Burning bush

Key facts and history

The event is dated to either the mid-15th century BCE (approx. 1514 BCE) or the 13th century BCE.^[1] In the biblical account, an angel of the Lord appeared in a flame from the bush, and God called out to Moses, who was grazing Jethro's flocks there.^[2] God told Moses to remove his sandals because the place was sacred, and revealed himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.^[2][3] Yahweh instructed Moses to confront Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt into Canaan, a land of "milk and honey"^[2]

Moses was reluctant, arguing he lacked eloquence, so Yahweh allowed Aaron to serve as his mouthpiece.^[1][3] Some Old Testament scholars regard the account as spliced together from the Yahwist and Elohist texts.^[4] The voice from the bush disclosed itself as Yahweh, with the name derived from the Hebrew phrase "I Am Who I Am" (אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה).^[5] In the Qur’án, while traveling with his family near the Tur, Musa saw a fire and, upon reaching the Valley of Tuwa, was called by God from a tree on the blessed ground.^[6]

God commanded Musa to remove his shoes, told him he was chosen as a prophet, and ordered him to throw his rod, which transformed into a snake.^[7]

What the cited sources add

The Reformation Study Bible account notes that the burning bush was adopted as a symbol by the Huguenots at their 12th National Synod in 1583, with the Latin motto Flagror non consumor ("I am burned but not consumed").^[8] The Huguenot leaders may have used the symbol to counter medieval Catholic art that depicted Mary with the burning bush as a type of her virgin birth.^[8] The burning bush later became the unofficial symbol of the Church of Scotland and appears in the crests of Presbyterian churches in many countries.^[8]