🔢WEB · Numbers 28:11
What does Numbers 28:11 mean?
"“‘In the beginnings of your months, you shall offer a burnt offering to Yahweh: two young bulls, and one ram, seven male lambs a year old without defect;"
— Numbers 28:11 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
The other lamb you shall offer at evening. As the meal offering of the morning, and as its drink offering, you shall offer it, an offering made by fire, for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.
“‘On the Sabbath day, you shall offer two male lambs a year old without defect, and two tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering, mixed with oil, and its drink offering:
this is the burnt offering of every Sabbath, besides the continual burnt offering, and its drink offering.
“‘In the beginnings of your months, you shall offer a burnt offering to Yahweh: two young bulls, and one ram, seven male lambs a year old without defect;
and three tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering, mixed with oil, for each bull; and two tenth parts of fine flour for a meal offering, mixed with oil, for the one ram;
and one tenth part of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering to every lamb; for a burnt offering of a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh.
Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, and the third part of a hin for the ram, and the fourth part of a hin for a lamb. This is the burnt offering of every month throughout the months of the year.
Explanation
Numbers 28:11 sits within a larger section of Numbers 28-29 where God gives Moses detailed instructions about the regular sacrifices Israel was to offer—daily, weekly, monthly, and at the annual festivals. This particular verse addresses the offering to be made "at the beginnings of your months," meaning at the start of each new month, marked by the new moon. The instruction specifies the exact composition of this burnt offering: two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old, all required to be without defect or blemish.
The book of Numbers records the instructions God gave to Moses during Israel's wilderness journey, meant to organize the nation's worship life once they were settled in the land God had promised them. This section of chapters 28-29 functions almost like a liturgical calendar, laying out a rhythm of sacrifice that would structure Israel's entire year—daily offerings morning and evening, an added offering on the Sabbath, an offering at each new moon, and then the great pilgrimage festivals like Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. The new moon offering described here marked the beginning of each month with a fresh, deliberate act of worship, ensuring that time itself was continually consecrated to Yahweh.
Theologically, several things stand out. First, the requirement that the animals be "without defect" underscores that worship of God demands the best, not the leftover or inferior—nothing flawed was fit to represent Israel before a holy God. Second, the burnt offering itself (as opposed to other offering types like sin or peace off
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