylistic elements allow us to connect this version with other identifiably Elohistic passages in the Torah. ), (1) So He called to Moses. Even D, which is clearly parallel to E, does not pick up where E leaves off. 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. The Preparations. [2] See Moshe Greenberg, “nsh in Exodus 20:30 and the Purpose of the Sinaitic Theophany,”Journal of Biblical Literature 79 (1960), pp. Here's the Biblical account upon which it's based. 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. Thus P’s testimony and E’s tablets must be one and the same.[12]. All this seems to occur in one day. Mount Sinai adds the other half of the equation. (5) Now then, if you will obey Me and keep my covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples. 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. In P’s account the giving of the law depends on the prior establishment of the Tabernacle cult. (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. Above all, when the Lord arrives they must remain at a safe distance; violators will be executed (Exodus 19:12–13). Its opening lines seem not to have been preserved. (13) No hand shall touch him, but he shall be either stoned or shot. (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. Shavuot may not be as well-known as Passover or Purim, but it represents a foundational moment in Jewish history: the giving of the Torah (the first five books of the Bible, also called the Pentateuch) to the Israelites on Mount Sinai. Schwartz has long been engaged in the source-critical study of the Pentateuchal accounts of the giving of the law. Bible verses about Mount Sinai. In this account, Moses ascends Mount Sinai only once, to receive the Tabernacle instructions, and descends once, to carry them out. (32) Afterwards all the Israelites came near, and Moses commanded them everything that the LORD had told him on Mount Sinai. 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. Yet this is not the end of the process at all. He charges the Levites with the safekeeping of this document and its public reading every seven years. (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. [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. 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. 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. (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. 103–134. (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. [9] No Decalogue or other such sample of divine law is proclaimed. Moses would speak, God responding to him with. (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.) [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. What happened at Mount Sinai? The cloud covered the mountaintop, so nothing was seen but thunderbolts. (14) To the elders he had said, “Wait here for us until we return to you. (Edinburgh: T & T Clark 1913), pp. Moses led the children of Israel out of the camp and placed them at the foot of Mount Sinai, which was all covered by smoke and was quaking, for G‑d had descended upon it in fire. 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. Please support us. Then the rest of the law code is unfolded a section at a time by the voice speaking to Moses from within the tent. 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. (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. The entire purpose of the event was for the people to overhear God speaking with Moses. The disciples, on the Mount of Transfiguration, were participating in an event that marked a key transition in the history of the Lord’s people. 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. [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. 142, 255, 272–273. Meanwhile, the people have made the golden calf (Exodus 32:1–6). 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. 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). Only Moses continues on alone and comes near the Lord (Exodus 24:1–2, 9–11). In fact, each account ignores the existence of the others. 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. The Priestly version seems to have served as the framework. 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). Mount Gilead Mount Seir Mount Sinai Mount Hor. Moses descends Sinai not once but eight times, and more and more laws keep coming all the time. (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. For all its detail, this lengthy narrative abounds in incongruities and other difficulties. (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. Most of the events that the book of Exodus describes as happening at Mount Sinai are located at Mount Horeb in the book of Deuteronomy. P knows of no written Torah! 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). 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. 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). (17) Moses led the people out of the camp toward God, and they positioned themselves at the foot of the mountain. The high point of the dispute was in the mid-nineteenth century. From where do the prophets describe that the Lord shall reign for ever? (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. What traditional interpretation saw as a single Mosaic text, critical analysis views as a mosaic of texts. Three distinct stories (J, E and P) seem to have been intertwined in Exodus. With their presentation to Moses, the story ends (Exodus 34:28). 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. (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. 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. 2 They pulled away from Rephidim and came to the wilderness of Siʹnai and camped in the wilderness. Apparently he has abandoned the Tabernacle project for the time being. Assuming that the other stories must somehow fit into and around P, the redactors proceeded to draw a series of logical conclusions. TheTorah.com is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.We rely on the support of readers like you. The English translation of this work appeared only in 1987 (in Martin Noth, The Chronicler’s History [Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1987], pp. At God’s summons, Moses ascends the mountain, where he is instructed to offer a covenant to the Israelite people. (33) When he finished telling them, he put a veil over his face. It is no less significant for this. [13] The classical work still available is Julius Wellhausen, Prolegomena to the History of Ancient Israel (in German) (Berlin: Reimer, 1878), English trans. The Bible itself states in Deuteronomy 4:33 that this never happened any place else. (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. Ultimately, it is a matter of faith to believe God revealed the Torah to Moses and the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. When Moses returns with the new tablets (Exodus 34:29–33), the Israelites are dismayed by his fearsome radiance. 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. (7) Then he took the written covenant and read it aloud to the people. It was reduced to powder, mixed with water. 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. Scholars differ on the origin and interrelationship of the separate documents. 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. (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. The making of the calf is thus the archetypal act of covenantal disloyalty (Exodus 32:4). He is not attributed with initiative, intercession or impulsiveness. (16) The Majesty of the LORD abode on Mount Sinai, and the cloud hid it for six days. 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. Yahweh revealed Himself to Moses here and communicated the Ten Commandments and other laws … 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. English » » Bible » » Life of Moses » » Moses at Mount Sinai Moses at Mount Sinai. 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. BIBLE scholars have found stones inscribed in ancient Hebrew at the place they claim to be Mount Sinai - where God is supposed to have met Moses. 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. 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. (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. Yet this is Moses’ eighth descent from the mountain, following his eighth meeting with God. (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. 1–159; A.T. Chapman, An Introduction to the Pentateuch (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1911). 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. When these have been delivered (Exodus 23:33), Moses is still on the mountaintop with God. Something went wrong while submitting the form. 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. Moses arrived at Mount Sinai three months after leaving Egypt. It was a totally unique event in all of human history. It is reprinted here with permission of the author and permission of the Biblical Archaeology Society. 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)? (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. This also places Mt. Here the fragmentary nature of J is apparent. 22 exodus route stops from Mt. 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. 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). 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). Despite the laconic nature of J’s story, enough is clear to connect it with other Yahwistic passages in the Torah. Nothing indicates how long this takes; presumably, if the Decalogue was pronounced in the morning, this private audience occupies the remainder of the day. After some preparation, a sound-and-light presentation takes place. (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. 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. The Bible itself states in Deuteronomy 4:33 that this never happened any place else. 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). God calls to Moses from within the tent (Leviticus 1:1), and the lawgiving process begins. The fire cloud encasing the majesty of God takes up residence atop the mountain. (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. Don’t miss the latest essays from TheTorah.com. 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 second half of the verse says that Moses next conveyed the people’s response to God. P, or Priestly, narrative I would call “ the laws Given by God his! 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