Numbers 28

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 “ Command the Israelites and say to them: See that you present to Me at its appointed time the food for My offerings by fire, as a pleasing aroma to Me. 3 And tell them that this is the offering made by fire you are to present to the LORD as a regular burnt offering each day: two unblemished year-old male lambs. 4 Offer one lamb in the morning and the other at twilight, 5 along with a tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with a quarter hin of oil from pressed olives. 6 This is a regular burnt offering established at Mount Sinai as a pleasing aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD. 7 The drink offering accompanying each lamb shall be a quarter hin. Pour out the offering of fermented drink to the LORD in the sanctuary area. 8 And offer the second lamb at twilight, with the same grain offering and drink offering as in the morning. It is an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. The Sabbath Offerings 9 On the Sabbath day, present two unblemished year-old male lambs, accompanied by a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, as well as a drink offering. 10 This is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering. The Monthly Offerings 11 At the beginning of every month, you are to present to the LORD a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old, all unblemished, 12 along with three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering with each bull, two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering with the ram, 13 and a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering with each lamb. This is a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD. 14 Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine with each bull, a third of a hin with the ram, and a quarter hin with each lamb. This is the monthly burnt offering to be made at each new moon throughout the year. 15 In addition to the regular burnt offering with its drink offering, one male goat is to be presented to the LORD as a sin offering. Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 12:14–28; Leviticus 23:4–8; Deuteronomy 16:1–8) 16 The fourteenth day of the first month is the LORD ’s Passover. 17 On the fifteenth day of this month, there shall be a feast; for seven days unleavened bread is to be eaten. 18 On the first day there is to be a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work. 19 Present to the LORD an offering made by fire, a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old, all unblemished. 20 The grain offering shall consist of fine flour mixed with oil; offer three-tenths of an ephah with each bull, two-tenths of an ephah with the ram, 21 and a tenth of an ephah with each of the seven lambs. 22 Include one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you. 23 You are to present these in addition to the regular morning burnt offering. 24 Offer the same food each day for seven days as an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. It is to be offered with its drink offering and the regular burnt offering. 25 On the seventh day you shall hold a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work. The Feast of Weeks (Deuteronomy 16:9–12) 26 On the day of firstfruits, when you present an offering of new grain to the LORD during the Feast of Weeks, you are to hold a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work. 27 Present a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old as a pleasing aroma to the LORD, 28 together with their grain offerings of fine flour mixed with oil — three-tenths of an ephah with each bull, two-tenths of an ephah with the ram, 29 and a tenth of an ephah with each of the seven lambs. 30 Include one male goat to make atonement for you. 31 Offer them with their drink offerings in addition to the regular burnt offering and its grain offering. The animals must be unblemished.

✦ What the text says

## Summary Numbers 28 records Yahweh's instructions to Moses concerning the fixed sacrificial calendar of Israel: the daily offerings (morning and evening), the Sabbath offering, the monthly (new moon) offering, and the offerings for Passover/Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Weeks. Each offering is specified by animal type, number, accompanying grain offering, and drink offering, with a recurring formula describing them as "food" and "pleasing aroma" to Yahweh. ## Key words - *tamid* ("continually", H8548) — used repeatedly (vv. 3, 6, 10, 15, 23, 24, 31) to mark the daily burnt offering as a fixed, uninterrupted institution, distinguishing it from the additional Sabbath, monthly, and festival offerings "in addition to" (*mille'vad*, vv. 23, 31) it. - *'olah* ("burnt offering", H5930A) — noun construct form, naming the category of offering that is wholly consumed; appears as the base category to which grain and drink offerings are added throughout the chapter. - *'ishsheh* ("fire offering", H0801) — masculine singular noun, used both independently and in construct chains (*'ishshei*, "my fire offerings") to classify offerings burned on the altar, tying the daily, Sabbath, and festival rites together under one term. - *reyach nichoach* ("odor of soothing", H7381 + H5207) — construct phrase repeated at the close of several offering units (vv. 2, 6, 8, 13, 24, 27), functioning as a formulaic seal describing the effect of the offering rather than a separate ritual act. - *mo'ed* ("appointed time", H4150G) — construct noun with 3ms suffix (*bemo'ado*, "at its appointed time," v. 2), establishing that offerings are tied to a fixed calendrical schedule rather than offered arbitrarily. ## What the text says The chapter is built as a series of legal instructions introduced by imperative and sequential-perfect verb forms (*tsav*, "command," H6680; *ve'amarta*, "and you will say," H0559) that shift from Yahweh's direct speech to Moses, to Moses's speech to the people. Within each offering unit, the Hebrew uses construct chains extensively — e.g., *korbani lachmi le'ishai reyach nichochi* (v. 2), a stacked series of first-person possessive constructs ("my offering, my food, for my fire-offerings, my soothing odor") — to bind multiple sacrificial categories into a single grammatical unit before the main verb *tishmeru* ("you will take care," H8104J) arrives. This syntax front-loads the object before the verb, giving weight to what is offered before specifying the human obligation. The recurring passive/niphal forms *ye'aseh* ("it will be offered/made," H6213I) and *ye'akhel* ("it will be eaten," H0398) shift agency away from the human subject, presenting the offerings as established procedure rather than individual action. Numerical precision (fractions of the *hin*, H1969, and *ephah*, tenths marked by *'issaron*, H6241) is conveyed through repeated construct chains rather than through summary statements, meaning quantities are stated offering-by-offering rather than as totals. ## Differences between versions In verse 7, the Hebrew *shekhar* ("strong drink", H7941) is rendered by the LXX as *sikera* (a transliteration) and by the Vulgate as *vinum* ("wine"), where the Hebrew term denotes fermented drink generally rather than wine specifically. In verse 26, the Hebrew *bikkurim* ("first-fruits", H1061) is rendered by the LXX with *tōn neōn* ("of new things") and by the Vulgate as *primitivorum* ("of first things"), both generalizing the specific horticultural sense of the Hebrew term.

This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.