The Burning Bush

Also known as: The Unconsumed Bush, The Unburnt Bush, Moses at Horeb, The Bush That Burned and Was Not Consumed, The Revelation at Horeb, Moses’ Call Narrative

The theophany of Exodus 3–4 at Mount Horeb, where Moses, tending Jethro’s flock, sees a bush aflame yet not consumed. The Angel of the Lord appears in the flame and God speaks from the midst of the bush — bidding Moses remove his sandals on holy ground, revealing the divine Name (“I AM WHO I AM”), and commissioning him to lead Israel out of Egypt. The Church reads the bush that bore divine fire unconsumed as the great type of the Theotokos, who bore God incarnate without being consumed — an image at the very heart of Orthodox Marian hymnography and of the “Unburnt Bush” icon.