And their drink offerings shall be half an hin of wine unto a bullock, and the third part of an hin unto a ram, and a fourth part of an hin unto a lamb: this is the burnt offering of every month throughout the months of the year.

NUMBERS 28:14KJV
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Numbers 28:14 (KJV)

What does Numbers 28:14 mean?

Numbers 28:14 gives specific instructions for the amount of wine to be offered as a drink offering alongside burnt offerings each month: half a hin for a bull, a third of a hin for a ram, and a fourth of a hin for a lamb. This verse sets the standard for these monthly offerings throughout the year.

In this part of Numbers, God is speaking to Moses, giving him detailed directions for the Israelites about their regular worship practices. The focus here is on the precise quantities for the drink offerings that accompanied the animal sacrifices at the start of each month, showing the importance of order and consistency in Israel’s worship.

The Hebrew behind Numbers 28:14

  • הִין (hin, H1969): This is an ancient Hebrew measure of liquid, often estimated at about 3.8 to 6 liters (roughly 1 gallon to 1.5 gallons). The verse uses fractions of a hin to specify the amount of wine for each animal, highlighting the careful attention to detail in the offerings.
  • יָיִן (yayin, H3196): This word means "wine." Its use here shows that the drink offering was not just water or another liquid, but specifically wine, which had symbolic significance in Israelite worship.
  • חֹדֶשׁ (chodesh, H2320): This word means "month." The repetition in the verse ("every month throughout the months of the year") emphasizes that these offerings were to be made regularly, marking the start of each new month.

Why Numbers 28:14 matters

  • Numbers 28:14 clears up any confusion about how much wine was to be offered with each type of animal, showing that the requirements were not the same for every sacrifice.
  • The verse emphasizes the importance of regular, repeated worship practices in Israel’s calendar, connecting the people’s routine to their relationship with God.
  • By specifying these details, Numbers 28:14 links the Israelites’ worship to both time (the monthly cycle) and to careful obedience, themes that run throughout the book of Numbers.

Where else these words appear

“hin” Hebrew H1969 · used in 19 verses

  • Exodus 29:40 And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering.
  • Numbers 15:6 Or for a ram, thou shalt prepare for a meat offering two tenth deals of flour mingled with the third part of an hin of oil.
  • Ezekiel 4:11 Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.

“fourth” Hebrew H7243 · used in 54 verses

  • Genesis 1:19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
  • 1 Kings 6:1 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.
  • 1 Chronicles 27:7 The fourth captain for the fourth month was Asahel the brother of Joab, and Zebadiah his son after him: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.

“offerings” Hebrew H5262 · used in 62 verses

  • Genesis 35:14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon.
  • Numbers 28:31 Ye shall offer them beside the continual burnt offering, and his meat offering,(they shall be unto you without blemish) and their drink offerings.
  • 2 Kings 16:15 And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king's burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.

“third” Hebrew H7992 · used in 94 verses

  • Genesis 1:13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
  • 1 Samuel 3:8 And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child.
  • 1 Chronicles 25:10 The third to Zaccur, he, his sons, and his brethren, were twelve: