Mount Sinai
/ˌmaʊnt ˈsaɪnaɪ/
proper noun
Origin
Hebrew
Sin (סִין) — Possibly related to the moon deity 'Sin' or the thorny landscape.
Overview
Meaning Now
- A mountain in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, traditionally identified as the site where God delivered the Ten Commandments to Moses.
Literal older meaning
The mountain of the desert of Sin.
Language path
Semitic → Biblical Hebrew → English
Earliest form
Har Sinai (הַר סִינַי)
Earliest period
c. 7th–5th century BCE
Journey
Mount Sinai occupies a central role in the Abrahamic religions as the place of the revelation of the Decalogue. In tradition, it is the mountain where Moses received the stone tablets, establishing the covenant between God and the Israelites.
Evolution
- Biblical Hebrew
Har Sinai
“Mount Sinai”
Used in the Torah to denote the holy mountain.
- Septuagint (Greek)
Oros Sina
“Mount Sinai”
Hellenization of the Hebrew name.
- Middle English
Mount Synai
“Mount Sinai”
Adoption into English via Latin ecclesiastical tradition.
Connections
Word parts
Mount
root
a large natural elevation
Sinai
root
the proper name of the mountain
Related across languages
Arabic
Jabal Musa
Mountain of Moses
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Related to Mount Sinai
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.