Exo 3:5-6 | TNotes | STEP | 3:5 The soil around the bush was holy ground, while the soil on the bottom of Moses’ sandals was common. The common cannot touch the holy without being transformed or destroyed (see thematic note for Clean, Unclean, and Holy at end of chapter). At the outset of the Exodus, God was making it plain that he is absolutely “other” than his creation, a reality that cannot be overlooked in a proper divine-human relationship. The word holy occurs only a few times in the Bible prior to Exod 3:5 . It now becomes the central descriptor of God in the Old Testament. In other Semitic languages, the same root occurs infrequently. It does not describe a moral quality in these other languages but simply what is “other than” human. The pagan gods, for instance, were “holy” only in the sense of being “other”—they did everything humans do, good and evil, but on a larger scale. In the Bible, by contrast, moral perfection is a central idea of the term holy. The one true God is the only being in the universe who truly stands apart from this world and is worthy of being called “holy” in this general sense. The true God is perfectly consistent and moral in his character. Here, at the burning bush, God revealed his otherness. Later at Sinai, he revealed his moral character in his requirements for those who would be his covenant partners (see Exod 19:6 ; 20:1–23:33 ; see also Lev 11:45 ; 1 Pet 1:13-16 ).

a3:5►

bExod 3:5►

cExod 19:6►

d20:1–23:33►

eLev 11:45►

f1 Pet 1:13-16►

g3:6►

hMatt 22:32►

iMark 12:26►

jLuke 20:37►

‏ Exodus 3:5-6

3:5 ^a The soil around the bush was holy ground, while the soil on the bottom of Moses’ sandals was common. The common cannot touch the holy without being transformed or destroyed (see thematic note for Clean, Unclean, and Holy at end of chapter). At the outset of the Exodus, God was making it plain that he is absolutely “other” than his creation, a reality that cannot be overlooked in a proper divine-human relationship. The word holy occurs only a few times in the Bible prior to Exod 3:5 ^b. It now becomes the central descriptor of God in the Old Testament. In other Semitic languages, the same root occurs infrequently. It does not describe a moral quality in these other languages but simply what is “other than” human. The pagan gods, for instance, were “holy” only in the sense of being “other”—they did everything humans do, good and evil, but on a larger scale. In the Bible, by contrast, moral perfection is a central idea of the term holy. The one true God is the only being in the universe who truly stands apart from this world and is worthy of being called “holy” in this general sense. The true God is perfectly consistent and moral in his character. Here, at the burning bush, God revealed his otherness. Later at Sinai, he revealed his moral character in his requirements for those who would be his covenant partners (see Exod 19:6 ^c; 20:1–23:33 ^d; see also Lev 11:45 ^e; 1 Pet 1:13-16 ^f).
3:6 ^g This transcendent God had committed himself to Moses’ ancestors in a faithful promise maintained for hundreds of years. Moses was in awe of the one, holy, and transcendent God of Abraham. Jesus quoted this verse when he was sparring with the Sadducees about the concept of resurrection (Matt 22:32 ^h; Mark 12:26 ⁱ; Luke 20:37 ^j).