The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible
The Feast of Tabernacles
Numbers 29:12–40 — The Feast of Tabernacles. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.
12On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, you are to hold a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work, and you shall observe a feast to the LORD for seven days.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ū·ḇa·ḥă·miš·šāh ‘ā·śār yō·wm haš·šə·ḇî·‘î la·ḥō·ḏeš yih·yeh lā·ḵem qō·ḏeš miq·rā- lō ṯa·‘ă·śū kāl- mə·le·ḵeṯ ‘ă·ḇō·ḏāh wə·ḥag·gō·ṯem ḥaḡ Yah·weh šiḇ·‘aṯ yā·mîm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And on-the-fifteenth day of-the-seventh, of-the-month, there-shall-be for-you a-holy calling-out; any work of-service you-shall-not do; and-you-shall-keep-feast a-feast to-YHWH seven days.
Where the English smooths the original
A larger number of burnt offerings was appointed for this feast than for any other festival. Seventy oxen in all were to be offered on the seven days of the feast, the number being diminished by one daily—viz., thirteen on the first day, twelve on the second, eleven on the third, and in like manner until the seventh day, on which seven oxen, the perfect number, were to be offered.
The feast of Tabernacles, the special regulations for the celebration of which are contained in Leviticus 23:34-36 and Leviticus 23:39-43 , was distinguished above all the other feasts of the year by the great number of burnt-offerings, which raised it into the greatest festival of joy.
And while we are in these tabernacles, it is our duty and interest to keep up our communion with God. Nor will the unsettledness of our outward condition excuse our neglect of God’s worship.
Meaning, the feast of the tabernacles.Geneva's terse marginal gloss on the unnamed “feast” — naming what the Hebrew leaves to the reader.
13As a pleasing aroma to the LORD, you are to present a food offering, a burnt offering of thirteen young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, all unblemished,
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
nî·ḥō·aḥ rê·aḥ Yah·weh wə·hiq·raḇ·tem ’iš·šêh ‘ō·lāh šə·lō·šāh ‘ā·śār bə·nê- ḇā·qār pā·rîm šə·nā·yim ’ê·lim ’ar·bā·‘āh ‘ā·śār kə·ḇā·śîm bə·nê- šā·nāh yih·yū tə·mî·mim
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-you-shall-bring-near a-fire-offering, a-burnt-offering, an-aroma of-rest to-YHWH: bulls, sons-of-the-herd, thirteen; rams two; lambs sons-of-a-year, fourteen — whole shall-they-be.
Where the English smooths the original
As it was the feast of the ingathering, when God had crowned the year with his goodness, and filled the hearts of men with food and gladness, so it was celebrated with the greatest profusion of burnt offerings, especially of the largest and costliest kind.
Thus the sacred number was studiously emphasized, and the slow fading of festal joy into the ordinary gladness of a grateful life was set forth. It seems quite fanciful to trace any connection with the waning of the moon.The Pulpit Commentary's reading of the descending bull-count: a deliberate emphasis on seven, and a picture of festal joy easing into everyday gratitude — explicitly rejecting any lunar symbolism.
these bullocks ending in the number seven, which is a number may lead us to think of the great sacrifice these all typified, whereby Christ has perfected them that are sanctified.
more sacrifices than at any other feast, partly because this feast was in the close of the year, when it was meet to supply the defects of the year past, and when they had gathered in all their fruits
14along with the grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil with each of the thirteen bulls, two-tenths of an ephah with each of the two rams,
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ū·min·ḥā·ṯām šə·lō·šāh ‘eś·rō·nîm sō·leṯ bə·lū·lāh ḇaš·šā·men hā·’e·ḥāḏ liš·lō·šāh ‘ā·śār pā·rîm lap·pār šə·nê ‘eś·rō·nîm hā·’e·ḥāḏ liš·nê hā·’ê·lim lā·’a·yil
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-their-grain-offering [shall be] fine-flour mingled with-the-oil: three tenth-parts for-the-one bull, of-the-thirteen bulls; two tenth-parts for-the-one ram, of-the-two rams;
Where the English smooths the original
Their living in booths had already visibly represented to the people the defence and blessing of their God; and the foliage of these booths pointed out the glorious advantages of the inheritance received from the Lord.
the meat and drink offerings for each, according to the kind of them, were as usual, and as before frequently observed
And their meat offering shall be of flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals unto every bullock of the thirteen bullocks, two tenth deals to each ram of the two rams,Geneva reproduces the verse plainly; the “tenth deals” is its rendering of the bare Hebrew “tenths.”
15and a tenth of an ephah with each of the fourteen lambs.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·ʿiś·śå̄·rōn ‘iś·śā·rō·wn hā·’e·ḥāḏ lə·’ar·bā·‘āh ‘ā·śār kə·ḇā·śîm lak·ke·ḇeś
Literal — word-for-word from the original
and-a-tenth-part, a-tenth-part, for-the-one lamb, of-the-fourteen lambs.
Where the English smooths the original
It was especially one of thankfulness to God for the gift of the fruits of the earth; and the quantity and the nature of the offerings (see Numbers 29:7-11 ) were determined accordingly.
And a several tenth deal to each lamb of the fourteen lambs:“A several tenth deal” = a separate tenth for each — Geneva's idiom for the distributive Hebrew.
16Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’e·ḥāḏ ū·śə·‘îr- ‘iz·zîm ḥaṭ·ṭāṯ mil·lə·ḇaḏ hat·tā·mîḏ ‘ō·laṯ min·ḥā·ṯāh wə·nis·kāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-a-male-goat, one, [for]-a-sin-offering; apart-from the-continual burnt-offering, its-grain-offering and-its-drink-offering.
Where the English smooths the original
Every day there must be a sin-offering, as in the other feasts. Our burnt-offerings of praise cannot be accepted of God, unless we have an interest in the great sacrifice which Christ offered, when he made himself a Sin-offering for us. And no extraordinary services should put aside stated devotions.
The verse prescribes no offerings, but merely mentions the Passover as one of the holy-days of the year. It may have been a later insertionCambridge's source-critical conjecture (it misreads the verse-numbering); recorded here as a contested modern reading, not endorsed.
the gradual waxing old and vanishing away of the ceremonial law, and the sacrifices of it
17On the second day you are to present twelve young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, all unblemished,
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
haš·šê·nî ū·ḇay·yō·wm šə·nêm ‘ā·śār pā·rîm šə·nā·yim ’ê·lim ’ar·bā·‘āh ‘ā·śār kə·ḇā·śîm bə·nê- bə·nê- ḇā·qār šā·nāh tə·mî·mim
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-on-the-day, the-second: bulls twelve; rams two; lambs sons-of-a-year, fourteen — whole.
Where the English smooths the original
this feast was distinguished by a greater amount and variety of sacrifices than any other—partly because, occurring at the end of the year, it might be intended to supply any past deficiencies—partly because, being immediately after the ingathering of the fruits, it ought to be a liberal acknowledgment
And on the second day ye shall offer twelve young bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs of the first year without spot:
18along with the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams, and lambs, according to the number prescribed.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ū·min·ḥā·ṯām wə·nis·kê·hem lap·pā·rîm lā·’ê·lim wə·lak·kə·ḇā·śîm bə·mis·pā·rām kam·miš·pāṭ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-their-grain-offering and-their-drink-offerings for-the-bulls, for-the-rams, and-for-the-lambs, by-their-number, according-to-the-ordinance.
Where the English smooths the original
after the manner—according to the ritual order appointed by divine authority—that for meat offerings (Nu 29:3-10), and drink offerings (Nu 28:7, 14).
It is not only the work of slaves that is forbidden, as E.VV. might suggest, but all business or occupation that requires labour.Cambridge's note on “laborious work”; printed here against the day's libation-formula because it defines the rest the feast presupposes.
19Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’e·ḥāḏ ū·śə·‘îr- ‘iz·zîm ḥaṭ·ṭāṯ mil·lə·ḇaḏ hat·tā·mîḏ ‘ō·laṯ ū·min·ḥā·ṯāh wə·nis·kê·hem
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-a-male-goat, one, [for]-a-sin-offering; apart-from the-continual burnt-offering, its-grain-offering and-its-drink-offerings.
Where the English smooths the original
20On the third day you are to present eleven bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, all unblemished,
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
haš·šə·lî·šî ū·ḇay·yō·wm ‘aš·tê- ‘ā·śār pā·rîm šə·nā·yim ’ê·lim ’ar·bā·‘āh ‘ā·śār kə·ḇā·śîm bə·nê- šā·nāh tə·mî·mim
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-on-the-day, the-third: bulls eleven; rams two; lambs sons-of-a-year, fourteen — whole.
Where the English smooths the original
21along with the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams, and lambs, according to the number prescribed.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ū·min·ḥā·ṯām wə·nis·kê·hem lap·pā·rîm lā·’ê·lim wə·lak·kə·ḇā·śîm bə·mis·pā·rām kam·miš·pāṭ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-their-grain-offering and-their-drink-offerings for-the-bulls, for-the-rams, and-for-the-lambs, by-their-number, according-to-the-ordinance.
Where the English smooths the original
according to their number, after the {g} manner: (g) According to the ceremonies appointed to it.Geneva's marginal gloss (g) interprets “after the manner” as the appointed ceremonial proportion.
to fill their hearts with the greatest joy and gratitude towards the Lord and Giver of them all, and to make this festival a speaking representation of the blessedness of the people of God when resting from their labours.
22Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’e·ḥāḏ ū·śə·‘îr ḥaṭ·ṭāṯ mil·lə·ḇaḏ hat·tā·mîḏ ‘ō·laṯ ū·min·ḥā·ṯāh wə·nis·kāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-a-male-goat, one, [for]-a-sin-offering; apart-from the-continual burnt-offering, its-grain-offering and-its-drink-offerings.
Where the English smooths the original
23On the fourth day you are to present ten bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, all unblemished,
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hā·rə·ḇî·‘î ū·ḇay·yō·wm ‘ă·śā·rāh pā·rîm šə·nā·yim ’ê·lim ’ar·bā·‘āh ‘ā·śār kə·ḇā·śîm bə·nê- šā·nāh tə·mî·mim
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-on-the-day, the-fourth: bulls ten; rams two; lambs sons-of-a-year, fourteen — whole.
Where the English smooths the original
these were offered besides one kid of the goats, for a sin offering, and the two lambs of the daily sacrifice, which were not omitted on account of this extraordinary offering; so that there were no less than thirty two animals sacrificed on this dayGill counts the day's full ledger — the festal beasts plus the daily goat and the two tamid lambs — making the concrete point the repeating refrain only implies: the feast was laid on top of the standing worship, never instead of it.
And on the fourth day ten bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish:
24along with the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams, and lambs, according to the number prescribed.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
min·ḥā·ṯām wə·nis·kê·hem lap·pā·rîm lā·’ê·lim wə·lak·kə·ḇā·śîm bə·mis·pā·rām kam·miš·pāṭ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-their-grain-offering and-their-drink-offerings for-the-bulls, for-the-rams, and-for-the-lambs, by-their-number, according-to-the-ordinance.
Where the English smooths the original
Their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, shall be according to their number, after the manner:
the same sacrifices, meat offerings, and drink offerings, were offered on the six following days of the feast, only with this difference, that there was one bullock less every day
25Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’e·ḥāḏ ū·śə·‘îr- ‘iz·zîm ḥaṭ·ṭāṯ mil·lə·ḇaḏ hat·tā·mîḏ ‘ō·laṯ min·ḥā·ṯāh wə·nis·kāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-a-male-goat, one, [for]-a-sin-offering; apart-from the-continual burnt-offering, its-grain-offering and-its-drink-offerings.
Where the English smooths the original
26On the fifth day you are to present nine bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, all unblemished,
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ha·ḥă·mî·šî ū·ḇay·yō·wm tiš·‘āh pā·rîm šə·nā·yim ’ê·lim ’ar·bā·‘āh ‘ā·śār kə·ḇā·śîm bə·nê- šā·nāh tə·mî·mim
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-on-the-day, the-fifth: bulls nine; rams two; lambs sons-of-a-year, fourteen — whole.
Where the English smooths the original
27along with the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams, and lambs, according to the number prescribed.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ū·min·ḥā·ṯām wə·nis·kê·hem lap·pā·rîm lā·’ê·lim wə·lak·kə·ḇā·śîm bə·mis·pā·rām kam·miš·pāṭ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-their-grain-offering and-their-drink-offerings for-the-bulls, for-the-rams, and-for-the-lambs, by-their-number, according-to-the-ordinance.
Where the English smooths the original
And their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, shall be according to their number, after the manner:
the congregation presented itself soul and body to the Lord, upon the basis of a sin-offering, as a living and holy sacrifice, to be more and more sanctified, transformed, and perfected by the fire of His holy love
28Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’e·ḥāḏ ū·śə·‘îr ḥaṭ·ṭāṯ mil·lə·ḇaḏ hat·tā·mîḏ ‘ō·laṯ ū·min·ḥā·ṯāh wə·nis·kāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-a-male-goat, one, [for]-a-sin-offering; apart-from the-continual burnt-offering, its-grain-offering and-its-drink-offerings.
Where the English smooths the original
29On the sixth day you are to present eight bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, all unblemished,
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
haš·šiš·šî ū·ḇay·yō·wm šə·mō·nāh pā·rîm šə·nā·yim ’ê·lim ’ar·bā·‘āh ‘ā·śār kə·ḇā·śîm bə·nê- šā·nāh tə·mî·mim
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-on-the-day, the-sixth: bulls eight; rams two; lambs sons-of-a-year, fourteen — whole.
Where the English smooths the original
30along with the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams, and lambs, according to the number prescribed.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ū·min·ḥā·ṯām wə·nis·kê·hem lap·pā·rîm lā·’ê·lim wə·lak·kə·ḇā·śîm bə·mis·pā·rām kam·miš·pāṭ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-their-grain-offering and-their-drink-offerings for-the-bulls, for-the-rams, and-for-the-lambs, by-their-number, according-to-the-ordinance.
Where the English smooths the original
31Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’e·ḥāḏ ū·śə·‘îr ḥaṭ·ṭāṯ mil·lə·ḇaḏ hat·tā·mîḏ ‘ō·laṯ min·ḥā·ṯāh ū·nə·sā·ḵe·hā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-a-male-goat, one, [for]-a-sin-offering; apart-from the-continual burnt-offering, its-grain-offering and-its-drink-offerings.
Where the English smooths the original
32On the seventh day you are to present seven bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, all unblemished,
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
haš·šə·ḇî·‘î ū·ḇay·yō·wm šiḇ·‘āh pā·rîm šə·nā·yim ’ê·lim ’ar·bā·‘āh ‘ā·śār kə·ḇā·śîm bə·nê- šā·nāh tə·mî·mim
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-on-the-day, the-seventh: bulls seven; rams two; lambs sons-of-a-year, fourteen — whole.
Where the English smooths the original
33along with the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams, and lambs, according to the number prescribed.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ū·min·ḥā·ṯām wə·nis·kê·hem lap·pā·rîm lā·’ê·lim wə·lak·kə·ḇā·śîm bə·mis·pā·rām kə·miš·pā·ṭām
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-their-grain-offering and-their-drink-offerings for-the-bulls, for-the-rams, and-for-the-lambs, by-their-number, according-to-the-ordinance.
Where the English smooths the original
34Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’e·ḥāḏ ū·śə·‘îr ḥaṭ·ṭāṯ mil·lə·ḇaḏ hat·tā·mîḏ ‘ō·laṯ min·ḥā·ṯāh wə·nis·kāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-a-male-goat, one, [for]-a-sin-offering; apart-from the-continual burnt-offering, its-grain-offering and-its-drink-offerings.
Where the English smooths the original
Our burnt-offerings of praise cannot be accepted of God, unless we have an interest in the great sacrifice which Christ offered, when he made himself a Sin-offering for us.
And one goat for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink offering.
35On the eighth day you are to hold a solemn assembly; you must not do any regular work.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
haš·šə·mî·nî bay·yō·wm tih·yeh lā·ḵem ‘ă·ṣe·reṯ lō ṯa·‘ă·śū kāl- mə·le·ḵeṯ ‘ă·ḇō·ḏāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
On-the-day, the-eighth, a-solemn-restraint shall-there-be for-you; any work of-service you-shall-not do.
Where the English smooths the original
The primary notion appears to be that of restraint— i.e., from the performance of servile work. The sacrifices of the eighth day were the same as those which were appointed for the first day of the seventh month, i.e., the Feast of Trumpets, and also for the tenth day, or Day of Atonement.
The Heb. word ‘aẓereth contains nothing which implies that the assembly was of a specially solemn character.A modern philological caution; weigh it against Ellicott and the Pulpit Commentary, who keep “solemn.”
The offering here specified returns to the smaller number ordered for the first /rod tenth days of this month. The feast of tabernacles ended with sundown on this day.“first /rod tenth” is an OCR artifact in the public-domain text for “first and tenth”; quoted verbatim as transmitted.
The day after the seven days of the feast of tabernacles were ended; for this was not properly a part of that feast, but was a sort of appendage to it
36As a pleasing aroma to the LORD, you are to present a food offering, a burnt offering of one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old, all unblemished,
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
nî·ḥō·aḥ rê·aḥ Yah·weh wə·hiq·raḇ·tem ’iš·šêh ‘ō·lāh ’e·ḥāḏ par ’e·ḥāḏ ’a·yil šiḇ·‘āh kə·ḇā·śîm bə·nê- šā·nāh tə·mî·mim
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-you-shall-bring-near a-burnt-offering, a-fire-offering, an-aroma of-rest to-YHWH: bull one, ram one, lambs sons-of-a-year, seven — whole.
Where the English smooths the original
This was the last and great day of the feast, ( John 7:37 ,) and yet the sacrifices were fewer than on any other day; which served both to render the public worship less toilsome and expensive, and to teach them not to trust in the multitude of their sacrifices, nor to expect remission of sins from them, but from the one and only sacrifice of the Messiah, in consequence of repentance and faith in him.
This was the last and great day of the feast, as it is called John 7:37 , and yet the sacrifices were fewer than any other day, to teach them not to trust to the multitude of their sacrifices, nor to expect remission of sins from them, but from the one and only sacrifice of Christ.
Which was the same that was offered on the first and tenth days of this month, Numbers 29:2
37along with the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams, and lambs, according to the number prescribed.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
min·ḥā·ṯām wə·nis·kê·hem lap·pār lā·’a·yil wə·lak·kə·ḇā·śîm bə·mis·pā·rām kam·miš·pāṭ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Their-grain-offering and-their-drink-offerings for-the-bull, for-the-ram, and-for-the-lambs, by-their-number, according-to-the-ordinance.
Where the English smooths the original
and the meat and drink offerings for each of the creatures were the same, as often expressed; and on this day a goat for a sin offering was also offered, besides the daily sacrifice
Their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullock, for the ram, and for the lambs, shall be according to their number, after the manner:
38Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’e·ḥāḏ ū·śə·‘îr ḥaṭ·ṭāṯ mil·lə·ḇaḏ hat·tā·mîḏ ‘ō·laṯ ū·min·ḥā·ṯāh wə·nis·kāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-a-male-goat, one, [for]-a-sin-offering; apart-from the-continual burnt-offering, and-its-grain-offering and-its-drink-offering.
Where the English smooths the original
39You are to present these offerings to the LORD at your appointed times, in addition to your vow and freewill offerings, whether burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings, or peace offerings.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ta·‘ă·śū ’êl·leh Yah·weh bə·mō·w·‘ă·ḏê·ḵem lə·ḇaḏ min·niḏ·rê·ḵem wə·niḏ·ḇō·ṯê·ḵem lə·‘ō·lō·ṯê·ḵem ū·lə·min·ḥō·ṯê·ḵem ū·lə·nis·kê·ḵem ū·lə·šal·mê·ḵem
Literal — word-for-word from the original
These you-shall-do to-YHWH at-your-appointed-times, apart-from your-vows and-your-freewill-offerings — for-your-burnt-offerings, and-for-your-grain-offerings, and-for-your-drink-offerings, and-for-your-peace-offerings.
Where the English smooths the original
That the sacrifice of Christ, which these sacrifices were intended to prefigure and typify, is of unspeakable worth and importance, and should never be thought of without reverence and gratitude.
The sacrifices prescribed in this chapter were appointed to be offered independently of all the burnt offerings, meal offerings, drink offerings, and peace offerings, which were made in performance of special vows, or as freewill offerings.
your ordinary sacrifices shall not be omitted because of the extraordinary, which ye offer on special occasions.
These things shall ye do, or "sacrifice."The Pulpit Commentary glosses the verb as “sacrifice,” then (in the lines that follow) notes the Septuagint ταῦτα ποιήσετε — the LXX wording echoed at Luke 22:19, “this do in remembrance of me”; a cross-Testament bridge noted by the source, not asserted from the Hebrew.
40So Moses spoke all this to the Israelites just as the LORD had commanded him.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
mō·šeh ’el- way·yō·mer kə·ḵōl bə·nê yiś·rā·’êl ’ă·šer- Yah·weh ’eṯ- ṣiw·wāh mō·šeh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-spoke Moses to the-sons-of-Israel according-to-all that YHWH commanded Moses.
Where the English smooths the original
repeated the several laws unto them concerning the above sacrifices, with the additions unto them, and explanations of them: according to all that the Lord commanded Moses; being a faithful servant to the Lord in all his house, and in all things appertaining to it.
In the Hebrew Bible this verse forms the beginning of the 30th chapter.Ellicott on the versification seam: the BSB's 29:40 is the Masoretic 30:1, opening the law of vows.
And Moses told the children of Israel according to all that the LORD commanded Moses.
The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.
AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.
The unit opens the eighth and last of the appointed feasts: the seven-day chag of booths (v. 12), kept by a people called out (miqrâʼ, H4744) of ordinary labor. Every named voice agrees on its scale. Keil & Delitzsch: it “was distinguished above all the other feasts of the year by the great number of burnt-offerings, which raised it into the greatest festival of joy.” Ellicott does the arithmetic — “Seventy oxen in all… thirteen on the first day, twelve on the second… until the seventh day, on which seven oxen, the perfect number, were to be offered.” Benson grounds the lavishness in the calendar: “this was a time of leisure and plenty; now their barns were full, their wine-presses overflowed, and their hearts were enlarged with joy and gratitude to God for the blessings of the harvest.” The offering is gratitude made costly — a burnt offering (ʻôlâh, H5930, “that which goes up”) sent up whole, as a nîychôwach rêyach, a rest-giving aroma (v. 13).
The body of the unit is a near-liturgical refrain repeated for seven days, varying in one figure only: the bulls fall from thirteen to seven, one per day, while two rams and fourteen lambs hold steady. Keil reads the engineering plainly — the descent secures “the holy number seven for this last day,” and signals “the gradual decrease in the festal character of the seven festal days.” The Pulpit Commentary calls it fanciful “to trace any connection with the waning of the moon”; the structure is internal, a count toward seven, not an astronomy. The commentators divide on what the falling number means: Gill offers two readings — “the decrease of sin in the people, and so an increase of holiness, or rather the gradual waxing old and vanishing away of the ceremonial law.” Beneath every day, unmoved, runs the continual (tâmîd, H8548) burnt offering and a daily goat for sin: Henry's rule that “no extraordinary services should put aside stated devotions,” and that the rejoicing rests, as K&D says, “upon the basis of a sin-offering.”
Then a day outside the seven: the ʻatsereth (H6116, v. 35), which BSB renders “solemn assembly” but whose root ʻâtsar means to restrain, hold back, detain. Ellicott: “The primary notion appears to be that of restraint.” Cambridge cautions that the word “contains nothing which implies that the assembly was of a specially solemn character” — a modern philological note set here beside the older readings, not above them. Gill marks it “not properly a part of that feast, but… a sort of appendage to it.” Its offering collapses from seventy bulls to one (v. 36), from fourteen lambs to seven — yet the pleasing-aroma formula is named in the very same words as the first day. Benson and Poole hear the lesson in the smallness: the worshippers are taught “not to trust to the multitude of their sacrifices… but from the one and only sacrifice of Christ.”
The whole festal calendar of chapters 28–29 closes with two summary verses. “These things ye shall do unto the LORD in your set feasts” (môwʻêd, H4150, v. 39) — the fixed public liturgy — besides the voluntary vows and freewill offerings; Poole: “your ordinary sacrifices shall not be omitted because of the extraordinary.” The Pulpit Commentary catches the Septuagint's ταῦτα ποιήσετε behind “these things shall ye do,” the same verb as “this do in remembrance of me.” Benson tallies the year's fixed national victims — “in all, one thousand three hundred and twenty-eight” — and draws the conclusion the whole unit has been pressing toward: that such a yoke teaches “the sacrifice of Christ, which these sacrifices were intended to prefigure and typify, is of unspeakable worth.” Verse 40 (Masoretic 30:1, as Ellicott notes) seals it: Moses “told the children of Israel according to all that the LORD commanded” — nothing added, nothing kept back.
Read under Sola Scriptura, the structure preaches before any commentator does. A feast of joy — the greatest of the year, crowning the harvest — still requires a goat for sin every single day; gladness before God is never built on the assumption of innocence, but, as Keil rightly hears it, “upon the basis of a sin-offering.” And the joy is engineered to descend: thirteen bulls, twelve, eleven, down to seven, then on the eighth day to one. The text refuses to let abundance be the measure of acceptance — the smallest day carries the identical “pleasing aroma to the LORD.” Benson and Poole both arrive, independently, at the same place: the diminishing pile of victims is a finger pointing past itself, teaching Israel “not to trust in the multitude of their sacrifices… but from the one and only sacrifice of the Messiah.” Seventy bulls in seven days cannot take away sin; their very number, and their planned decline, confess as much. The eighth day — the day beyond the week of sevens, the ʻatsereth when the people are “held” one more time before God — quietly anticipates a worship that outlasts the calendar of victims altogether. This is a fallible reading, offered to be tested against the Word.
Seventy bulls, counting down to one — the size of the sacrifice was never the point; the planned shrinking of the pile was a sermon that no quantity of blood could finish the work. (⚙ a fallible reading, not Scripture.)
AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.
The whole unit is the offering-supplement to a feast instituted elsewhere. Every commentator on v. 12 sends the reader to Leviticus 23: Benson, Gill, JFB, Poole, the Pulpit Commentary, and Keil all cite “Leviticus 23:34” or “23:34-36, 39-43” as the charter. Numbers 28–29 does not establish the feasts; it prescribes the public sacrifices for days Leviticus 23 had already appointed. The Verifier confirms a shared festal-calendar fingerprint: chag (H2282, “feast,” only 55 vv), shᵉbîyʻîy (H7637, “seventh”), chôdesh (H2320, “month”), and châmêsh (H2568, “five/fifteenth”) — the same day, same month, same feast named in both. Structural, not a quotation: two halves of one institution.
Numbers 29:12 · Leviticus 23:34 · Leviticus 23:39
basis: Verifier-computed for Num 29:12 ↔ Lev 23:34: shared H2282 chag (55 vv), H7637 shᵉbîyʻîy (94 vv), H2320 chôdesh (224 vv), H2568 châmêsh (272 vv) — the festal date-formula, no quotation claim; every named voice cross-cites Lev 23:34
The closing eighth day (v. 35) is named with a rare word, ʻatsereth (H6116, “solemn assembly / restraint”), that occurs in only 11 verses of all Scripture. Its strongest tie is Leviticus 23:36, the parallel institution, which prescribes the very same eighth-day ʻatsereth with the same no-laborious-work clause. The Verifier rates this a verbal link on the strength of that scarce shared lexeme — ʻatsereth (11 vv) joined by shᵉmîynîy (H8066, “eighth,” 27 vv). Ellicott, Cambridge, Gill, and the Pulpit Commentary all read the two verses together. The wider ʻatsereth family (Deut. 16:8; Neh. 8:18; 2 Chron. 7:9) is a thematic, not verbal, echo.
Numbers 29:35 · Leviticus 23:36
basis: Verifier-computed for Num 29:35 ↔ Lev 23:36: rare shared H6116 ʻatsereth (only 11 vv in all Scripture) + H8066 shᵉmîynîy (27 vv), with the shared rest-formula H5656 ʻăbôdâh + H4399 mᵉlâʼkâh — a scarce lexeme shared with the parallel institution
The day-one offering formula (v. 13) — a fire-offering, a burnt offering, a soothing aroma to the LORD… unblemished — reuses the fixed sacrificial vocabulary of Leviticus 23:18 (the Pentecost burnt offering). The Verifier finds a cluster of relatively scarce cultic lexemes shared between them: nîychôwach (H5207, “soothing,” 43 vv), rêyach (H7381, “aroma,” 55 vv), ʼishshâh (H801, “fire-offering,” 64 vv), and tâmîym (H8549, “unblemished,” 85 vv). Editorially downgraded: the Verifier auto-tiers this “verbal” on the strength of nîychôwach (43 vv), but these are precisely the recurring, technical terms of the whole burnt-offering system — they appear together in dozens of offering verses across Leviticus and Numbers (28:8; 28:13; Lev. 23:13; Ex. 29:41; Num. 15:24), so they fingerprint a shared idiom, not one distinctive source-text. Lev. 23:18 is one instance among many, not a verse this passage quotes. The honest tier is therefore structural: a shared liturgical formula binding the festal sacrifices of Leviticus 23 and Numbers 28–29 into one ritual language, with no quotation claim.
Numbers 29:13 · Leviticus 23:18 · Numbers 28:9
basis: Verifier-computed for Num 29:13 ↔ Lev 23:18: shared H5207 nîychôwach (43 vv) + H7381 rêyach (55 vv) + H801 ʼishshâh (64 vv) + H8549 tâmîym (85 vv). Editorially downgraded from the Verifier's auto-tier of “verbal”: these are recurring formula-system terms common to the entire burnt-offering corpus (Num 28:8; 28:13; Lev 23:13; Ex 29:41), not a distinctive rare phrase unique to one verse — a shared liturgical idiom, not a quotation of Lev 23:18
The recurring clause “besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering” (vv. 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, 34, 38) ties the whole feast back to the standing daily and Sabbath worship of Numbers 28. The Verifier links v. 16 to Numbers 28:9 (the Sabbath offering) by the shared neçek (H5262, “drink offering,” 62 vv) and minchâh (H4503, “grain offering,” 194 vv). The connection is structural: the festal additions are explicitly laid “apart from” (mil-lᵉbad, H905) the tâmîd that never stops. Henry's rule — “no extraordinary services should put aside stated devotions” — is written into the grammar of every sin-offering verse in the chapter.
Numbers 29:16 · Numbers 28:9 · Numbers 28:3
basis: Verifier-computed for Num 29:16 ↔ Num 28:9: shared H5262 neçek (62 vv) + H4503 minchâh (194 vv) — common to the whole offering-system; the link is the “besides the continual” (mil-lᵉbad ha-tâmîd) structure, not a quotation
Ezekiel's vision of the restored temple worship reinstitutes a seven-day feast in the seventh month, on the fifteenth day, with daily burnt offerings and sin offerings — the Feast of Tabernacles refracted through eschatology (Ezek. 45:25; cf. 45:23). The Verifier matches Num 29:12 to Ezek 45:25 on the same date-formula lexemes (chag, shᵉbîyʻîy, chôdesh, châmêsh) and 29:13 to Ezek 45:23 on the burnt-offering cluster (tâmîym, par, ʼayil, ʻôlâh). The link is structural/thematic: Ezekiel does not quote Numbers but re-prescribes a kindred feast, with notable differences in the victim-counts — evidence the prophet adapts rather than copies. Recorded here as a forward thematic resonance, under-claimed.
Numbers 29:12 · Numbers 29:13 · Ezekiel 45:23 · Ezekiel 45:25
basis: Verifier-computed: Num 29:12 ↔ Ezek 45:25 share the date-formula (H2282 chag 55 vv, H7637, H2320, H2568); Num 29:13 ↔ Ezek 45:23 share the burnt-offering cluster (H8549 tâmîym, H6499 par, H352 ʼayil, H5930 ʻôlâh) — a kindred feast re-prescribed, not quoted (victim-counts differ)
The colophon's command, “these things ye shall do” (taʻăśû, H6213, v. 39), is rendered by the Septuagint ταῦτα ποιήσετε — and the Pulpit Commentary, in this unit's own public-domain text, points across to Luke 22:19, where the Lord says τοῦτο ποιεῖτε, “this do in remembrance of me.” Because this is a Greek–Hebrew (cross-Testament) link it cannot rest on a shared Strong's number, and the Verifier confirms no shared original-language lexeme exists. The tie is the Greek poieō standing over the Hebrew ʻâśâh in the LXX — a verbal echo at the level of translation, surfaced by an ancient source, not by the Hebrew index. Flagged accordingly: a real and noted resonance, but one that must be argued through the LXX, not asserted from the concordance.
Numbers 29:39 · Luke 22:19
basis: Cross-Testament (Greek↔Hebrew): no shared Strong's possible. Verifier returns no shared lexeme. The link is the LXX rendering ταῦτα ποιήσετε (poieō) for taʻăśû (H6213 ʻâśâh) echoed in Luke 22:19 τοῦτο ποιεῖτε — noted by the Pulpit Commentary itself; verify via the LXX text, do not assert from the Hebrew concordance
AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.
The unit's own commentators converge, again and again, on the same Christological reading — and ground it in the text's structure, not in allegory imposed from outside. Benson, on the diminishing offerings of the eighth day (v. 36): the fewness teaches Israel “not to trust in the multitude of their sacrifices, nor to expect remission of sins from them, but from the one and only sacrifice of the Messiah.” Poole says it in nearly the same words. Gill, on the bull-count ending in seven (v. 13): the number “may lead us to think of the great sacrifice these all typified, whereby Christ has perfected them that are sanctified” — quoting Hebrews 10:14. Henry makes it the rule of the whole feast: “Our burnt-offerings of praise cannot be accepted of God, unless we have an interest in the great sacrifice which Christ offered, when he made himself a Sin-offering for us.” The seventy bulls confess by their sheer number, and by their planned decline, that no quantity of animal blood finishes the work; the daily sin-offering beneath the joy says the same. This typological reading is ancient and widely held; the link is thematic and figural, argued from the inadequacy the rite itself stages, not from a shared Hebrew–Greek lexeme.
Numbers 29:13 · Numbers 29:36 · Hebrews 10:1 · Hebrews 10:14
Both Benson and Poole, commenting on the eighth day (v. 36), reach for the same New Testament cross-reference: “This was the last and great day of the feast (John 7:37).” On that day of Tabernacles Jesus “stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink” — stepping into the water-pouring ritual of the feast and claiming to be its substance. The ʻatsereth, the closing day on which the people were “held” one more time before God, becomes in the Gospel the day the Giver of the feast offers Himself. This is a figural reading the commentators make explicitly within this unit; as a cross-Testament tie (Greek Gospel, Hebrew Torah) it rests on the shared festal occasion, not on a shared lexeme, and is so marked. Ancient and widely held, but argued from the feast's calendar, not asserted from the concordance.
Numbers 29:35 · Numbers 29:36 · John 7:37 · John 7:38
The phrase that opens the first and the eighth day alike — a nîychôwach rêyach, a “soothing / rest-giving aroma to the LORD” (vv. 13, 36) — is the Old Testament's standing idiom for a sacrifice God accepts. Paul lifts the exact image onto the cross: Christ “gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a fragrant aroma” (Ephesians 5:2, εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας, the Septuagint's very rendering of nîychôwach rêyach). What the burnt offering reached for — a scent that quieted God's disposition — the New Testament locates in one self-offering. The link is typological and rests on the LXX's translation of the Hebrew phrase, not on a Hebrew–Greek concordance match; offered as a figural reading, to be tested.
Numbers 29:13 · Numbers 29:36 · Ephesians 5:2
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.
Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). The named voices are quoted verbatim from public-domain commentaries on Numbers 29:12–40, attributed in place: Charles Ellicott (Commentary for English Readers, 1878), Joseph Benson (1810s), Matthew Henry (Concise Commentary, 1706), Albert Barnes (Notes, 1834), Jamieson–Fausset–Brown (1871), Matthew Poole (1685), John Gill (1746–63), the Geneva Study Bible (1599), the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (1880s), the Pulpit Commentary (1880s), and Keil & Delitzsch (1860s). Each excerpt is a contiguous, unaltered substring of its source.
This unit is unusually formulaic: verses 17–34 repeat a three-verse cycle (burnt offering / grain-and-drink offering / sin offering) six times, varying only the bull-count and a few suffixes. Several commentators (Henry, Barnes, Keil, JFB, Gill) accordingly print the same note across many verses; where a voice's text is identical from verse to verse, the synthesis selects different pointed excerpts so that no single quotation is merely repeated. Matthew Poole supplies “No text from Poole on this verse” for most of vv. 14–34, and is therefore quoted on the verses where he does speak (12, 13, 18, 36, 39).
Two honesty flags specific to this unit. (1) The Cambridge Bible note printed at v. 16 (“merely mentions the Passover…”) is mis-keyed in the public-domain source — its content belongs to a different verse of the chapter; it is quoted verbatim and marked as a contested modern source-critical conjecture, not endorsed. (2) The Pulpit Commentary at v. 35 reads “the first /rod tenth days” — an OCR corruption of “the first and tenth days”; quoted as transmitted, with the artifact flagged.
On cross-references: Hebrew→Hebrew links carry Verifier-computed shared Strong's lexemes as their recorded basis, with the festal-calendar formula (H2282 chag, H7637, H2320, H2568) and the burnt-offering cluster (H5207 nîychôwach, H7381 rêyach, H801 ʼishshâh, H8549 tâmîym) recurring throughout. The two New Testament ties (Luke 22:19; John 7:37) and the Ephesians 5:2 / Hebrews 10 Christological readings are cross-Testament and cannot use shared Strong's numbers; each is tiered structural, typological, or flagged, and argued through the Septuagint or the festal occasion rather than asserted from the Hebrew concordance. The Hebrew is the Masoretic tradition; transliterations, parsings, glosses, and literal renderings build up from the Berean Strong's data and are not allowed to contradict it. The ⚙ machine layer is fallible and offered to be tested.
✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)