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Glite Dictionary
Mount Sinai

Mount Sinai

4 4.1
A mountain in southern Sinai that people believe is where Moses received the Ten Commandments
  • proper noun
  • /maʊnt ˈsaɪnaɪ/
translation icon : Monte Sinaí
  • They travel to Mount Sinai where they received God's law and made a covenant to be His people.
  • Moses on Mount Sinai

Cross the Suez Canal on the Sinai Peninsula at the base of Mount Sinai.

Examples

  • After the Israelites left Egypt, it is written they miraculously crossed a mighty sea and traveled on to Mount Sinai.

    Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus (2015)

  • The second major event of the portion is when the people arrived at Mount Sinai.

    Blog text (6)

  • And the Lord went to Mount Sinai.

    Valley of the Kings (1954)

  • As the nation to hear from God directly on Mount Sinai,

    Blog text (31)

  • Do you deny the law revealed on Mount Sinai?

    Killing Jesus (2015)

  • At Mount Sinai, a priest read to them the account of the lawgiving from the Book of Moses "at the very spot."

    Academic text (2007)

  • Moses cried out to God when he came down from the top of Mount Sinai after he saw that the Israelites had sinned.

    Blog text (29)

  • While Moses was on Mount Sinai, Aaron was collecting gold to fashion a molten calf.

    Academic text (1995)

  • In the Old Testament, when Moses comes down Mount Sinai with the 10 Commandments, he is very upset to see his people worshiping a golden bull calf.

    Zeitgeist (2007)

  • When Moses received the Ten Commandments, he was on Mount Sinai.

Synonyms

Sinai
vsMount Sinai
23 6.3

A mountain peak in the southern Sinai Peninsula where Moses received the Ten Commandments

is the same mountain but uses a more general name than a peak term

Surface Forms

Mount Sinai main

Morphology

mount + Sinai

The phrase is compositional: 'Mount' indicates a mountain and 'Sinai' is a place name, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer it refers to a mountain called Sinai. The specific religious association (Moses receiving the Ten Commandments) requires extra cultural knowledge, but the core referent as a mountain is transparently derived from the parts.

Etymology

Mount Sinai is the mountain where, in old religious stories, Moses met God and received the Ten Commandments written on stone tablets. That clear image of Moses on a rocky peak with the tablets helps explain why Mount Sinai is seen as a 'sacred place' and why people visit it for its religious meaning.