Fifteen Pieces of Silver and the Count Up to Sinai

Rabbi Yochanan opened: "So I bought her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver" (Hosea 3:2). Rabbi Yochanan said: "So I bought her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver" means "I betrothed her to myself for fifteen" -- this is the fifteenth of Nisan. "And a homer of barley" (Hosea 3:2), behold, that is thirty. "And a half-homer of barley" (Hosea 3:2), behold, that is forty-five. These are the five remaining days. "And I said to her, You shall stay with me many days" (Hosea 3:3). Rabbi Hiyya taught: "days" means two, "many" means three; behold, that is the fifty days of the Omer. From here onward, the Ten Commandments: "You shall not play the harlot" (Hosea 3:3) corresponds to "You shall make for yourselves no idols" (Leviticus 26:1). "And you shall not belong to another man" (Hosea 3:3) corresponds to "You shall have no other gods" (Exodus 20:2). If you do so, "then I also will be toward you" (Hosea 3:3). When? "In the third month" (Exodus 19:1).