What Does Numbers 29:13 Mean?
And you offer an ascending offering, an offering of fire, for a fragrance that settles unto the LORD; thirteen young bulls, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year; they are without blemish.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And ye shall offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD; thirteen young bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year; they shall be without blemish:THE KEY
The offering is both brought near and made to rise, so nearness to God is pictured as ascent.
THE MEANING
The verse places before you an exact count, thirteen young bullocks, two rams, and fourteen first-year lambs, brought to the LORD as an offering by fire, each without defect. Its picture of nearness is physical and costly: the offering rises, and its aroma is called pleasing to the LORD.
THE ROOT
וְהִקְרַבְתֶּם
wehiqravtem
GROWS FROM
קרב
qarab
to draw near, approach
The verb translated “offer” names the act of drawing near. The same root forms קָרְבָּן (qorbān, an offering brought near), so the gift is named by its approach toward the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
qārōḇ: near, close
קָרוֹב
The same root makes nearness part of the word family behind the offering.
qorbān: offering, something brought near
קָרְבָּן
This branch names an offering through the act of bringing it near.
עֹלָה
olah
GROWS FROM
עלה
alah
to ascend, go up
“ascending offering” in this verse is olah. Under the English phrase “burnt offering,” the Hebrew name carries the sense of rising. Together with the verb for bringing near, it pictures the offering as both approaching the LORD and ascending.
ALSO GROWS
aliyah: ascent, going up
עֲלִיָּה
This branch makes the upward movement in olah visible.
maʿalah: step, ascent, degree
מַעֲלָה
This branch also carries the sense of rising or moving upward.
תְּמִימִם
temimim
GROWS FROM
תמם
tamam
to be complete, whole
Here “without blemish” carries the sense of being complete and sound. The same seed also names integrity, so the animal’s physical condition and its wholeness belong to one image.
ALSO GROWS
tam: whole, blameless, upright
תָּם
This branch shows the root’s reach from physical completeness to integrity.
tom: integrity, completeness
תֹּם
This noun carries the same idea of wholeness into a quality of character.
THE PATTERN
An offering approaches God as an embodied gift presented whole.
If his drawing near from the herd is a rising offering, he shall bring near a whole male to the opening of the tent of appointed meeting, and he shall bring it near of his own pleasure before the face of the LORD.Therefore I urge you, brothers, through the compassions of God, to set your bodies beside God as a living sacrifice, set apart, well-pleasing to him, which is your true service.By this will we have been set apart through the offering of the body of Jesus, the Anointed One, once for all.THE THREAD
If his drawing near from the herd is a rising offering, he shall bring near a whole male to the opening of the tent of appointed meeting, and he shall bring it near of his own pleasure before the face of the LORD.Leviticus uses the same Hebrew roots for bringing an offering near, for the burnt offering’s ascent, and for the animal’s wholeness. The shared wording shows the movement in Numbers: the gift comes near to the LORD as it rises, with its completeness part of the presentation.
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