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:

NUMBERS 29:33KJV
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Numbers 29:33 (KJV)

What does Numbers 29:33 mean?

Numbers 29:33 gives instructions for the offerings to be made on a specific day during Israel’s festival calendar, saying that the grain and drink offerings for each animal—bulls, rams, and lambs—should match the number of animals being sacrificed and follow the established regulations. This verse ensures that each animal offering is accompanied by the proper additional offerings, according to the set pattern.

In this passage, Moses is relaying God’s commands to the Israelites about the sacrifices to be made during the Feast of Tabernacles. The verse is part of a detailed list describing how many animals to offer each day and what should accompany those offerings. The focus is on careful obedience to the ritual instructions, highlighting the importance of order and consistency in Israel’s worship practices.

The Hebrew behind Numbers 29:33

  • "Offering" (מִנְחָה, minchah): This word refers to a grain or meal offering, usually given alongside animal sacrifices. It emphasizes that worship involved more than just animal sacrifice—it included gifts from the harvest, showing thankfulness for God’s provision.
  • "Offerings" (נֶסֶךְ, nesech): This term means a drink offering, typically wine, poured out as part of the sacrifice. Including both grain and drink offerings with each animal underlines the completeness of the ritual.
  • "Bullocks" (פַּר, par), "Rams" (אַיִל, ayil), "Lambs" (כֶּבֶשׂ, keves): These words specify the types of animals required, each with its own significance and role in the sacrificial system.
  • "Number" (מִסְפָּר, mispar): This word stresses that the offerings must match the exact count of animals prescribed for each day, reinforcing precision in following God’s instructions.
  • "Manner" (מִשְׁפָּט, mishpat): This word is often translated "regulation" or "ordinance," pointing to the established rules for how offerings should be made, not left to personal preference.

Why Numbers 29:33 matters

  • Numbers 29:33 clarifies that every animal sacrifice required its own accompanying grain and drink offering, preventing any shortcuts or omissions in worship.
  • The verse highlights the structured nature of Israel’s worship, showing that following God’s instructions was not just about the main sacrifice but also about the details.
  • This verse connects to the broader passage by showing how each day of the festival had its own specific requirements, emphasizing both variety and order in Israel’s relationship with God.

Where else these words appear

“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 28:24 After this manner ye shall offer daily, throughout the seven days, the meat of the sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD: it shall be offered beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering.
  • 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.

“lambs” Hebrew H3532 · used in 100 verses

  • Exodus 12:5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
  • Numbers 7:53 And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud.
  • Numbers 29:17 And on the second day ye shall offer twelve young bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs of the first year without spot:

“bullocks” Hebrew H6499 · used in 119 verses

  • Genesis 32:15 Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals.
  • Numbers 7:57 One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:
  • Numbers 29:32 And on the seventh day seven bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish:

“number” Hebrew H4557 · used in 129 verses

  • Genesis 34:30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.
  • Deuteronomy 33:6 Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.
  • Ezra 3:4 They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required;