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Is Mt. Sinai the Mountain of YEHOVAH? 11

In Ex.16,1, Sinai is sited on the farther side of the wilderness of Sin from Elim. Moses
was therefore somewhere on the border of Midian; in well-watered pasture country; in the
vicinity of the mount or hill Horeb, or Sinai, from which the wilderness of Sinai took its
name. In patriarchal times the ruling prince of a tribe was also the chief priest. The "flock of
Jethro" signifies the entire wealth of the Midianites in their camels, cattle and sheep. We
must imagine the wilderness of Sinai AS A WIDE AREA OF GRAZING COUNTRY, with
thousands of tribesmen encamped under the orders of Moses for the care and protection of
their property. This security could be maintained only so long as they were WITHIN the
limits of their tribal territory, and well armed against any cattle-raiding incursions from
their neighbours. Now the traditional site of the wilderness of Sinai is in the HEART OF
THE MOUNTAINOUS REGION OF THE SINAI PENINSULA, with Mount Sinai (7,450
feet) representing the "mount of the law" Horeb or Sinai.

This traditional site is more than a hundred miles from the head of the Gulf of Akaba, the
nearest Midianite country. It is quite certain that Moses DID NOT conduct the
Midianite flocks over a hundred miles of rugged, mountainous country, to make a present
of them to the Amalekites in Feiran!

Robertson goes on to present FURTHER PROOF for the Midian location of the Mountain
of God:

The location of Sinai in Midian is confirmed by the incident recorded in Num.10:29,
when Moses required Midianite scouts who knew the country to lead the march out of the
wilderness of Sinai to the wilderness of Paran, on the west of the Wadi Araba.

Before leaving Sinai for Paran, Moses told his father-in-law that he was about to undertake
the conquest of Canaan.

Hobab appears to have been the same individual as Jethro who welcomed Moses on arrival
of the Israelites in Midian. Now he came the second time to visit Moses before their depart-
ure. Moses asked Hobab to accompany him on the march to Paran, as he knew the country.
Hobab declined, not being willing to leave his country and kindred. [Where was his coun-
try? MIDIAN, OF COURSE!!]

In Ferrar Fenton's translation: "I will not go from my country and from my children with
you." Whether he returned to Modiana or was persuaded by Moses is not recorded, but the
incident SHOWS THAT THE ISRAELITES IN THE WILDERNESS OF SINAI WERE
WITHIN THE MIDIAN BORDERS. -- Pp. 88-89.

Alois Musil sums up the arguments in favor of the Midian location of Mt. Sinai in his work
The Northern Hegaz, in the following manner:

When the Israelites fled from Egypt they endeavoured as soon as possible to escape from
the reach of Egyptian political influence. They found a refuge in a country which afforded
them not only safety but also the necessary food supplies. This country must have had an

The Berean Voice September-October 2002