Exodus 20:24-25

20:24 ‘You must make for me an altar made of earth, ¹  and you will sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, ²  your sheep and your cattle. In every place ³  where I cause my name to be honored ⁴  I will come to you and I will bless you. 20:25 If you make me an altar of stone, you must not build it ⁵  of stones shaped with tools, ⁶  for if you use your tool on it you have defiled it. ⁷ 

Numbers 28:3-31

28:3 You will say to them, ‘This is the offering made by fire which you must offer to the Lord: two unblemished lambs one year old each day for a continual ⁸  burnt offering. 28:4 The first lamb you must offer in the morning, and the second lamb you must offer in the late afternoon, ⁹  28:5 with one-tenth of an ephah ¹⁰  of finely ground flour as a grain offering mixed with one quarter of a hin ¹¹  of pressed olive oil. 28:6 It is a continual burnt offering that was instituted on Mount Sinai as a pleasing aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.

28:7 “‘And its drink offering must be one quarter of a hin for each lamb. ¹²  You must pour out the strong drink ¹³  as a drink offering to the Lord in the holy place. 28:8 And the second lamb you must offer in the late afternoon; just as you offered the grain offering and drink offering in the morning, ¹⁴  you must offer it as an offering made by fire, as a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

Weekly Offerings

28:9 “‘On the Sabbath day, you must offer ¹⁵  two unblemished lambs a year old, and two-tenths of an ephah ¹⁶  of finely ground flour as a grain offering, mixed with olive oil, along with its drink offering. 28:10 This is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, ¹⁷  besides the continual burnt offering and its drink offering.

Monthly Offerings

28:11 “‘On the first day of each month ¹⁸  you must offer as a burnt offering to the Lord two young bulls, one ram, and seven unblemished lambs a year old, 28:12 with three-tenths of an ephah of finely ground flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering for each bull, and two-tenths of an ephah of finely ground flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering for the ram, 28:13 and one-tenth of an ephah of finely ground flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering for each lamb, as a burnt offering for a pleasing aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord. 28:14 For their drink offerings, include ¹⁹  half a hin of wine with each bull, one-third of a hin for the ram, and one-fourth of a hin for each lamb. This is the burnt offering for each month ²⁰  throughout the months of the year. 28:15 And one male goat ²¹  must be offered to the Lord as a purification offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering.

Passover and Unleavened Bread

28:16 “‘On the fourteenth day of the first month is the Lord’s Passover. 28:17 And on the fifteenth day of this month is the festival. For seven days bread made without yeast must be eaten. 28:18 And on the first day there is to be a holy assembly; you must do no ordinary work ²²  on it.

28:19 “‘But you must offer to the Lord an offering made by fire, a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs one year old; they must all be unblemished. ²³  28:20 And their grain offering is to be of finely ground flour mixed with olive oil. For each bull you must offer three-tenths of an ephah, and two-tenths for the ram. 28:21 For each of the seven lambs you are to offer one-tenth of an ephah, 28:22 as well as one goat for a purification offering, to make atonement for you. 28:23 You must offer these in addition to the burnt offering in the morning which is for a continual burnt offering. 28:24 In this manner you must offer daily throughout the seven days the food of the sacrifice made by fire as a sweet aroma to the Lord. It is to be offered in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering. 28:25 On the seventh day you are to have a holy assembly, you must do no regular work.

Firstfruits

28:26 “‘Also, on the day of the first fruits, when you bring a new grain offering to the Lord during your Feast of Weeks, you are to have a holy assembly. You must do no ordinary work. 28:27 But you must offer as the burnt offering, as a sweet aroma to the Lord, two young bulls, one ram, seven lambs one year old, 28:28 with their grain offering of finely ground flour mixed with olive oil: three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths for the one ram, 28:29 with one-tenth for each of the seven lambs, 28:30 as well as one male goat to make an atonement for you. 28:31 You are to offer them with their drink offerings in addition to the continual burnt offering and its grain offering – they must be unblemished.

Deuteronomy 12:5-7

12:5 But you must seek only the place he ²⁴  chooses from all your tribes to establish his name as his place of residence, ²⁵  and you must go there. 12:6 And there you must take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the personal offerings you have prepared, ²⁶  your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. 12:7 Both you and your families ²⁷  must feast there before the Lord your God and rejoice in all the output of your labor with which he ²⁸  has blessed you.

Deuteronomy 12:2

12:2 You must by all means destroy ²⁹  all the places where the nations you are about to dispossess worship their gods – on the high mountains and hills and under every leafy tree. ³⁰ 

Deuteronomy 6:6

Exhortation to Teach the Covenant Principles

6:6 These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind,

Psalms 78:68

78:68 He chose the tribe of Judah,

and Mount Zion, which he loves.

[20:24]  ¹ sn The instructions here call for the altar to be made of natural things, not things manufactured or shaped by man. The altar was either to be made of clumps of earth or natural, unhewn rocks.

[20:24]  ² sn The “burnt offering” is the offering prescribed in Lev 1. Everything of this animal went up in smoke as a sweet aroma to God. It signified complete surrender by the worshiper who brought the animal, and complete acceptance by God, thereby making atonement. The “peace offering” is legislated in Lev 3 and 7. This was a communal meal offering to celebrate being at peace with God. It was made usually for thanksgiving, for payment of vows, or as a freewill offering.

[20:24]  ³ tn Gesenius lists this as one of the few places where the noun in construct seems to be indefinite in spite of the fact that the genitive has the article. He says בְּכָל־הַמָּקוֹם (bÿkhol-hammaqom) means “in all the place, sc. of the sanctuary, and is a dogmatic correction of “in every place” (כָּל־מָקוֹם, kol-maqom). See GKC 412 §127.e.

[20:24]  ⁴ tn The verb is זָכַר (zakhar, “to remember”), but in the Hiphil especially it can mean more than remember or cause to remember (remind) – it has the sense of praise or honor. B. S. Childs says it has a denominative meaning, “to proclaim” (Exodus [OTL], 447). The point of the verse is that God will give Israel reason for praising and honoring him, and in every place that occurs he will make his presence known by blessing them.

[20:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “them” referring to the stones.

[20:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “of hewn stones.” Gesenius classifies this as an adverbial accusative – “you shall not build them (the stones of the altar) as hewn stones.” The remoter accusative is in apposition to the nearer (GKC 372 §117.kk).

[20:25]  ⁷ tn The verb is a preterite with vav (ו) consecutive. It forms the apodosis in a conditional clause: “if you lift up your tool on it…you have defiled it.”

[28:3]  ⁸ sn The sacrifice was to be kept burning, but each morning the priests would have to clean the grill and put a new offering on the altar. So the idea of a continual burnt offering is more that of a regular offering.

[28:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “between the evenings” meaning between dusk and dark.

[28:5]  ¹⁰ sn That is about two quarts.

[28:5]  ¹¹ sn That is about one quart.

[28:7]  ¹² tn Heb “the one lamb,” but it is meant to indicate for “each lamb.”

[28:7]  ¹³ tn The word שֵׁכָר (shekhar) is often translated “strong drink.” It can mean “barley beer” in the Akkadian cognate, and also in the Hebrew Bible when joined with the word for wine. English versions here read “wine” (NAB, TEV, CEV); “strong wine” (KJV); “fermented drink” (NIV, NLT); “strong drink” (ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[28:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “as the grain offering of the morning and as its drink offering.”

[28:9]  ¹⁵ tn The words “you must offer” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied. They have been supplied in the translation to make a complete English sentence.

[28:9]  ¹⁶ sn That is, about 4 quarts.

[28:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the burnt offering of the Sabbath by its Sabbath.”

[28:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “of your months.”

[28:14]  ¹⁹ tn The word “include” is not in the Hebrew text but is implied. It is supplied in the translation to make a complete English sentence.

[28:14]  ²⁰ tn Heb “a month in its month.”

[28:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “one kid of the goats.”

[28:18]  ²² tn Heb “any work [of] service”; this means any occupational work, that is, the ordinary service.

[28:19]  ²³ tn Heb “unblemished they will be to you.” So also in v. 31.

[12:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[12:5]  ²⁵ tc Some scholars, on the basis of v. 11, emend the MT reading שִׁכְנוֹ (shikhno, “his residence”) to the infinitive construct לְשָׁכֵן (lÿshakhen, “to make [his name] to dwell”), perhaps with the 3rd person masculine singular sf לְשַׁכְּנוֹ (lÿshakÿno, “to cause it to dwell”). Though the presupposed nounשֵׁכֶן (shekhen) is nowhere else attested, the parallel here with שַׁמָּה (shammah, “there”) favors retaining the MT as it stands.

[12:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “heave offerings of your hand.”

[12:7]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and your houses,” referring to entire households. The pronouns “you” and “your” are plural in the Hebrew text.

[12:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 12:5.

[12:2]  ²⁹ tn Heb “destroying you must destroy”; KJV “Ye shall utterly (surely ASV) destroy”; NRSV “must demolish completely.” The Hebrew infinitive absolute precedes the verb for emphasis, which is reflected in the translation by the words “by all means.”

[12:2]  ³⁰ sn Every leafy tree. This expression refers to evergreens which, because they keep their foliage throughout the year, provided apt symbolism for nature cults such as those practiced in Canaan. The deity particularly in view is Asherah, wife of the great god El, who was considered the goddess of fertility and whose worship frequently took place at shrines near or among clusters (groves) of such trees (see also Deut 7:5). See J. Hadley, NIDOTTE 1:569-70; J. DeMoor, TDOT 1:438-44.