Three months out of Egypt they reach Sinai, and the terms are set before anything is given. God recites what has already been done — carried on eagles' wings, brought not out but to myself — and only then names a condition. What follows has the shape of an international treaty between a great king and a subordinate one, a resemblance to Hittite vassal documents first noticed in the 1950s and argued over ever since. Then three days of preparation, a boundary that kills anyone who crosses it, and a mountain in smoke and fire with a horn sounding that nobody is said to be blowing.