Burning Bush - Alternative Theories

Alternative Theories

Benny Shanon, professor of cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem wrote a paper, "Biblical Entheogens: a Speculative Hypothesis", in the philosophy journal Time and Mind, which suggests Moses may have been under the influence of a hallucinogenic substance when he witnessed the burning bush. In the abstract, Shanon states that entheogens found in arid regions of the Sinai peninsula and in the south of Israel (i.e. Negev) were commonly used for religious purposes by the Israelites though he says "I have no direct proof of this interpretation," and "such proof cannot be expected." The plants he suggests may have caused the vision are Peganum harmala, used by the Bedouin people in present times but not identified with any plant mentioned in the Bible, and acacia, mentioned frequently in the Bible, and also used in traditional Bedouin and Arab medicine. The effects of certain species of acacia are comparable to the effects of ayahuasca, which can cause users to "see music".

William Robertson Smith, in his book The Religion of the Semites, suggested that the fire in the burning bush was a form of static electricity that can develop around such objects as bushes in arid climates.

Alexander and Zhenia Fleisher relate the Biblical story of the burning bush to the plant Dictamnus. They note that

Intermittently, under yet unclear conditions, the plant excretes such a vast amount of volatiles that lighting a match near the flowers and seedpods causes the plant to be enveloped by flame. This flame quickly extinguishes without injury to the plant.

Colin Humphreys, however, notes that "the book of Exodus suggests a long-lasting fire that Moses went to investigate, not a fire that flares up and then rapidly goes out."