HOREB (Heb. Hōrēb, “drought,” “desolation”). — Sinai (v.). Indeed, the vision of the burning bush, and the divine command to Moses to return there to offer sacrifice after the exodus from Egypt, are common to H. and Sinai (Ex. 3:2-12; Act. 7:30 ff.); as are the gathering of the people of Israel with the terrible theophany and the so-called Sinaitic covenant (Ex. 19:18 ff.; Deut. 4:10, 15; 5:20; 18:16); the delivery of the tablets of the Law and their placement in the Ark (Deut. 9:8 ff.; I Reg. 8:9; I Par. 5:10); the promulgation of the Law (Mal. 4:4); the worship of the golden calf (Ps. 105[106]:19; Deut. 9:8 ff.); the prolonged sojourn of the Israelites immediately after their exodus from Egypt and the point of departure for Cadesbarne (Deut. 1:2, 19, etc.); there Moses caused water to flow from a rock (Ex. 17:6), and the prophet Elijah took refuge there (I Reg. 19:8).
In this duality of names, Wellhausen’s school discerns an indication of a diversity of documents (H.: ED; Sinai: JP). Catholics offer various explanations: H. would be a Midianite name, Sinai a Canaanite name for the same mountain. More commonly, H. is regarded as the primitive name of the mountain range, and Sinai as that of the surrounding desert, which would have prevailed over the former; or else H. as the name of the entire range, Sinai as that of one of its peaks; H. for the northern peak (Rās es-Safāf, 1214 m.), Sinai for the southern one (Gebel Mūsā, 2240 m.). In the Deuteronomy, instead of Sinai, H. is always used (except in 33:2), perhaps because Sinai is connected with the lunar god Sin.