Numbers 28:1-31

Daily Offerings

28:1 ¹ The Lord spoke to Moses: 28:2 “Command the Israelites: ²  ‘With regard to my offering, ³  be sure to offer ⁴  my food for my offering made by fire, as a pleasing aroma to me at its appointed time.’ ⁵  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 ⁶  burnt offering. 28:4 The first lamb you must offer in the morning, and the second lamb you must offer in the late afternoon, ⁷  28:5 with one-tenth of an ephah ⁸  of finely ground flour as a grain offering mixed with one quarter of a hin ⁹  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. ¹⁰  You must pour out the strong drink ¹¹  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, ¹²  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 ¹³  two unblemished lambs a year old, and two-tenths of an ephah ¹⁴  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, ¹⁵  besides the continual burnt offering and its drink offering.

Monthly Offerings

28:11 “‘On the first day of each month ¹⁶  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 ¹⁷  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 ¹⁸  throughout the months of the year. 28:15 And one male goat ¹⁹  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 ²⁰  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. ²¹  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.

[28:1]  ¹ sn For additional reading on these chapters, see G. B. Gray, Sacrifice in the Old Testament; A. F. Rainey, “The Order of Sacrifices in the Old Testament Ritual Texts,” Bib 51 (1970): 485-98; N. H. Snaith, The Jewish New Year Festival.

[28:2]  ² tn Heb “and say to them.” These words have not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[28:2]  ³ tn Th sentence begins with the accusative “my offering.” It is suspended at the beginning as an independent accusative to itemize the subject matter. The second accusative is the formal object of the verb. It could also be taken in apposition to the first accusative.

[28:2]  ⁴ tn The construction uses the imperfect tense expressing instruction, followed by the infinitive construct used to express the complement of direct object.

[28:2]  ⁵ sn See L. R. Fisher, “New Ritual Calendar from Ugarit,” HTR 63 (1970): 485-501.

[28:3]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “between the evenings” meaning between dusk and dark.

[28:5]  ⁸ sn That is about two quarts.

[28:5]  ⁹ sn That is about one quart.

[28:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the one lamb,” but it is meant to indicate for “each lamb.”

[28:7]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Heb “as the grain offering of the morning and as its drink offering.”

[28:9]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ sn That is, about 4 quarts.

[28:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the burnt offering of the Sabbath by its Sabbath.”

[28:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “of your months.”

[28:14]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “a month in its month.”

[28:15]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “one kid of the goats.”

[28:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “any work [of] service”; this means any occupational work, that is, the ordinary service.

[28:19]  ²¹ tn Heb “unblemished they will be to you.” So also in v. 31.