volume 3, issue 2, 2011, pages 125-147

DOI: https://doi.org/10.64438/sbsHWUP9942
Published online: 2011-12-01
Published in print: 2011-12-30

Abstract: The well known passage, the burning bush, in Exodus 3:1–4:18, is associated in scholarly literature with the vocation of Moses and the revelation of God’s name (cf. 3:14-15). Although there are two different understandings of the passage – the revelation of God(’s name) and the vocation of Moses – they are not contradictory, but closely related. Our study presents lexical, content and structural reasons why the preferred understanding of the whole passage is God’s revelation. Thus the study shows that the priority in the narration is towards the Lord’s revelation and his saving project (cf. 3:7-10). This appears to fit better with the unifying theme of the Book of Exodus, which begins with the liberation of the Israelites from slavery and ends with the worship of the Lord who saved them.