NUMBERS 28

NUMBERS 28

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

NASB	NKJV	NRSV	TEV	NJB (MT versing)
Laws for Offerings	Daily Offerings	Offerings for Various Occasions	The Regular Offerings	Regulations for Sacrifices
28:1-8	28:1-8	28:1-8	28:1-8	28:1-2
				28:3a
				a. Daily Sacrifices
				28:3b-8
				b. The Sabbath
28:9-10	28:9-10	28:9-10	28:9-10	28:9-10
	Monthly Offerings		The Offering on the First Day	c. The Feast of New Moon
28:11-15	28:11-15	28:11-15	28:11-15	28:11-15
	Offerings at Passover		The Offerings at the Festival of Unleavened Bread	d. The Feast of Unleavened Bread
28:16-25	28:16-25	28:16-25	28:16-25	28:16-25
	Offerings at the Feast of Weeks		The Offerings at the Harvest Festival	e. The Feast of Weeks
28:26-31	28:26-31	28:26-31	28:26-31	28:26-31

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

First paragraph
Second paragraph
Etc.

CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS

The sacrificial system of Israel was YHWH's way to
1. provide for sinful Israel to obtain forgiveness
2. stay in fellowship with a holy God
It also served as a way to remind Israel of God's presence and a way to teach their children their faith.
These types of sacrifices showed YHWH's ownership of all things.
1. time
2. possessions
3. crops
4. land
This is a supplement to Leviticus 23. It adds information about the daily and monthly rituals. Why it is placed here in Numbers is uncertain.
1. some suggest just before war with Midian when the Israelites would have many more animals
2. just before entering Canaan where regular settled society will occur (i.e., Tabernacle or Temple worship)
Numbers 28-29 forms a literary unit on sacrifices inserted into the historical narrative of Numbers.
Can you imagine the smell of the sacrificial area? Can you imagine the priestly work it took to
1. kill
2. prepare
3. offer (perform full ritual)
4. clean up the ashes

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 28:1-8
¹Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²"Command the sons of Israel and say to them, 'You shall be careful to present My offering, My food for My offerings by fire, of a soothing aroma to Me, at their appointed time.' ³You shall say to them, 'This is the offering by fire which you shall offer to the Lord: two male lambs one year old without defect as a continual burnt offering every day. ⁴You shall offer the one lamb in the morning and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight; ⁵also a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil. ⁶It is a continual burnt offering which was ordained in Mount Sinai as a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord. ⁷Then the drink offering with it shall be a fourth of a hin for each lamb, in the holy place you shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to the Lord. ⁸The other lamb you shall offer at twilight; as the grain offering of the morning and as its drink offering, you shall offer it, an offering by fire, a soothing aroma to the Lord.

28:2 "You shall be careful to present My offering, My food for My offerings by fire, of a soothing aroma to Me, at their appointed time" This chapter discusses several types of sacrifices in order, from those which occur the most often to those which occur the least. It has been estimated that over one thousand and eighty lambs, one hundred and thirteen bulls, thirty-two rams, thirty-two goats, one hundred and seven gallons of oil, one hundred and forty gallons of wine, and one hundred and twelve bushels of flour are involved annually in the sacrifices of Israel. This was in addition to individual, voluntary sacrifices (i.e., Leviticus 1-3).

the daily morning and evening offering (i.e., "the continual"), Num. 28:2-8
1. a morning offering
  (1) one male lamb, one year old
  (2) a tenth of an ephah of fine flour
  (3) a fourth of a hin of beaten oil
  (4) a fourth of a hin of strong drink
2. a twilight offering of the same type as "a." above
the Sabbath offering (mentioned only here in the Pentateuch)
1. two male lambs, one year old
2. two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil
3. a libation
4. this was in addition to #1
the first of each month
1. two bulls
2. one ram
3. seven male lambs, one year old
4. three tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for each bull
5. two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for the ram
6. a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for each lamb
7. a libation for each
  (1) half a hin of wine for each bull
  (2) a third of a hin of wine for the ram
  (3) a fourth of a hin of wine for each lamb
8. a male goat for a sin offering with its wine libation
9. this was in addition to #1
Passover ‒ on the 14th of the first month followed by the seven-day feast of unleavened bread, starting on the 15th
1. two bulls with the accompaning offerings (see #3, d-g)
2. one ram
3. seven lambs
4. one male goat for a sin offering
5. this was in addition to #1
6. these offerings were offered each day for seven days
7. special holy convocation on the seventh day
the Day of First Fruits, also known as Feast of Weeks
1. a holy convocation
2. two young bulls
3. one ram
4. seven lambs, one year old
5. with their grain offerings (see #3, d-g)
6. one male goat for a sin offering
7. in addition to #1

See the related Special Topics.

▣ "My food" The offerings in Israel were not viewed as food for YHWH. See notes at Lev. 3:11.

▣ "at their appointed time" Each special day/offering had its appointed time (i.e., Num. 29:39). See SPECIAL TOPIC: FEASTS OF ISRAEL.

28:3 "two lambs one year old without defect as a continual burnt offering every day" This is what is commonly called "the continual" (cf. Num. 28:6). We see it first in Exod. 29:38-42. The symbol of a lamb being on the altar continually was a symbol of God perpetually forgiving Israel's sin. Later Judaism would sacrifice a lamb at 9 AM and 3 PM.

The symbol of being "without defect" seems to mean that the lamb was innocent and it took the place of sinful Israel. It became a type of the Messiah (cf. 2 Cor. 5:21).

28:4 "at twilight" Literally this is "between the two evenings" (cf. Num. 28:4,8). This phrase is often used in the discussion of the sacrificial system. It is interpreted in various ways even by the rabbis.

Some say it is after the heat of the day.
Some say it is between the time when the sun starts to go below the horizon and when it actually does.
Some say it is after the sun has gone down but before the first star appears.

Option #1 seems to have been chosen by the Temple authorities because they offered a lamb at 3 PM daily.

28:5 "ephah. . .hin" These are two types of ancient measurements. The exact amount of each is uncertain because the terms vary from time to time, even in the biblical material. The best source of information about measurements in Israel is Roland deVaux's Ancient Israel Social Institutions, vol. 1. See SPECIAL TOPIC: ANE WEIGHTS AND VOLUMES.

28:7 "a fourth of a hin. . .you shall pour out a libation of strong drink to the Lord" The term "strong drink" (BDB 1016) is usually differentiated from wine. Some say that strong drink was used because wine was not available during the wilderness wandering period.

This does refer to fermented drink (cf. Exod. 38:40). As a matter of fact, strong drink means a highly fermented drink, which shows that fermentation itself was not evil. Here, it is used in several sacrifices. We need to rethink our view of wine and the mind of the OT Jew (cf. Ps. 104:14-15; Pro. 31:6; Eccl. 2:3; Jdgs. 9:13; John 10:1-11; 1 Tim. 5:23). See SPECIAL TOPIC: WINE AND STRONG DRINK.

▣ "the holy place" This refers to the outer part of the shrine tent. It held the incense altar, table of show bread, and the lampstand. See SPECIAL TOPIC: CHART OF THE TABERNACLE.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 28:9-10
⁹"'Then on the sabbath day two male lambs one year old without defect, and two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and its drink offering: ¹⁰This is the burnt offering of every sabbath in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering.'

28:9 "on the sabbath day" A double offering was made on the sabbath day. See Special Topics: SABBATH (OT) and SABBATH (NT).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 28:11-15
¹¹"'Then at the beginning of each of your months you shall present a burnt offering to the Lord: two bulls and one ram, seven male lambs one year old without defect; ¹²and three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, for each bull; and two-tenths of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, for the one ram; ¹³and a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering for each lamb, for a burnt offering of a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord. ¹⁴Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull and a third of a hin for the ram and a fourth of a hin for a lamb; this is the burnt offering of each month throughout the months of the year. ¹⁵And one male goat for a sin offering to the Lord; it shall be offered with its drink offering in addition to the continual burnt offering.'

28:11 "at the beginning of each of your months" This refers to the feasts known as New Moons. We can see something of the festival in Num. 10:10.

28:14 "burnt offering. . .sin offering" We learn from Leviticus 1-5 that there are several different kinds of offerings usually offered in sequence, each symbolizing a progress from a total consecration to forgiveness of sin and to freewill offerings. See full notes online in Leviticus 1-5.

28:15 "and one male goat" Literally this means "one kid of the hairy ones" (BDB 972 CONSTRUCT BDB 777). Many translations try to make this a male but this is uncertain.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 28:16-25
¹⁶"'Then on the fourteenth day of the first month shall be the Lord's Passover. ¹⁷On the fifteenth day of this month shall be a feast, unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days. ¹⁸On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. ¹⁹You shall present an offering by fire, a burnt offering to the Lord: two bulls and one ram and seven male lambs one year old, having them without defect. ²⁰For their grain offering, you shall offer fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for a bull and two-tenths for the ram. ²¹A tenth of an ephah you shall offer for each of the seven lambs; ²²and one male goat for a sin offering to make atonement for you. ²³You shall present these besides the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering. ²⁴After this manner you shall present daily, for seven days, the food of the offering by fire, of a soothing aroma to the Lord; it shall be presented with its drink offering in addition to the continual burnt offering. ²⁵On the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work.'

28:16 "Passover" The Passover, recorded in Exodus 12, and further identified in Lev. 23:4-8 and Deuteronomy 16, is combined with the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread, making it an eight-day feast. See SPECIAL TOPIC: PASSOVER.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 28:26-31
²⁶"'Also on the day of the first fruits, when you present a new grain offering to the Lord in your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. ²⁷You shall offer a burnt offering for a soothing aroma to the Lord: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs one year old; ²⁸and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths for the one ram, ²⁹a tenth for each of the seven lambs; ³⁰also one male goat to make atonement for you. ³¹Besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, you shall present them with their drink offerings. They shall be without defect.'"

28:26 "the day of the first fruits. . .Feast of Weeks" This is also discussed in Lev. 23:15-21 and is often called Pentecost, which means "fifty," because it comes fifty days after Passover. There is some distinction between the material in Leviticus and here in Numbers but the exact reason for the difference is uncertain. Leviticus contains the stipulations about wave offerings, which is omitted in Numbers. See SPECIAL TOPIC: FEASTS OF ISRAEL.