Pentecost and the Decalogue
“Though the canonical Scriptures speak of Pentecost as simply a harvest festival, yet the non-canonical documents show, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the Jews, at least as early as the days of Christ, connected with it, and commemorated on the 6th of Sivan [Pentecost], the third month, the giving of the Decalogue [the ten commandments]. “The Talmud declares that ‘the rabbis propounded that the Decalogue was given to Israel on the 6th of Sivan. . .’This is the unanimous voice of Jewish tradition.” (McClintock & Strong, “Pentecost:’ pg. 928)
This is of interest, for it provides a parallel between natural and spiritual Israel. As natural Israel was formally inducted into the Law on Pentecost, so spiritual Israel was formally inducted into the covenant of sacrifice on Pentecost. But was the Decalogue really given on Sivan 6th, as Jewish tradition asserts? It is consistent with the scriptural record of Exodus 19 if we understand verse 1 to refer to Sivan 1.
“In the third month [Sivan], when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.” (Italics ours)
“The same day” as what? The same day they left Egypt, or the same day Sivan began? We think the latter. With this thought, a probable (though not provable) sequence, consistent with verses 1-11, is:
Sivan 1: Israel camped at Sinai.
Sivan 2: Moses went up into the mount, and received a message for Israel.
Sivan 3: He received the answer of the people, “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.”
Sivan 4: Moses reascended the mount, and “returned the words of the people unto the Lord.”
God then told Moses to “Go unto the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow … for the third day [Sivan 6th] the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai…”
The passage shows that the Decalogue was given on that “third day.” This arrangement of days and events is also supported by Jewish tradition. (Mc&S, “Pentecost:’ pg. 928)