Can we identify the famous burning bush? Scholars have suggested a blackberry bush but does this make sense? I decided to take a closer look, here is what my research found. The answer is actually hidden in plain view,
"Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” Exodus 3:1-3
It is interesting that Moses was not shocked that the bush was on fire, but instead that it was not consumed. The reason for this will soon be clear.
There are many different words for thornbush that is used in the bible, like H6975 qos or H329 atad or H8068 samir. The word Moses wrote was the Hebrew word “הַסְּנֶה” pronounced haw-sen-eh. The ‘haw’ sound is the word ‘the’, and the word for bush is “סְנֶה”, sen-eh. This word is ONLY used in the ENTIRE Old Testament to refer SPECIFICALLY to THIS burning bush.
Here are the definitions for this word,
Strong’s H5572 Seneh – from an unused root meaning to prick; a bramble
Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon – noun masculine, a thorny bush, Aramaic thorn-bush
Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon – masculine, a bush, thorn-bush, Arabic senna
Notice in that last entry, the Arabic word is ‘senna’. This form of the word may look familiar to you. The Senna plant is well-known all over the world. There are some species of this plant that do have thorns, but what probably gained it the reputation of ‘thornbush’ is its laxative properties. This plant was a weed, generally not suitable for consumption by people or livestock. So, unless someone needed a laxative, this weed was not something you wanted around where your sheep or goats could get into it. These types of weeds were burned. This is why Moses was not surprised it was on fire. It would be a kindness to set it on fire so other shepherds would not have the hazard to deal with. To see a Senna bush on fire was expected, Moses probably set fire to many during his days.
Although scholars have suggested the burning bush was a Blackberry Bush, we know that this doesn’t make sense for a number of reasons. First of all, why would you burn a plant that is a plentiful source of fruit in such an environment? Second of all, not only is it a source of fruit, it is highly regarded for medicinal purposes. It is well-known for treating diabetes among other conditions like diarrhea, hemorrhoids, dysentery, insect bites, mouth ulcers, and wounds. It is also known to be anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiviral, and has now been found to be active against lung cancer cells. Lastly, the leaves are great source of food for sheep and goat grazing. It is highly unlikely that anyone would be burning wild blackberry bushes in the mountains. The Arabic word for the Blackberry Bush is ʻaleq; ʻuleq; ṭūṭ; alealiq not senna.
In Luke, it is made even more clear that this wasn’t a fruit bush. The Greek word ‘batos’ which is used in the New Testament to refer to the famous burning bush, is also spoken of in the verse below where we see that this bush does not produce good fruit,
“For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.” (batos) Luke 6:43-44
That verse would not really get across the meaning intended if Christ was referring to a blackberry bush which produces good and delicious fruit. Clearly, the bush Christ was referring to either had no fruit or it had bad fruit. This excludes the Blackberry Bush.
Moses specifically called the bush a Senna. Senna plants were common in Africa, Egypt, the Sinai Peninsula, and through the Arabian Peninsula all the way to India. Many people are unaware that the location of the burning bush of Mount Sinai was in Midian which means it was in Saudi Arabia, not on the Sinai Peninsula. The Sinai Peninsula was part of Egypt and occupied by Egyptian outposts which is why Moses traveled all the way to Midian when he fled Egypt. Midian is the Western coast of Saudi Arabia. The Apostle Paul confirms the location of Mount Sinai in Arabia,
“for this Hagar is MOUNT SINAI IN ARABIA, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children” Galatians 4:25
Paul most likely headed to Mount Sinai after his commission by Christ. Paul tells us he went to Arabia, he was not interested in consulting with mankind, he was looking for consultation with God.
"But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I DID NOT IMMEDIATELY CONFER WITH FLESH AND BLOOD, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; BUT I WENT TO ARABIA, and returned again to Damascus." Galatians 1:15-17
Focusing in on Midian, we need to look for information on the Senna in Saudi Arabia. The native Senna plant listed by the Saudi Arabia Botanical Society is the Senna Alexandrina. It goes by many names such as True Senna, Alexandrian Senna, Cassia Acutifolia, Cassia Senna, Tinnevelly Senna, Cassia Lanceolata, and many others.
So what did this plant look like? What did Moses see? This picture shows the bush, the flowers, the mature dried pods, and the seeds.
After combing through multiple sources, I found the following descriptions:
The Senna is of the Legume family. It is a deciduous perennial shrub that can grow 1-3 metres tall with a spread of 1 metre. It is found in semi-desert scrub and grassland, particularly on valley bottoms, flood plains, and river banks. It can be found up to 1,300 metres in elevation. It has bright yellow flowers, and produces flowers and pods throughout the year. It survives in drought conditions.
It is interesting to know that this plant is also known in Arabic as Sanna Mekki. Sanna means brightness, radiance. Mekki means “Meccan”, a person or thing that is from the city of Mecca in Arabia. This name gives a clue that this plant has carried its association with the burning bush event, and this meaning was passed down through the generations.
The photos below are of the Senna Alexandrina.
Mount Sinai, itself, most likely was given that name by Moses because of the burning Senna bush. Other scholars claim other possible meanings like it’s sharp appearance which could be seen as a tooth, so as to equate a similar word. But let’s think about this, would you name the mountain for a miracle that changed your entire life and the lives of the nation of Israel, or because its appearance might resemble a tooth? It is most likely that Moses named the mountain to be forever known as Mount Senna, as an alternative to the name it was known by at the time which was Mount Horeb.
But why did Moses change the word from Senna to Sinai? It’s simply a matter of changing the word from a noun to an adjective, the word ‘Senna’ becomes descriptive. Hebrew grammar supports this. Look at how a Hebrew noun structure changes when it becomes an adjective, the letter yud, which looks similar to an apostrophe י, is added to the end of the word (remember, Hebrew reads from right to left).
Compare the following:
Rock סלע letters/sounds S L AH
Rocky סַלעִי letters/sounds S L AH EE
Lemon לימון letters/sounds L EE M O N
Lemony לימוני letters/sounds L EE M O N EE
And very similar is the structure for these next two,
Thorn קוֹץ letters/sounds K O TZ
Thorny קוצני letters/sounds K O TZ N EE
Senna סְנֶה letters/sounds SE N EH
Sinai סִינָי letters/sounds S EE N AH EE which creates S EE N AI like 'Chai' tea
In structure, it appears that ‘Sinai’ is similar to terms like ‘snowy’ or ‘rocky’, but instead ‘Senna-y’.
Photo credits: Photo 1 plant drawing - Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen in naturgetreuen Abbildungen mit kurz erläuterndem Texte :.Gera-Untermhaus :Fr. Eugen Köhler,[1883-1914]. biodiversitylibrary.org/page/303248,
Photo 2, 3, 4 of Senna Alexandrina - taken by siddarthmachado, https://israel.inaturalist.org/observations/38630217
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