him there, and said: “Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel: You have seen what I have done to the Egyptians and how I have carried you upon the wings of eagles and have taken you to Myself. If, therefore, you will hear My voice and keep My covenant[1], you shall be My peculiar possession above all peoples, and you shall be to Me a priestly Kingdom and a holy Nation.”
Moses went down from the mountain, and related to the people what God had said. They all cried out with one voice: “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.” Then Moses went up again to the mountain, and the Lord told him that all the
,_fig._25.jpg)
Fig. 25. Mount Sinai with St. Catherine Convent in the foreground.
people should sanctify and purify[2] themselves from all defilement that might render them unfit to appear in His presence, and to
- ↑ My covenant. God renewed with all the people the covenant which He had made with their forefather Abraham (Chapter IX).
- ↑ Purify. They were to purify themselves inwardly by penance, as well as outwardly by ablutions, because the Most Holy was going to manifest Himself to them.
part of Arabia are, in the wider sense, known as Sinai. In this chain there are two peaks; one is Horeb, and the other is known as Sinai in the more particular sense of the word (Fig. 25). It was in front of this latter mountain that the Israelites encamped. It is 7363 feet high, and rises perpendicularly from a large plateau to a height of 2000 feet. From this plateau the Israelites could see everything which took place on the mountain.
