We all know that Shavuoth happens on the 6th of Sivan and that the Torah was either received
on Shavuoth itself or on the 7th of Sivan. (Rav Hirsch explains that if the Torah was received on
Shavuoth then Shavuoth celebrates the receipt of the Torah. However if the Torah was received
on the 7th of Sivan then Shavuoth celebrates our preparation and being ready for receipt of the Torah -
that is, the preparation to receive the Torah would be considered the primary thing to celebrate).
The Table below presents the verses that support the calculation that the Torah was received on the
6th or 7th of Sivan.
Justifying Verse
| Event
| Date of Occurrence
| Rational
|
Ex19-01a
| Jews arrive at Sinai
| 1st Day of Sivan
| Verse explicitly says: On 1st of 3rd month they arrived at Sinai.
|
Ex19-03a
| Moses receives prophetic orders
| 2nd Day of Sivan
| Reasonable assumption that each event was done on a new day giving time to prepare responses.
|
Ex19-08a
| Moses relates prophetic orders of day 2 to nation
| 3rd day of Sivan
| Reasonable assumption that each event was done on a new day giving time to prepare responses.
|
Ex19-09c
| Moses relates response of nation to orders of God
| 4th day of Sivan
| Reasonable assumption that each event was done on a new day giving time to prepare responses.
|
Ex19-11b
| God, after receiving nation's affirmative response, asks for 3 days of separation
| Days 4,5,6 of Sivan
| The 3 days began on the 4th and hence were concluded on 6th.
|
Ex24
| Nation offers sacrifices in preparation for receipt of Torah; prophetic visions happen
| Day 5 of Sivan
| Ex24-01 states that God had told Moses to go up to God. So this event happened
prior to actual Torah receipt. Also it is logical that sacrifices of convenant happened prior
to convenant. Since 3 days began on 4th Sivan and ended on 6th Sivan the sacrifices must have
happened on 5th Sivan.
|
Ex19-15b
| Nation receives Torah (Prophetic revelation of decalogue)
| Day 6 or 7 of Sivan
| We know there were 3 days of preparation ordered by God. Moses commanded a
triplet of days of preparation. Hence either the Torah was received on the 3rd
of these 3 days (day 6) or after them (day 7). We can read the text either way.
|
Advanced Rashi: Rashi points out that Ex24, the sacrifices prior to the
receipt of the Torah happened on the 5th of Sivan while the Decalogue itself is stated in a prior chapter Ex20.
Rashi concludes that Textual Biblical sequence does not necessarily indicate temporal sequence.
It is important to supplement this Rashi comment with the grammatical observation that in Biblical
Hebrew, the past, as indicated by a future conjugation preceded by a vav, indicates the simple past, while
the past, as indicated by the past conjugation, indicates the past perfect (Which in English is indicated
with the participle had.) Hence Ex24-01, stated in a chapter
that occurs after the chapter with the description of the revealed law,
states, And God had told Moses to come up for revelation... The use of the past perfect,
had told gives grammatical support to the temporal precedence of Ex24 to the revelation
mentioned in Ex20, Ex21, Ex22, Ex23. This simple but convincing grammatical proof for the dictum
Textual Biblical sequence does not indicate temporal sequence seems to be an innovation of mine
not mentioned by other Biblical commentators.
|