The burning bush is an object described by the Book of Exodus as being located on Mount Horeb; according to the narrative, the bush was on fire, but was not consumed by the flames, hence the name. In the narrative, the burning bush is the location at which Moses was appointed by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into Canaan.
The Hebrew word used in the narrative, that is translated into English as bush, is seneh (סנה), which refers in particular to brambles; seneh is a biblical dis legomenon, only appearing in two places, both of which describe the burning bush. It is possible that the reference to a burning bush is based on a mistaken interpretation of Sinai (סיני), a mountain described by the Bible as being on fire, and some scholars think that the reference to the burning bush in Deuteronomy, in particular, might be a copyist's error, and may perhaps originally have been a reference to Sinai.
Read more about Burning Bush: Biblical Narrative, St. Catherine's Monastery, Interpretations From Eastern Orthodoxy, Alternative Theories, Symbolic Uses of The Burning Bush
Famous quotes containing the words burning and/or bush:
“Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thought!”
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1809–1882)
“I will cut the head off my baby and swallow it if it will make Bush lose.”
—Zainab Ismael, Iraqi housewife. As quoted in Newsweek magazine, p. 31 (November 16, 1992)