Numbers 28
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“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” — John 5:39
1And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
The Lord spake unto Moses. It is impossible to say with any assurance whether the law of offerings contained in these two chapters was really given to Moses shortly before his death, or whether it was ever given in this connected and completed form. It is obvious that the formula with which the section opens might be used with equal propriety to introduce a digest of the law on this subject compiled by Moses himself, or by some subsequent editor of his writings from a number of scattered regulations, written or oral, which had Divine authority. It is indeed quite true that this routine of sacrifice was only suitable for times of settled habitation in the promised land, and therefore there is a certain propriety in its introduction here on the eve of the entry into Canaan. But it must be remembered, on the other hand, that the same thing holds true of very much of the legislation given at Mount Sinai, and avowedly of that comprised in Num_15:1-41 (see Num_15:2), which yet appears from its position to have been given before the rebellion of Korah in the wilderness. It is indeed plain that the ritual, festal, and sacrificial system, both as elaborated in Leviticus and as supplemented in Numbers, presupposed throughout an almost immediate settlement in Canaan. It is also plain that a system so elaborate, and entailing so much care and expense, could hardly have come into regular use during the conquest, or for some time after. It cannot, therefore, be said with any special force that the present section finds its natural place here. All we can affirm is that the system itself was of Divine origin, and dated in substance from the days of Moses. In any case, therefore, it is rightly introduced with the usual formula which attests that it came from God, and came through Moses. It must be noted that a great variety of observances which were zealously followed by the Jews of later ages find no place here. Compare, e.g; the ceremonial pouring of water during the feast of tabernacles, to which allusion is made by the prophet Isaiah (Isa_12:3) and our Lord (Joh_7:37, Joh_7:38).
2Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, My offering, and my bread for my sacrifices made by fire, for a sweet savour unto me, shall ye observe to offer unto me in their due season.
CHAPTER 28
Nu 28:1-31. Offerings to Be Observed.
2. Command the children of Israel, and say unto them--The repetition of several laws formerly enacted, which is made in this chapter, was seasonable and necessary, not only on account of their importance and the frequent neglect of them, but because a new generation had sprung up since their first institution and because the Israelites were about to be settled in the land where those ordinances were to be observed.
My offering, and my bread--used generally for the appointed offerings, and the import of the prescription is to enforce regularity and care in their observance.
My offering, and my bread. Literally, "my korban, my bread." The general term korban is here restricted by the words which follow to the meat offering. "Bread" (לֶחֶם) is translated "food" in Le Num_3:11, Num_3:16 (see the note there). Sweet savour. רֵיחַ. Septuagint, εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας (see on Gen_8:21; Le Gen_3:16; Eph_5:2).
3And thou shalt say unto them, This is the offering made by fire which ye shall offer unto the LORD; two lambs of the first year without spot day by day, for a continual burnt offering.
This is the offering made by fire. The daily offering prescribed at Exo_29:38-42, and which had presumably never been intermitted since, is specified again here because it formed the foundation of the whole sacrificial system. Whatever else was offered was in addition to it, not in lieu of it. The sabbath and festival use of the Jews was developed out of the ferial use, and rested upon it. Hence in a connected republication of the law of offering it could not be omitted. Without spot. תְמִימִם. Septuagint, ἀνώμους. This necessary qualification had not been expressed in the original ordinance, but in respect of other sacrifices had been continually required (see on Exo_12:5; Le Exo_1:3; Exo_19:2; Heb_9:14; 1Pe_1:19).
4The one lamb shalt thou offer in the morning, and the other lamb shalt thou offer at even;
5And a tenth part of an ephah of flour for a meat offering, mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil.
6It is a continual burnt offering, which was ordained in mount Sinai for a sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD.
7And the drink offering thereof shall be the fourth part of an hin for the one lamb: in the holy place shalt thou cause the strong wine to be poured unto the LORD for a drink offering.
In the holy place. בַּקֹּדֶשׁ. Septuagint, ἐν τῷ ἀγίῳ. Josephus paraphrases this by περὶ τὸν βωμόν (‘Ant.,' 3.10), and so the Targum of Onkelos; Jonathan and the Targum of Palestine render, "from the vessels of the sanctuary." The former would seem to be the real meaning of the original. There is nowhere any specific direction as to the ritual of the drink offering (see on Lev_23:1-44, and Num_15:7, Num_15:10), nor is it certain whether it was poured at the foot of the altar (as apparently stated in Ecclesiasticus 1:15) or poured upon the flesh of the sacrifice on the altar (as seems to be implied in Php_2:17). The strong wine. שֵׁכָר. Septuagint, σίκερα. The Targums render it "old wine," because the drink offering was in every other instance ordered to be made with wine (Exo_29:40, &c.). Shecar, however, was not wine, but strong drink other than wine (such as we call "spirits"), and it is invariably used in that sense in contradistinction to wine (see on Le Num_10:9; Num_6:3, &c.). It can only be supposed that the difficulty of procuring wine in the wilderness had caused the coarser and commoner liquor to be substituted for it. It is certainly remarkable that the mention of shecar should be retained at a time when wine must have been easily obtainable, and was about to become abundant (Deu_8:8). As it would seem impossible that shecar should have been substituted for wine after the settlement in Canaan, its mention here may be accepted as evidence of the wilderness-origin of this particular ordinance. The quantity ordained (about a quart for each lamb) was very considerable.
8And the other lamb shalt thou offer at even: as the meat offering of the morning, and as the drink offering thereof, thou shalt offer it, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.
9And on the sabbath day two lambs of the first year without spot, and two tenth deals of flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and the drink offering thereof:
9-10. This is the burnt offering of every sabbath--There is no previous mention of a Sabbath burnt offering, which was additional to the daily sacrifices.
And on the sabbath day. The special offering for the sabbath is ordered here for the first time. It does not say when the two lambs were to be slain, but in practice it was immediately after the morning sacrifice of the day.
10This is the burnt offering of every sabbath, beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering.
The burnt offering of every sabbath. Literally, "the sabbath burnt offering for its sabbath."
11And in the beginnings of your months ye shall offer a burnt offering unto the LORD; two young bullocks, and one ram, seven lambs of the first year without spot;
11-15. And in the beginnings of your months ye shall offer a burnt offering unto the Lord--These were held as sacred festivals; and though not possessing the character of solemn feasts, they were distinguished by the blowing of trumpets over the sacrifices (Nu 10:10), by the suspension of all labor except the domestic occupations of women (Am 8:5), by the celebration of public worship (2Ki 4:23), and by social or family feasts (1Sa 20:5). These observations are not prescribed in the law though they obtained in the practice of a later time. The beginning of the month was known, not by astronomical calculations, but, according to Jewish writers, by the testimony of messengers appointed to watch the first visible appearance of the new moon; and then the fact was announced through the whole country by signal-fires kindled on the mountain tops. The new-moon festivals having been common among the heathen, it is probable that an important design of their institution in Israel was to give the minds of that people a better direction; and assuming this to have been one of the objects contemplated, it will account for one of the kids being offered unto the Lord (Nu 28:15), not unto the moon, as the Egyptians and Syrians did. The Sabbath and the new moon are frequently mentioned together.
In the beginnings of your months. The new-moon offering also is here enjoined for the first time, the festival itself having only been incidentally mentioned in Num_10:10. There can be no doubt that this (unlike the sabbath) was a nature-festival, observed more or less by all nations. As such it did not require to be instituted, but only to be regulated and sanctified in order that it might not lend itself to idolatry, as it did among the heathen (cf. Deu_4:19; Job_31:26, Job_31:27; Jer_7:18; Jer_8:2). The new-moon feast, depending upon no calendar but that of the sky, and more clearly marked in that than any other recurring period, was certain to fix itself deeply in the social and religious habits of a simple pastoral or agricultural people. Accordingly we find it incidentally mentioned as a day of social gathering (1Sa_20:5), and as a day for religious instruction (2Ki_4:23). From the latter passage, and from such passages as Isa_66:23; Eze_46:1; Amo_8:5, it is evident that the feast of the new moon became to the month exactly what the sabbath was to the week—a day of rest and of worship (see also Judith 8:6).
12And three tenth deals of flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, for one bullock; and two tenth deals of flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, for one ram;
13And a several tenth deal of flour mingled with oil for a meat offering unto one lamb; for a burnt offering of a sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD.
14And their drink offerings shall be half an hin of wine unto a bullock, and the third part of an hin unto a ram, and a fourth part of an hin unto a lamb: this is the burnt offering of every month throughout the months of the year.
15And one kid of the goats for a sin offering unto the LORD shall be offered, beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering.
One kid of the goats. "One hairy one (שָׂעִיר) of the she goats (עֵן)." See on Num_7:16. This was probably offered first in order, according to the usual analogy of such sacrifices (Exo_29:10-14). There is no authority for supposing that this sin offering superseded the one mentioned in Num_15:24 sq. This was essentially part of the customary routine of sacrifice; that was essentially occasional, and proper to some unforeseen contingency. It is likely enough that the national conscience would in fact content itself with the first, but it does not in the least follow that such was the intention of the legislator.
16And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of the LORD.
16-25. in the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover--The law for that great annual festival is given (Le 23:5), but some details are here introduced, as certain specified offerings are prescribed to be made on each of the seven days of unleavened bread [Nu 28:18-25].
17And in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten.
In the fifteenth day of this month is the feast. The fourteenth day of Abib, or Nisan, the day of the passover proper, was not a feast, but a fast ending with the sacred meal of the evening. Only the ordinary daily sacrifice was offered on this day. Unleavened bread. מַחּוֹת (mattsoth). Septuagint, ἄζυμα, unleavened cakes.
18In the first day shall be an holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of servile work therein:
In the first day, i.e; on the fifteenth (see on Exo_12:16; Le Exo_23:7).
19But ye shall offer a sacrifice made by fire for a burnt offering unto the LORD; two young bullocks, and one ram, and seven lambs of the first year: they shall be unto you without blemish:
Ye shall offer a sacrifice. This offering, the same for each day of Mattsoth as for the feast of the new moon, had not been prescribed before, and almost certainly not observed at the one passover kept in the wilderness (Num_9:5).
20And their meat offering shall be of flour mingled with oil: three tenth deals shall ye offer for a bullock, and two tenth deals for a ram;
21A several tenth deal shalt thou offer for every lamb, throughout the seven lambs:
22And one goat for a sin offering, to make an atonement for you.
23Ye shall offer these beside the burnt offering in the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering.
Ye shall offer these beside the burnt offering in the morning, i.e; in addition to, and immediately after, the usual morning sacrifice. Even when it is not expressly stated, the presumption is that all the sacrifices here treated of were cumulative. Thus the sabbath of the passover (Joh_19:31) would have the proper sacrifices
(1) of the day,
(2) of the sabbath,
(3) of the feast of Mattsoth, comprising two bullocks, one ram, eleven lambs, with their meat offerings and drink offerings.
24After this manner ye shall offer daily, throughout the seven days, the meat of the sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD: it shall be offered beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering.
25And on the seventh day ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work.
26Also in the day of the firstfruits, when ye bring a new meat offering unto the LORD, after your weeks be out, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work:
26-27. in the day of the first-fruits ... offer the burnt offering--A new sacrifice is here ordered for the celebration of this festival, in addition to the other offering, which was to accompany the first-fruits (Le 23:18).
In the day of the first-fruits. The feast of weeks, or day of Pentecost (Le Num_23:15-21).
27But ye shall offer the burnt offering for a sweet savour unto the LORD; two young bullocks, one ram, seven lambs of the first year;
Ye shall offer the burnt offering. The festal sacrifice here prescribed is exactly the same as for the days of Mattsoth and for the feast of the new moon. It is not the same as that prescribed for the same day in Lev_23:1-44, and it is difficult to determine whether it was meant to supersede the previous ordinance, or to be distinct and additional. The fact that no notice is taken of the sacrifice already ordered would seem to point to the former conclusion; but the further fact that no mention is made of the offering of wave-loaves, with which the sacrifices in Leviticus were distinctively connected, seems to show that the two lists were independent (cf. Josephus, ‘Ant.,' 3.10, 6). The fact seems to be that throughout this section no sacrifices are mentioned save such as formed a part of the system which is here for the first time elaborated.
28And their meat offering of flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals unto one bullock, two tenth deals unto one ram,
29A several tenth deal unto one lamb, throughout the seven lambs;
30And one kid of the goats, to make an atonement for you.
31Ye shall offer them beside the continual burnt offering, and his meat offering, (they shall be unto you without blemish) and their drink offerings.
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