All that has been said here relative to Sinai as the “mountain of the desert of Sin,” may now be applied to the further question, as to which of the two mountains, Serbâl and Gebel Mûsa, possessed such properties that it should already, before the great event of the giving the Commandments, have been regarded as a “holy mountain,” as a “mountain of God,” by the native races of the peninsula.[124] For Moses already drove the sheep of Jethro behind the desert from Midian, to the “mountain of God in Choreb;” and Aaron came to meet him on his return from Egypt to the “mountain of God.” If we hold to the belief that the necessary centre of the Sinaïtic population at that time was the Oasis Firân, so does there appear every probability that that race had founded a sanctuary, a universal place of worship in the neighbourhood, at the foot, or much more naturally at the summit, of the mountain which rose from that valley.[125] Moreover, this was the particular spot fixed for that meeting of Moses, who came out of Midian, and Aaron, who came out of Egypt. There was no occasion, in so desert and unpopulated a country, to seek out for any particularly private and remote mountain-corner for such a meeting.
From this it appears that the Sinaïtic inscriptions, which as has been already said, are principally to be found on the way to Wadi Firân, and in the Wadi Aleyât leading up to Serbâl, seem to point out that in much later times, long pilgrimages, to celebrate religious festivals, must have been undertaken to this place.[126]
Let us now turn immediately to the principal point, which, for those who keep the general circumstances of the passage of the Israelites before them, must be the most conclusive. It is not to be denied that when Moses determined to lead this great multitude into the peninsula, the first problem he had to solve by his wisdom and knowledge of the land, was the means of supporting them. For at whatever number we may reckon the wanderers, who, according to Robinson, amounted to two millions, (which, according to Lane, is the present population of all Egypt,) they were most undoubtedly an immense multitude, who suddenly and without any provision of food, were to be sustained in the desert. How is it then possible to suppose, that Moses would not have immediately fixed upon the most fertile, best watered, and shortest road, instead of a distant mountain-corner, which would have been impossible even for (I mention a large number purposely) 2,000 wanderers, with what belonged to them, to provide with food and water. Moses would have done wrong to have depended on miracles from God, as these happen only when human wisdom and human thought are at an end.
On reflection upon this undeniable proof against the hitherto supposed situation of Sinai, it appears to me that the idea will be changed, and that every close historical examination of these wonderful events must destroy it, even if grounds should also be brought forward against our acceptation of it. We will now continue the narrative. From Elim Moses reached Raphidîm in three days’ journey. The new school are generally agreed that the caravan from Abu Zelîmeh did not again return to the eastern sand-plain E’Raml, through the same Wadi Shebêkeh, or Saibeh, by which they descended, but took the usual caravan road which leads to Wadi Firân. How then would Moses have chosen the dry and much longer upper way, or even the great and still more dry round-about way along the sea-coast, by Tôr and Wadi Hebrân, instead of immediately turning into the valleys of the primitive rocks, both less dry, and rich with manna.
He must also come to Wadi Firân—no third way was possible. This is the cogent reason why (with the exception of Robinson)[127] almost all without a dissentient voice, have placed Raphidîm after Firân. It seems impossible that this oasis, if it had been traversed, should not once have been named. Already Josephus,[128] Eusebius, Jerome,[129] and, as it appears, every other author and traveller[130] place Raphidîm after the city Pharan. No spot in the whole country could have been of so much value, as these fruitful gardens of Pharan, to the native races, threatened by Moses. It is then very easy to be conceived that Moses, just here in Raphidîm, should have been attacked by the Amalekites, who would lose their most valuable possessions. He drove them back, and then only could Moses say that he had possession of the peninsula. His first goal was attained. What could tempt him to go further?
It is also written in plain words, that the people were arrived at the Mountain of God, the Mountain of the Law. As it says, that after the victory near Raphidîm, Jethro, Moses’s father-in-law, heard of all that had happened. “And then came Jethro, and Moses’s sons, and his wife to Moses in the desert, where he was encamped at the Mountain of God;” and also the Lord had already spoken to Moses, “See I will stand before you upon a rock in Choreb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall flow forth, that the people may drink;” words which could only refer to the wonderful fountain of Firân, as it has long since appeared to me.[131] That Moses really encamped here in Raphidîm, is further proved, as he now, by the advice of Jethro, organised the till now disorderly multitude, in order to be able to govern it.[132] He chose the most able men and set them over thousands, over hundreds, over fifties, and over tens; these became judges respecting the smaller occurrences, while he reserved only the most important to himself.
This proves clearly that the journey was over, and that the time of rest was come.
This certainly appears to be contradicted in the beginning of the next chapter.[133] “In the third month,[134] when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai. For they were departed from Raphidîm, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness, and then Israel encamped before the Mount, and Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called to him out of the mountain,” &c.
According to this there is a journey between Raphidîm and Sinai. This decides in favour of the tradition, which believes the Mountain of the Law to have been found beyond Firân, in the Gebel Mûsa. It will not, however, be guessed that, by this acceptation, it will fall into a much greater contradiction with the text. Furthermore the words speak of nothing more than one day’s journey;[135] also, not in the fourth book, where, nevertheless, between Elim and Raphidîm, not only Alus and Daphka, but also the Red Sea, although this lay by Elim, are particularly mentioned. From Firân to Gebel Mûsa was, at least, two long days’ journey, if not more. Then, however, “the Mountain of God” has already been mentioned in Raphidîm; likewise it has been named a rock in Choreb, and it is impossible to understand any other to be the “Mountain of God,” but the “Mountain of God, Choreb,” to which Moses drove the sheep of Jethro.
We should thus understand, that there were two “Mountains of God,” the one, “The Mountain of God Choreb,” in Raphidîm, which might be Serbâl, and one “The Mountain of God Sinai,” upon which the Commandments were given, which might be Gebel Mûsa.[136] This acceptation would, however, not only be scarcely credible, but would contradict itself most positively by the fact, that the Mountain of God, Choreb, where Moses was called, already before was designated as the Mountain of the Law;[137] (2, 3, 1, 12,) and further the general name of “God’s Mountain,” which so often appears, without any other name (2, 4, 27, 18, 5, 24, 13, 4, 10, 33,) could only be used if there were but one such mountain; and finally, that the name Sinai, or Mount Sinai, and Choreb, or Mount Choreb, continue to be used in the very same signification as the Mountain of the Law.