On Which Day Was the Torah Given at Sinai

Our Rabbis taught: On the sixth of the month the Ten Commandments were given to Israel. Rabbi Yose says: on the seventh of it. Rava said: All agree that on the New Moon they came to the wilderness of Sinai. It is written here, "On this day they came into the wilderness of Sinai" (above, verse 1), and it is written elsewhere, "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months, the first month of the year unto you" (Exodus 12:2) - just as there it is the New Moon, so here it is the New Moon. And all agree that the Torah was given on the Sabbath. It is written here, "Remember the Sabbath day" (Exodus 20:8), and it is written elsewhere, "Remember this day on which you came out of Egypt" - just as there it refers to the very substance of the day, so here it refers to the very substance of the day. Where they differ is in the fixing of the month. Rabbi Yose holds: on the first day of the week the month was fixed; on the first day He said nothing to them at all, because of the weariness of the journey; on the second day He said to them, "And you shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests" (above, verse 6); on the third He told them the command of setting bounds; on the fourth they performed the separation. And Moses ascended early and descended early - he ascended early, as it is written, "And Moses rose up early in the morning and went up unto Mount Sinai" (Exodus 34:4), and he descended early, as it is written, "Go, get you down, and you shall come up" - Scripture likens descent to ascent: just as ascent was early, so descent was early. And the Rabbis hold: on the second day of the week the month was fixed; on the second day He said nothing to them at all, because of the weariness of the journey; on the third He said to them, "And you shall be unto Me"; on the fourth He told him the command of setting bounds; on the fifth they performed the separation. They raised an objection: "and sanctify them today and tomorrow" - this is difficult for Rabbi Yose. Rabbi Yose could say to you: Moses added one day of his own understanding. For it was taught: Three things Moses did of his own understanding, and the Holy One, blessed be He, agreed with him. He added one day of his own understanding. What did he expound? "Today and tomorrow" - today should be like tomorrow: just as tomorrow includes its night with it, so today should include its night with it; but the night of this present day has already gone out; learn from this that there are two full days besides this present one. And how do we know that the Holy One, blessed be He, agreed with him? For the Divine Presence did not rest until the morning of the Sabbath. He separated from his wife. What did he expound? He said: if Israel, with whom the Divine Presence spoke only one hour, He set them a fixed time, "Be ready for three days" - I, with whom the Divine Presence speaks at every single hour, how much more so. And how do we know the Holy One, blessed be He, agreed with him? As it is written, "Go say to them, Return to your tents" (Deuteronomy 5:27), and it is written after it, "But as for you, stand here by Me." He broke the tablets. What did he expound? He said: if of the Passover offering, which is one of the six hundred thirteen commandments, the Torah said, "No alien shall eat of it" (Exodus 12:43), then with the whole Torah here and Israel having made the calf, how much more so. And how do we know the Holy One, blessed be He, agreed with him? As it is written, "which you broke" - may your strength be straight that you broke them. Come and hear: "And they shall be ready for the third day" (below, verse 11) - this is difficult for Rabbi Yose. We have already said Moses added one day of his own understanding. Come and hear: "third" - the third of the month and the third of the week - this is difficult for the Rabbis. The Rabbis could say to you: whose view is this? It is Rabbi Yose's. What is "third, third" for? For what was taught: "And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD," and it is written, "And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD" - what did the Holy One, blessed be He, say to Moses, and what did Moses say to Israel, and what did Israel say to Moses, and what did Moses reply before the Mighty One? This is the command of setting bounds, the words of Rabbi Yose. Rabbi Yehudah says: at first he set forth its punishment, as it is written, "And Moses returned," matters that drive back a person's mind, and at last he set forth the giving of its reward, as it is written, "And Moses told," matters that draw a person's heart like aggadah. And there are those who say: at first he set forth the giving of its reward, as it is written, "And Moses returned," matters that settle a person's mind, and at last he set forth its punishment, as it is written, "And Moses told," matters that are hard upon a person like sinews. Come and hear: "sixth, the sixth of the month, the sixth of the week," and so on. What is "sixth" for? Rava said: for their encamping. Rav Acha bar Yaakov said: for their journeying. And they differ regarding the Sabbath of Marah, which is written in the latter Commandments, "Keep the Sabbath day as the LORD commanded you" (Deuteronomy 5:12) - at Marah, where it is written, "there He made for them a statute and an ordinance." One master holds: on the New Moon they encamped, and the sixth from their encamping is the sixth of the month, which is the sixth of the week, for they were not yet commanded regarding boundaries. And one master holds: it is also for their journeying, for on the day they came to Sinai they journeyed from Rephidim, for they were also commanded regarding boundaries. "And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto you in a thick cloud" - when Rav Acha bar Rav Adda came, he said: in the West they divide this verse into three verses.