Numbers 28:2
in Numbers 28“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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, My oblation, my food for my offerings made by fire, of a sweet savor unto me, shall ye observe to offer unto me in their due season.
KJV
Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, My offering, and my bread for my sacrifices made by fire, for a sweet savour unto me, shall ye observe to offer unto me in their due season.
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This verse in Numbers 28
Commentary
7 notes on this verseIt is indeed a hard expression, but the rudeness of His ancient people obliged Him to speak thus grossly, that, on the one hand, they might learn this rite to be acceptable to God, just as food is acceptable to man; and, on the other, that they might study to offer their sacrifices more purely and chastely.
This site's exposition
the Lord spake unto Moses
on Numbers 28:1-2
This calendar arrives after the second census and after Joshua is set over the congregation in chapter 27, so a nation with no field of its own is handed a schedule of harvest offerings. Barnes reads the scale of the system as pointing past the desert to the settled land, since Deuteronomy 12:8-9 says plainly that Israel had not yet come to the rest. The offerings are called my bread, which Calvin treats as a hard expression given to a people who needed the rite made plain, and Psalm 50:12-13 answers that same figure from God's own side, if I were hungry, I would not tell thee.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Therefore, we know that above all faith should commend us to God. When we have faith, let us strive for our works to be perfect. For this is a full and perfect sacrifice, as the Lord himself teaches us, saying: 'You shall offer to me your gifts and offerings on my feast days, without detracting or dividing them; but offering them in full, intact, and perfect.' Now, the feast day of the Lord is where the grace of perfected virtues resides.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Command the children of Israel, and say unto them,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
My offering, and my bread--used generally for the appointed offerings, and the import of the prescription is to enforce regularity and care in their observance. This is the burnt offering of every sabbath--There is no previous mention of a Sabbath burnt offering, which was additional to the daily sacrifices.
Command the children of Israel, etc. - It is not easy to account for the reason of the introduction of these precepts here, which had been so circumstantially delivered before in different parts of the books of Exodus and Leviticus. It is possible that the daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly services had been considerably interrupted for several years, owing to the unsettled state of the people in the wilderness, and that it was necessary to repeat these laws for two reasons:
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
My offering, and my bread ... - Or, my offering, even my bread, etc. Offering is here קרבן qorbân (compare Lev 1:2; Mar 7:11), a term in itself of quite general import, but often especially applied, as apparently in this instance, to the meat-offering which accompanied the sacrifices. This meat-offering connected itself, from its very nature, with the life of the Israelites in Canaan, not with their life in the wilderness; and it was annexed to the animal sacrifices as a token that the people must dedicate to God their property and the fruits of their labor as well as their own persons. See Num 15:2 note and Lev 21:6.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| צַ֚ו | tzav | command | H6680 → | 494 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וְאָמַרְתָּ֖ | veamarta | and you will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵהֶ֑ם | ʾalehem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| קָרְבָּנִ֨י | karebani | offering my | H7133 → | 82 times |
| לַחְמִ֜י | lachmi | food my | H3899 → | 298 times |
| לְאִשַּׁ֗י | leishai | for fire offerings my | H801 → | 65 times |
| רֵ֚יחַ | reiach | [the] odor of | H7381 → | 58 times |
| נִֽיחֹחִ֔י | nichochi | soothing my | H5207 → | 43 times |
| תִּשְׁמְר֕וּ | tishmeru | you will take care | H8104 → | 468 times |
| לְהַקְרִ֥יב | lehakriv | to bring near | H7126 → | 280 times |
| לִ֖י | li | to <the> me | ||
| בְּמוֹעֲדֽוֹ׃ | bemoado | at appointed time its | H4150 → | 223 times |
צַ֚וcommand
tzavH6680 →494 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בְּנֵ֣י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וְאָמַרְתָּ֖and you will say
veamartaH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵהֶ֑םto them
ʾalehemH413 →5510 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
קָרְבָּנִ֨יoffering my
karebaniH7133 →82 times
לַחְמִ֜יfood my
lachmiH3899 →298 times
לְאִשַּׁ֗יfor fire offerings my
leishaiH801 →65 times
רֵ֚יחַ[the] odor of
reiachH7381 →58 times
נִֽיחֹחִ֔יsoothing my
nichochiH5207 →43 times
תִּשְׁמְר֕וּyou will take care
tishmeruH8104 →468 times
לְהַקְרִ֥יבto bring near
lehakrivH7126 →280 times
לִ֖יto <the> me
li
בְּמוֹעֲדֽוֹ׃at appointed time its
bemoadoH4150 →223 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 8:21When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth.…
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 2:15
For we are to God the sweet aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ephesians 5:2
and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.
- Genesis 6:5
Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time.
- Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
- 2 Corinthians 2:15
Through
Ephesians 5:2and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.
it leads to
- John 13:34
A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.
- Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved…
- Colossians 3:14
And over all these virtues put on love, which is the bond of perfect unity.
- Matthew 20:28
just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
- John 13:34
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, On Cain and Abel; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).