Biblical Hebrew Forum

[George Athas <George.Athas AT moore.edu.au>]

The current Sinai Peninsula is usually seen as the general region in which Mt 
Sinai is located. However, if this is the case, there is a slight 
inconsistency in that Sinai is associated with the region of Midian. The 
region of Midian is located in northern Arabia, not in the Sinai Peninsula. 
So this leaves us with three options regarding the location of Mt Sinai:


 1.  It was located in northern Arabia where Midian was.
 2.  Midian was much larger than we have thought to date and included parts 
of the Sinai Peninsula on the other side of the Gulf of Aqaba.
 3.  The various texts which talk about Sinai/Horeb are geographically 
inconsistent, with one text placing it in the Sinai Peninsula and another in 
northern Arabia.

Given these options, I think it's safe to say that we really do not know 
precisely where Sinai was.

GEORGE ATHAS
Moore Theological College (Sydney, Australia)
www.moore.edu.au