Text, Context, and Meaning
1 The Lord said to Moses,
2 "Give this command to the Israelites and say to them: 'Make sure that you present to me at the appointed time my food offerings, as an aroma pleasing to me.'
3 Say to them: 'This is the food offering you are to present to the Lord: two lambs a year old without defect, as a regular burnt offering each day.
4 Offer one lamb in the morning and the other at twilight,
5 together with a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil from pressed olives.
6 This is the regular burnt offering instituted at Mount Sinai as a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord.
7 The accompanying drink offering is to be a quarter of a hin of fermented drink with each lamb. Pour out the drink offering to the Lord at the sanctuary.
8 Offer the second lamb at twilight, along with the same kind of grain offering and drink offering that you offer in the morning. This is a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.
9 On the Sabbath day, make an offering of two lambs a year old without defect, together with its drink offering and a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil.
10 This is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.
11 On the first of every month, present to the Lord a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect.
12 With each bull there is to be a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with oil; with the ram, a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with oil;
13 and with each lamb, a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with oil. This is for a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord.
14 With each bull there is to be a drink offering of half a hin of wine; with the ram, a third of a hin; and with each lamb, a quarter of a hin. This is the monthly burnt offering to be made at each new moon during the year.
15 Besides the regular burnt offering with its drink offering, one male goat is to be presented to the Lord as a sin offering.
Morning:
Twilight:
Tamid - Continual offering
In addition to daily offerings:
Added to the regular daily offerings
Added to the regular daily offerings
From root meaning "to draw near" - offerings create proximity between human and divine
Burnt offering that "ascends" completely in smoke, representing total dedication
Grain offering representing human labor transformed through cultivation
אִשֶּׁה (isheh) - traditionally rendered "offering made by fire"
While some connect it to אֵשׁ (esh, fire), suggesting offerings consumed by flame, others trace it to Ugaritic and Akkadian cognates meaning "gift" or "food offering," emphasizing the relational rather than destructive aspect of sacrifice.
Source: Torah Musings
רֵיחַ נִיחוֹחַ (rei'ach nichoach) - "pleasing aroma"
Combines two Hebrew roots with profound implications. רֵיחַ derives from the root רוח (ruach), meaning breath or spirit, while נִיחוֹחַ comes from נוח (nuach), meaning rest or tranquility.
Together they suggest not that God literally smells the smoke, but that the offering creates a "tranquilizing fragrance" — a spiritual satisfaction arising from Israel's obedience.
Source: Jewish Virtual Library, Bible Hub, Thinking Torah
"Satisfaction to Me comes from the knowledge that I gave commands and My will was fulfilled." - Rashi
Source: Thinking Torah, Sefaria
אֵיפָה (ephah) & הִין (hin)
An ephah, approximately 22 liters of grain, represented substantial provision in an agrarian society. The hin, about 3.67 liters of liquid, ensured precise ritual proportions.
These weren't arbitrary amounts but reflected a divine economy of exactitude, teaching that approaching God requires careful preparation and appropriate offering.
Source: Jewish Virtual Library
Literary Structure & Patterns
The text's repetitive structure — "to/for YHWH" (לַיהוָה) appearing throughout — creates a rhythmic insistence on the offerings' recipient.
Numerical patterns (two lambs, one-tenth ephah, one-fourth hin) establish precise sacred mathematics.
The Hebrew even contains subtle wordplay: the juxtaposition of תָּמִיד (tamid, continual) with מוֹעֵד (mo'ed, appointed time) creates theological tension between ongoing obligation and specific sacred moments.
Purpose of קָרְבָּן (korban)
Most significantly, the term korban itself, from the root ק-ר-ב meaning "to draw near," reveals the offerings' essential purpose: not appeasing an angry deity or feeding a hungry god, but creating proximity between the human and divine realms.
Source: Superiorword, Wikipedia
How the offerings in Numbers 28 reflect the spiritual journey
Human Consistency
Daily Offerings
Morning & Evening
The tamid (continual) offering establishes baseline spiritual connection that must never be extinguished.
Spiritual Principle:
Consistent practice rather than sporadic inspiration builds lasting spiritual growth
Human Dedication
Sabbath Offerings
Enhanced weekly devotion
The Sabbath offerings acknowledge qualitative time — that the seventh day possesses inherent sanctity.
Spiritual Principle:
Approaching God demands bringing our best, not our leftovers
Divine Refreshment
Monthly Offerings
New moon celebration
Monthly offerings at the new moon recognize cyclical renewal and the opportunity for fresh beginnings.
Spiritual Principle:
Spiritual life includes cycles of growth, aligned with cosmic rhythms
All transformed through sacred service into vehicles for divine connection
Judaism doesn't reject the material world but seeks to sanctify it, finding God not through ascetic withdrawal but through mindful engagement with creation.
Source: Colel Chabad
Korban as Proximity
Jewish theology perceives in these offerings a comprehensive framework for understanding divine-human relationship, one that transcends the specific historical context of animal sacrifice to reveal eternal principles of spiritual service.
The concept of korban fundamentally concerns creating proximity to the Divine — not through destroying valuable property but through dedicating the material world to sacred purpose.
Source: Torah
Unblemished Offerings
The requirement for temimim (unblemished animals) teaches that approaching God demands bringing our best, not our leftovers.
This principle extends beyond livestock to encompass all aspects of spiritual service: prayer with full concentration, charity from prime earnings, study with fresh mental energy.
Source: The Tabernacle Man
Divine "Food" and Pleasure
Jewish mystical thought, particularly in Hasidic interpretation, sees profound meaning in the offering as divine "food." Not that God requires physical sustenance, but that human spiritual effort provides something the Divine genuinely desires — freely chosen devotion from beings granted free will.
The rei'ach nichoach (pleasing aroma) represents divine pleasure in human spiritual striving, creating what Hasidic masters call nachas ruach (spiritual satisfaction) in the heavenly realms.
Source: Thinking Torah
Architecture of Sacred Time
The progression from daily to weekly to monthly offerings reveals what Jewish thinkers term the architecture of sacred time:
Source: Hebrew College
Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik taught that the regularity of offerings trains the religious personality in discipline and surrender — transforming sporadic religious emotion into consistent divine service.
Source: The Tabernacle Man
The communal funding through the half-shekel tax establishes that authentic spirituality requires collective responsibility — no individual can achieve complete divine service alone.
Source: YHB