Σινᾶ (Sina)
Sina
(Mount) Sinai
Quick Reference
- Language
- Koine Greek
- Testament
- New Testament
- Occurrences
- 4 verses
- Root
- —
Word Overview
The proper noun Sina refers to Mount Sinai, the mountainous region in the Arabian Peninsula where Moses received the Law. Its name derives from the Hebrew word for "thorny," evoking the bush that burned but was not consumed. In Scripture, this location serves as the historical setting for the covenant between God and Israel.
This term appears only four times in the New Testament, primarily in Acts and Galatians. Stephen uses it to recount Moses’ encounter with God (Acts 7:30), while Paul employs it allegorically in Galatians 4:24-25 to contrast the old covenant of slavery with the new covenant of freedom. The word anchors these theological arguments in a specific, recognizable geographical reality.
Translators consistently render Sina as Sinai, preserving its identity as the place where the Law was given. This usage highlights the mountain’s significance not just as a physical site, but as a symbol of divine revelation and covenantal obligation within the biblical narrative.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
Mount Sinai stands as a landmark of divine encounter, where God met Moses and established His covenant with Israel. In the New Testament, this location carries weight beyond its geography, serving as a powerful symbol of the Law given to guide His people. When Stephen recounts history in Acts, he highlights Sinai as the place where living words were received, reminding us that God still speaks through His revealed word.
Paul takes this imagery further in Galatians, using Sinai to illustrate the contrast between slavery under the law and freedom in Christ. He does not dismiss the mountain’s significance but uses it to show how the old covenant points toward a greater reality found in Jesus. This helps us see that while the Law was holy, our relationship with God is now rooted in grace and adoption as His children.
Understanding Sinai enriches our view of salvation history. It shows that God’s plan unfolded progressively, leading to the ultimate covenant sealed by Christ’s sacrifice. We can appreciate the Old Testament narratives not as distant myths, but as foundational steps that prepare our hearts for the freedom and love offered in the New Testament.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 4 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- Sinai4×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- Σινᾶ4×
Key Verses
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Acts 7:30
“When forty years were fulfilled, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.
This verse identifies Sinai as the specific wilderness location where God appeared to Moses in a burning bush, marking the start of his mission.
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Galatians 4:24
These things contain an allegory, for these are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children to bondage, which is Hagar.
Paul uses this reference to explain that the covenant associated with Sinai represents a state of bondage, contrasting it with the freedom found in Christ.
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Galatians 4:25
For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to the Jerusalem that exists now, for she is in bondage with her children.
Here Paul explicitly links Hagar to Mount Sinai in Arabia, showing how the physical mountain symbolizes the current Jerusalem’s spiritual condition under the law.