Moses Veiled in the Cloud Before Receiving the Torah

(Exodus 24:15-16) "And the glory of the LORD abode upon Mount Sinai." It was taught: Moses ascended in the cloud, was covered by the cloud, and was sanctified by the cloud, in order to receive the Torah for Israel in purity, as it is said, "And the glory of the LORD abode upon Mount Sinai." This event took place after the Ten Commandments, at the start of the forty days. These are the words of Rabbi Yose the Galilean. Rabbi Akiva says: "And the glory of the LORD abode" on the New Moon; "and the cloud covered it" refers to the mountain; "and He called to Moses on the seventh day," while Moses and all Israel were standing there, and Scripture comes only to assign honor to Moses. Rabbi Natan says: Scripture comes only to purge the food and drink in his innards, to make him like the ministering angels. Rabbi Matya ben Charash says: Scripture comes only to instill awe in him, so that the Torah would be given in awe, fear, trembling, and quaking, as it is said (Psalms 2:11), "Serve the LORD with fear [and rejoice with trembling]" - in the place of rejoicing, there shall be trembling. On what do Rabbi Yose the Galilean and Rabbi Akiva differ? On the dispute of these Tannaim, for it was taught: On the sixth of the month the Torah was given to Israel; Rabbi Yose says, on the seventh of it. The one who says it was given on the sixth holds that Moses ascended on the seventh. The one who says the seventh holds that on the seventh it was given and on the seventh he ascended. Rabbi Yose the Galilean reasons like the first Tanna, who said the Torah was given on the sixth of the month; therefore this event took place after the Ten Commandments. "And the glory of the LORD abode upon Mount Sinai" in order to receive the Torah, for if you should think "And the glory of the LORD abode" was on the New Moon, "and the cloud covered it," the mountain, "and He called to Moses," to receive the Ten Commandments, behold, they already received them on the sixth and the cloud already lifted on the sixth. And Rabbi Akiva reasons like Rabbi Yose, who said the Torah was given on the seventh of the month. It works well for Rabbi Akiva, for this is how you find that on the seventeenth of Tammuz the tablets were broken: the twenty-fourth of Sivan plus sixteen days of Tammuz complete the forty days that he was on the mountain, and on the seventeenth of Tammuz he descended, came, and broke the tablets. But according to Rabbi Yose the Galilean, who reckons six days of separation plus forty days on the mountain, the tablets would not have been broken until the twenty-third of Tammuz. Rabbi Yose the Galilean would answer you: the forty days on the mountain were counted together with the six days of separation. "And He called to Moses on the seventh day," while Moses and all Israel were standing there, and Scripture comes only to assign honor to Moses. They raised an objection: (Numbers 7:89) "And he heard the voice speaking to him" - a voice for him, a voice to him; Moses heard it and all Israel did not hear it. This is no difficulty: this case speaks of the calling, that case of the speaking.