DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4643#0048
GENERAL VIEW OF THE CONVENT OF ST. CATHERINE.
The whole scene of the sojourning of the Israelites lies in a Peninsula, between the forks of the
upper portion of the Red Sea. The Peninsula is of a triangular form, and from about half-way down
to its point at the South is a mass of mountains, intersected with deep valleys, and exhibiting a few
barren plains.
The geographical position of the Convent is in Lat. 28° and Long. 31° from Paris. The elevation
above the sea is about 4966 Paris feet.
Allusion has been already made to the differences of learned opinion on the site of the Giving of
the Law. It appears that Jebel-Musa (the Mount of Moses) exhibits no features corresponding to the
Sacred History. Robinson, to whose judgment and diligence much respect is due, regards the Plain,
Er-Rahah, with the Mount now named Horeb immediately in its front, as the most probable locality.
But he admits that he had not visited Jebel-Serbal. He also regards Horeb as anciently the name of
the whole range, and Sinai as that of a particular pinnacle ; arguing from the narrative, which, before
and after the Giving of the Law, speaks only of Horeb; while during that great transaction Sinai (with
one exception) alone is named. " As we advanced," he says, " the dark and frowning front of Sinai
itself (the present Horeb of the monks) began to appear. It was a scene of solemn grandeur wholly
unexpected, and such as we had never before seen; and the associations which at the moment rested
upon our minds were almost overwhelming. . . . Still advancing, the front of Horeb rose like a wall
before us, and one can approach quite to the foot, and touch the Mount."1
He narrates a visit which he and his companion made to many of the peaks of Sinai; but not
satisfied that the view from those agreed with the Scripture account, they decided upon scaling the
almost inaccessible peak of Es-Sufsafeh, the pinnacle of Horeb above the Convent. " We first attempted,"
he says, "to climb the side in a direct course, but found the rock so smooth and precipitous, that after
some falls, we were obliged to give it up, and clamber upwards along a steep ravine by a more
circuitous course.....The extreme difficulty, and even danger of the ascent, was well rewarded by
the prospect that opened before us. The whole plain Er-Rahah lay spread out beneath our feet, with
the adjacent Wadys and Mountains ; while Wady Esh-Sheikh on the right, and the recess on the left,
both connected with and opening broadly from Er-Rahah, presented an area which seems nearly to
double that of the plain. Our conviction was strengthened, that here, or on some one of the adjacent
cliffs, was the spot where the Lord ( descended in fire' and proclaimed the Law. Here lay the plain
where the whole congregation might be assembled; here was the mount that could be approached and
' touched;' and here the mountain-brow, where alone the lightnings and the thick cloud would be
visible to the Camp, when the Lord ' came down in the sight of all tie people, upon Mount Sinai.'"2
The primary purpose of the Law was to establish the morality of mankind. It was the first instance,
rom the days of Noah, in which peculiar sins were marked by Divine condemnation. The general
impulse of natural justice had already prohibited crimes palpably injurious to society. But the Law
not simply strengthened that original impulse, but gave it a new distinctness, a new force, and a new
authority. It was revealed, as the Apostle declares, " on account of transgressions." And, as fear of
punishment is the natural guard against the commission of crime, the " terrors of the Lord" were
displayed to the eyes of the people. All, hitherto, had been preparative to Divine awe. The miraculous
passage of the Red Sea, the miraculous support in the Wilderness, the surrounding scene of utter
desolation, the daily rescue from famine; were all combined in creating a sense of total dependence.
But the Giving of the Law presented a new character of Jehovah. The people had, till then, seen
him only as their Protector. They were now to see Him as their Judge. Death was to be proclaimed
against national and individual crime; and the wild hills, the continual thunders, the cloudy throne,
and the angelic trumpet, were only accessories to that sacred terror, which was to be consummated
by the voice of God Himself, pronouncing the principles of moral government for all the generations
of man.
1 Biblical Researches, i. 130. 2 Biblical Researches, i. 157.
The whole scene of the sojourning of the Israelites lies in a Peninsula, between the forks of the
upper portion of the Red Sea. The Peninsula is of a triangular form, and from about half-way down
to its point at the South is a mass of mountains, intersected with deep valleys, and exhibiting a few
barren plains.
The geographical position of the Convent is in Lat. 28° and Long. 31° from Paris. The elevation
above the sea is about 4966 Paris feet.
Allusion has been already made to the differences of learned opinion on the site of the Giving of
the Law. It appears that Jebel-Musa (the Mount of Moses) exhibits no features corresponding to the
Sacred History. Robinson, to whose judgment and diligence much respect is due, regards the Plain,
Er-Rahah, with the Mount now named Horeb immediately in its front, as the most probable locality.
But he admits that he had not visited Jebel-Serbal. He also regards Horeb as anciently the name of
the whole range, and Sinai as that of a particular pinnacle ; arguing from the narrative, which, before
and after the Giving of the Law, speaks only of Horeb; while during that great transaction Sinai (with
one exception) alone is named. " As we advanced," he says, " the dark and frowning front of Sinai
itself (the present Horeb of the monks) began to appear. It was a scene of solemn grandeur wholly
unexpected, and such as we had never before seen; and the associations which at the moment rested
upon our minds were almost overwhelming. . . . Still advancing, the front of Horeb rose like a wall
before us, and one can approach quite to the foot, and touch the Mount."1
He narrates a visit which he and his companion made to many of the peaks of Sinai; but not
satisfied that the view from those agreed with the Scripture account, they decided upon scaling the
almost inaccessible peak of Es-Sufsafeh, the pinnacle of Horeb above the Convent. " We first attempted,"
he says, "to climb the side in a direct course, but found the rock so smooth and precipitous, that after
some falls, we were obliged to give it up, and clamber upwards along a steep ravine by a more
circuitous course.....The extreme difficulty, and even danger of the ascent, was well rewarded by
the prospect that opened before us. The whole plain Er-Rahah lay spread out beneath our feet, with
the adjacent Wadys and Mountains ; while Wady Esh-Sheikh on the right, and the recess on the left,
both connected with and opening broadly from Er-Rahah, presented an area which seems nearly to
double that of the plain. Our conviction was strengthened, that here, or on some one of the adjacent
cliffs, was the spot where the Lord ( descended in fire' and proclaimed the Law. Here lay the plain
where the whole congregation might be assembled; here was the mount that could be approached and
' touched;' and here the mountain-brow, where alone the lightnings and the thick cloud would be
visible to the Camp, when the Lord ' came down in the sight of all tie people, upon Mount Sinai.'"2
The primary purpose of the Law was to establish the morality of mankind. It was the first instance,
rom the days of Noah, in which peculiar sins were marked by Divine condemnation. The general
impulse of natural justice had already prohibited crimes palpably injurious to society. But the Law
not simply strengthened that original impulse, but gave it a new distinctness, a new force, and a new
authority. It was revealed, as the Apostle declares, " on account of transgressions." And, as fear of
punishment is the natural guard against the commission of crime, the " terrors of the Lord" were
displayed to the eyes of the people. All, hitherto, had been preparative to Divine awe. The miraculous
passage of the Red Sea, the miraculous support in the Wilderness, the surrounding scene of utter
desolation, the daily rescue from famine; were all combined in creating a sense of total dependence.
But the Giving of the Law presented a new character of Jehovah. The people had, till then, seen
him only as their Protector. They were now to see Him as their Judge. Death was to be proclaimed
against national and individual crime; and the wild hills, the continual thunders, the cloudy throne,
and the angelic trumpet, were only accessories to that sacred terror, which was to be consummated
by the voice of God Himself, pronouncing the principles of moral government for all the generations
of man.
1 Biblical Researches, i. 130. 2 Biblical Researches, i. 157.