for the righteous; He is a buckler to them that walk uprightly."
[177]

For one other reason did God delay the revelation of the Torah. He
had intended giving them the Torah immediately after their exodus
from Egypt, but at the beginning of the march through the desert,
great discord reigned among them. Nor was harmony established
until the new moon of the third month, when they arrived at Mount
Sinai; whereupon God said: "The ways of the Torah are ways of
loveliness, and all its paths are paths of peace; I will yield the
Torah to a nation that dwells in peace and amity." [178] This
decision of God, now to give them the Torah, also shows how
mighty is the influence of penance. For they had been sinful upon
their arrival at Mount Sinai, continuing to tempt God and doubting
His omnipotence. After a short time, however, they changed in
spirit; and hardly had they reformed, when God found them worthy
of revealing to them the Torah.

The third month was chosen for the revelation, because everything
that is closely connected with the Torah and with Israel is triple in
number. The Torah consists of three parts, the Pentateuch, the
Prophets, and the Hagiographa; similarly the oral law consists of
Midrash, Halakah, and Haggadah. The communications between
God and Israel were carried on by three, Moses, Aaron, and
Miriam. Israel also is divided into three divisions, priests, Levites,
and laymen; and they are, furthermore, the descendants of the
three Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For God has a
preference for "the third": It was the third of Adam's sons, Seth,
who became the ancestor of humanity, and so too it was the third
among Noah's sons, Shem, who attained high station. Among the