The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002.
burning bush
A bush described in the Book of Exodus; God revealed himself to Moses, telling him that he must go to the pharaoh to free the Israelites from slavery, and that Moses must also lead them to the Promised Land. This was a miraculous appearance of God, for “the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.” God told Moses, speaking out of the bush, “I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” When Moses asked God for his name, “God said unto Moses, ‘I Am That I Am.’”
