Numeri 28:2 Kommentar

Now that the people were numbered, orders given for the dividing of the land, and a general of the forces nominated and commissioned, one would have expected that the next chapter should begin the history of the campaign, or at least should give us an account of the ordinances of war; no, it contains the ordinances of worship, and provides that now, as they were on the point of entering Canaan, they should be sure to take their religion along with them, and not forget this, in the prosecution of their wars (Num 28:1, Num 28:2). The laws are here repeated and summed up concerning the sacrifices that were to be offered, I. Daily (Num 28:3-8). II. Weekly (Num 28:9, Num 28:10). III. Monthly (Num 28:11-15). IV. Yearly. 1. At the passover (Num 28:16-25). 2. At pentecost (Num 28:26-31). And the next chapter is concerning the annual solemnities of the seventh month.

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 28 In this chapter is a repetition of several laws concerning sacrifices, as the law of the daily sacrifice morning and evening, Num 28:1 of those that were offered every week on the sabbath day, Num 28:9 and every month on the first day of the month, Num 28:11 and on the seven days of unleavened bread, Num 28:16, and at the feast of weeks, Num 28:26.

Command the children of Israel, and say unto them,.... For what follows concerned them all; namely, the offering of their daily, weekly, monthly, and anniversary sacrifices, which were not for private persons, but for the whole congregation; and these might be considered by them not merely as commands and duties to be observed, but as tokens of the divine favour to them, that notwithstanding all their rebellions and provocations in the wilderness, sacrifices for sin were ordered, continued, and accepted of by the Lord; and his acceptance of them, and well pleasedness in them, may easily be observed in the expressions used concerning them: my offering, and my bread; by "offering" may be meant in general all sacrifices which were offered to the Lord, and by his command; and more especially the burnt offering, which was wholly and peculiarly his, and is after explained by sacrifices made by fire, and it is chiefly of burnt offerings this chapter treats; and by "bread" may be meant either the shewbread, which was set upon a table before the Lord continually, as his bread; so the Targum of Jonathan,"my oblation, the bread of the order of my table, shall the priests eat, but what ye offer on the altar no man has power to eat;''or else the meat offering, or rather, as it may be called, the bread offering, which always went along with burnt offerings; though the copulative "and", which is not in the text, may be omitted, and both may signify the same, "my offering", that is, "my bread"; for the sacrifices were the food of God, the provisions of his house, of which there were all sorts in the sacrifices, flesh, bread, and wine; particularly the daily sacrifice was his food every day, and the fat of sacrifices burnt is called the food of the offering made by fire, Lev 3:16, so Jarchi interprets it, "my offering", this is the blood; "my bread", the "amurim", or fat that covereth the inward parts, which were burnt on the altar: for my sacrifices made by fire for a sweet savour unto me; which respects burnt offerings, wholly consumed by fire, and were entirely the Lord's, and which he smelled a sweet savour in, or were acceptable to him: these the children of Israel were to observe to offer unto him in their due season; the daily sacrifice, morning and evening; not before morning, nor after evening, as Aben Ezra observes; and so all the rest at the proper time fixed, whether weekly, monthly, or yearly. The Jews, from this phrase, "observe to offer unto me", conclude the necessity of fixing stations, or stationary men, as Jarchi notes; so the tradition is,"these are the stations, as it is said, "command the children of Israel, &c." but how can the offering of a man be offered, and he not stand by it? wherefore the former prophets appointed twenty four courses, and to every course there was a station at Jerusalem of priests, Levites, and Israelites; and when the time of each course came to go up, the priests and Levites went up to Jerusalem, and the Israelites who belonged to that course went into their cities, and read the history of the creation (d):''now these stations, or stationary men, were substitutes for, or representatives of all Israel, and stood by the sacrifices when they were offered, in which all Israel were concerned, as particularly in the daily sacrifice, which is here first taken notice of. (d) Taanith, c. 4. sect. 2.

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. Those who are truly perfect are those whose mind, having conquered the allurements of worldly anxieties and bodily pleasures, is free from the world and dedicated to God, not diminishing anything from the straight path of their direct intention, nor dividing the times of their own affections now to luxury, now to labor. Therefore, only the wise celebrate this solemnity, no one else. For it is difficult to find a soul immune to such passions.

The blessings which God pronounces on the obedient, Deu 28:1-6. Particular privileges which the faithful shall receive, Deu 28:7-13. The curses pronounced against the ungodly and idolatrous, Deu 28:14-19. A detailed account of the miseries which should be inflicted on them, should they neglect the commandments of the Lord, Deu 28:20. They shall be smitten with the pestilence, Deu 28:21; with consumption, fever, etc., Deu 28:22; drought and barrenness, Deu 28:23, Deu 28:24; they shall be defeated by their enemies, Deu 28:25, Deu 28:26; they shall be afflicted with the botch of Egypt, Deu 28:27; with madness and blindness, Deu 28:28, Deu 28:29; they shall be disappointed in all their projects, Deu 28:30; deprived of all their possessions, and afflicted in all their members, Deu 28:31-35; they and their king shall go into captivity, Deu 28:36, and become a by-word among the nations, Deu 28:37. Their land shall be unfruitful, and they shall be the lowest of all people, Deu 28:38-44. All these curses shall come on them should they be disobedient, Deu 28:45-48. Character of the people by whom they should be subdued, Deu 28:49, Deu 28:50. Particulars of their dreadful sufferings, Deu 28:51-57. A recapitulation of their wretchedness, Deu 28:58-63. The prediction that they shall be scattered among all the nations of the earth, Deu 28:64-68.

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: 1. Because they were now about to enter into the promised land, where these services must be established and constant. 2. Because the former generations being all dead, multitudes of the present might be ignorant of these ordinances. In their due season - Moses divides these offerings into: - 1. Daily. The morning and evening sacrifices: a lamb each time, Num 28:3, Num 28:4. 2. Weekly. The Sabbath offerings, two lambs of a year old, Num 28:9, etc. 3. Monthly. At the beginning of each month two young bullocks, one ram, and seven lambs of a year old, and a kid for a sin-offering, Num 28:11, etc. 4. Annual.1. The passover to last seven days; the offerings, two young bullocks, one ram, seven lambs of a year old, and a he-goat for a sin-offering, Num 28:16, etc. 2. The day of First-Fruits. The sacrifices, the same as on the beginning of the month, Num 28:26, etc. With these sacrifices were offered libations, or drink-offerings of strong wine, Num 28:7, Num 28:14, and minchahs, or meat-offerings, composed of fine flour mingled with oil, Num 28:8, Num 28:12, etc. For an ample account of all these offerings, see the notes on Leviticus 7 (note) and Exodus 12 (note).

OFFERINGS TO BE OBSERVED. (Num. 28:1-31) Command the children of Israel, and say unto them--The repetition of several laws formerly enacted, which is made in this chapter, was seasonable and necessary, not only on account of their importance and the frequent neglect of them, but because a new generation had sprung up since their first institution and because the Israelites were about to be settled in the land where those ordinances were to be observed. 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.

Num 28:2 contains the general instruction to offer to the Lord His sacrificial gift "at the time appointed by Him." On corban, see at Lev 1:2; on "the bread of Jehovah," at Lev 3:11; on the "sacrifice made by fire," and "a sweet savour," at Lev 1:9; and on "moed," at Lev 23:2, Lev 23:4.