Wikipedia's first sentence called it “not consumed by fire”. Today it says “location at which moses was appointed by god to lead the israelites out of egypt and into canaan”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2005
Catherine's monastery, Sinai According to the Bible , in Exodus 3:2, Moses heard the voice of God coming from a Burning bush that was not consumed by fire . This occurred after he had to flee Egypt , and was when he was called to go and demand the release of the Israelites . In Byzantine times, Saint Catherine's monastery was built on the supposed site of the biblical event. What was claimed to be the original burning bush is now dead, but a claimed descendant is on view today. Burning bush is also a common name applied to several different, unrelated plants: The herb Dictamnus albus , also known as false dittany, white dittany, or gas plant, belonging to the family Rutaceae . It gets its name from comparison to the Bible account; the whole plant produces aromatic oils that can catch fire readily on hot days, though (unlike the plant in the biblical account) not without injury to the plant. Shrubs in the genus Euonymus , mostly known as spindles , in the family Celastraceae , are also called burning bush in North America , because of their bright red foliage in fall. Plants in the genera Bassia ( Chenopodiaceae ) and Combretum ( Combretaceae ) are also sometimes known as burning bush. Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Burning bush . If an internal link incorrectly led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16321859.
The opening as it stood in 2010 10 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Painting from Saint Isaac's Cathedral , Saint Petersburg 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 .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 369239548.
The opening as it stood in 2015
God Appears to Moses in Burning Bush . Painting from Saint Isaac's Cathedral , Saint Petersburg The burning bush is an object described by the Book of Exodus 3:1–22 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 Yahweh (God) to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into Canaan . As a powerful religious symbol, the burning bush represents many things to Jews , Christians and Muslims such as God's miraculous energy, sacred light, illumination, and the burning heart of purity, love and clarity.From a human standpoint, it also represents Moses' reverence and fear before the divine presence . 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.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 653381483.
The opening as it stood in 2020 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Location at which Moses was appointed by God to lead the Israelites into Canaan For other uses, see Burning bush (disambiguation) .Seventeenth century painting by Sébastien Bourdon in the Hermitage Museum , Saint Petersburg The burning bush is an object described by the Book of Exodus 3:1–4:17 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 biblical 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 in the narrative that is translated into English as bush is seneh ( [ s ə n e h ] ), 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 ( [ s i n a j ] ), a mountain described in Exodus 19:18 as being on fire.Another possibility is that the use of seneh ( [ s ˈ n e ] ) may be a deliberate pun on Sinai ( ), a feature common in Hebrew texts.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 962401987.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Supernatural phenomenon described by Exodus 3:1–4:17 For other uses, see Burning bush (disambiguation) .Seventeenth century painting by Sébastien Bourdon in the Hermitage Museum , Saint Petersburg The burning bush (or the unburnt bush ) refers to an event recorded in the Jewish Torah (as also in the biblical Old Testament ).It is described in the third chapter of the Book of Exodus as having occurred on Mount Horeb .According to the biblical account, the bush was on fire, but was not consumed by the flames, hence the name. In the biblical narrative, the burning bush is the location at which Moses was appointed by Yahweh to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into Canaan . The Hebrew word in the narrative that is translated into English as bush is seneh ( סנה [ s ə n e ] ), which refers in particular to brambles ; seneh is a biblical dis legomenon , only appearing in two places, both of which describe the burning bush. The use of seneh may be a deliberate pun on Sinai ( סיני ), a feature common in Hebrew texts.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1171085111.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Supernatural phenomenon described by Exodus 3:1–4:17 For other uses, see Burning bush (disambiguation) . Seventeenth century painting by Sébastien Bourdon in the Hermitage Museum , Saint Petersburg The burning bush (or the unburnt bush ) refers to an event recorded in the Jewish Torah (as also in the biblical Old Testament and Islamic scripture). It is described in the third chapter of the Book of Exodus as having occurred on Mount Horeb . According to the biblical account, the bush was on fire but was not consumed by the flames, hence the name. In the biblical and Quranic 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 in the narrative that is translated into English as bush is seneh ( Hebrew : סְנֶה , romanized : səne ), which refers in particular to brambles ; seneh is a dis legomenon , only appearing in two places, both of which describe the burning bush. The use of seneh may be a deliberate pun on Sinai ( סיני ), a feature common in Hebrew texts.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1292223952. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “not consumed by fire”. Today it says “location at which moses was appointed by god to lead the israelites out of egypt and into canaan”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
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What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
not consumed by fire
Now
location at which moses was appointed by god to lead the israelites out of egypt and into canaan
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
