<b>In the third month (Exod. 19:1).</b> Scripture says elsewhere in allusion to this verse: <i>Have I not written unto thee excellent things (shilshom) of counsels and knowledge</i> (Prov. 22:20). R. Joshua the son of R. Nehemiah said: This verse refers to the Torah, the letters of which are in groups of three (shaloshim): alef, bet, gimel, etc. In fact, everything is in groups of three. The Scripture is made up of three sections: Torah, Nevi’im (Prophets), Ketuvim (Writings); the Talmud is in three parts: Mishnah, Halakhah, and Aggadah, (God’s) agents were three: Miriam, Aaron, and Moses; prayers are recited three times; evening, morning, and noon; the sanctification is three-fold; “holy, holy, holy”; Israel is composed of three groups, the priests, the Levites, and the Israelites; the letters of Moses’ name are three, and the letters in the name of the tribe of Levi are three; the progenitors of Israel were three; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the months are arranged in groups of three, Nisan, Iyar, and Sivan, etc.; the letters in the word Sinai are three, as it is said: <i>And were come to the wilderness of Sinai</i> (Exod. 19:2); and in three days they made themselves holy, as it is said: <i>And be ready against the third day</i> (ibid., v. 11).
R. Joshua the son of Nehemiah said: The third was always the most precious. Adam had three sons, Cain, Abel, and Seth; and Seth was the most beloved, as it is said: <i>This is the book of the generations of Adam</i>, and that is followed by the sentence <i>And begot a son in his own likeness</i> (Gen. 5:3). Noah had three sons, as it is said: <i>And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth</i> (ibid. 6:10), and though Japheth was the eldest, only Shem merited greatness. Amram had three children, Miriam, Aaron, and Moses, and it is written: <i>Had not Moses His chosen stood before him</i> (Ps. 106:23). Concerning the tribes of Reuben, Simeon and Levi, Levi was the most important, as it is said: <i>At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi</i> (Deut. 10:8). Among the kings Saul, David, and Solomon, Solomon was the most beloved, as it is said: <i>Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord</i> (I Chron. 29:23). In the case of months, the third month is the most precious, as it is stated: <i>In the third month</i> (the Torah was given).
Why was the Torah not given as soon as the Israelites departed from Egypt? He did not do so because He had said to Moses: <i>After you bring the people out of Egypt, serve God on this mountain</i> (Exod. 3:12). R. Judah the son of Shalum said: This may be compared to a king’s son who has just arisen from a sickbed. His father says: “We will wait three months so that he may recuperate completely from his illness before we take him to the teacher’s home to study the law.” Similarly, when the Israelites departed from Egypt there were among them men who had been injured in their labors, and so the Holy One, blessed be He, said: I will delay giving them the Torah until they are healed.