BURNING BUSH. - The expression recalls the miraculous event of Ex. 3:2-22, containing the account of the "vocation of Moses" (v.). The future leader, at that time an obscure Israelite fugitive from Egypt, in the humble role of shepherd in the service of a Midianite chief, Jethro (v.), being at Sinai guarding the flock, saw a "bush" or thorny shrub (Heb. sēneh, cf. Arabic sanan, Akkad. sinā "thorn"), which, though it was on fire ("burning"), was not consumed. Intrigued by the singularity of the event, he drew near: by that means God manifested himself to him perceptibly.

Having called Moses to reverence, God entrusted him with the mission of liberating his people from Egyptian servitude, revealing to him his name, Yahweh (v.). Fire is one of the elements common in theophanies in various forms (already with Abraham: Gen. 15, 17); conceived as immaterial, it appeared particularly suited to the symbolic purpose.

BURNING BUSH - Moses before the burning bush while God speaks to him, fresco attributed to Guillaume de Marcillat (early 16th century) - Vatican Palace, ceiling of the Room of Heliodorus.(phot. Alinari)

In the Sinaitic region a type of thorny shrub of a rosaceous plant, called crataegus sinaitica, is widespread today.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: M. Jullien, Sinā et Syrie, Lille 1893, p. 118; L. Fonck, in M. Hagen, Lex. Bibl., II, p. 789.

Giovanni Rinaldi

@incollection{ec10_roveto_ardente, author = {Rinaldi, Giovanni}, title = {Roveto Ardente}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {X}, pages = {1417--1418}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1953}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/roveto-ardente} }

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Burning Bush

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