BURNING BUSH. — The expression recalls the miraculous event of Ex. 3:2–22, containing the account of the “call of Moses” (q.v.). The future leader, then an obscure Israelite fugitive from Egypt, in the humble role of shepherd serving a Midianite chieftain, Jethro (q.v.), while guarding his flock on Mount Sinai, saw a “bush” or thorny shrub (Heb. sēneh, cf. Arabic sanan, Akkadian sinā “thorn”), which, though in flames (“burning”), was not consumed. Intrigued by the singularity of the phenomenon, he drew near, by which means God manifested Himself to him in a tangible way.
