Note 107 — LETTER XXXIII.

St. Jerome expressly says the same thing, since he adds to the words of Eusebius s. v. Choreb: Mihi autem videtur quod duplici nomine idem mons nunc Sina, nunc Choreb vocetur. Even Josephus evidently considered both mountains to be one, for wherever Choreb is mentioned in the Bible, he placed Sinai instead; the same is done by the author of the Acts of the Apostles (vii. 30), and also by Syncellus (Chron., p. 190), who says of Elijah, ἐπορεύετο ἐν Χωρὴβ τῷ ὄρει ἤτοι Σιναίῳ. (The following passage within brackets added by the author, April, 1853.—Tr.) [There has been an attempt to prove, from the Greek termination Σιναίῳ, that Choreb is only meant to designate here part of the range of Sinai. However, the word cannot be understood thus in the sense of an adjective, as there was no other but the Sinaitic Choreb. Τὸ ὄρος Σιναῖον (Syncell., p. 122; Cosmas, p. 195; ἀνὰ μέσον Ἐλεὶμ καὶ τοῦ Σιναίου ὄρους. Joseph. Ant. Jud. 3, 5: ἄνεισι (Μωυσῆς) πρὸς τὸ Σιναῖον; compare the inscription on the convent, Appendix E) is used just as much as Τὸ ὄρος Σινᾶ. But if, which is not the case, Choreb especially was only called Τὸ Σιναῖον, not Τὸ Σινᾶ ὄρος, we could only infer the reverse, namely, that Sinai must have meant a part of the range of Choreb.] Ewald, especially among modern scholars, brings forward the same opinion of the similarity of the two mounts. He says (Gesch. des. V. Isr., ii., p. 84) the two names, Sinai and Horeb, do not change because they designated points in the same range, situated beside each other; but the name of Sinai is clearly the most ancient, for it was used also by Deborah, Judges v. 5, whereas the name of Horeb cannot be pointed out before the period of the fourth narrator (compare Exodus iii. 1; xvii. 6; xxxiii. 6); but it then becomes very prevalent, as is proved in Deuteronomy, and in the passages of 1 Kings viii. 9; xix. 8; Mal. iv. 4; Psalms cvi. 19, while it says nothing against this view when very late authors reintroduce the name of Sinai, merely from their learned acquaintance with the old books.