Numbers 29 · WEB
The Seventh Month Festivals
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In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work. It is a day of blowing of trumpets for you.
2You shall offer a burnt offering for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without defect;
3and their meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths for the bull, two tenths for the ram,
4and one tenth for each of the seven lambs;
5and one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you;
6besides the burnt offering of the new moon, with its meal offering, and the continual burnt offering with its meal offering, and their drink offerings, according to their ordinance, for a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh.
7On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall afflict your souls. You shall do no kind of work;
8but you shall offer a burnt offering to Yahweh for a pleasant aroma: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old, all without defect;
9and their meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths for the bull, two tenths for the one ram,
10one tenth for each of the seven lambs;
11one male goat for a sin offering; besides the sin offering of atonement and the continual burnt offering with its meal offering and their drink offerings.
12On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work, and you shall keep a feast to Yahweh seven days.
13You shall offer a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh: thirteen young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without defect;
14and their meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths for each of the thirteen bulls, two tenths for each of the two rams,
15and one tenth for each of the fourteen lambs;
16and one male goat for a sin offering; besides the continual burnt offering, its meal offering, and its drink offering.
17On the second day you shall offer twelve young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without defect;
18and their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance;
19and one male goat for a sin offering; besides the continual burnt offering and its meal offering, and their drink offerings.
20On the third day eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without defect;
21and their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance;
22and one male goat for a sin offering; besides the continual burnt offering and its meal offering and its drink offering.
23On the fourth day ten bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without defect;
24their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance;
25and one male goat for a sin offering; besides the continual burnt offering, its meal offering, and its drink offering.
26On the fifth day nine bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old without defect;
27and their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance;
28and one male goat for a sin offering; besides the continual burnt offering and its meal offering and its drink offering.
29On the sixth day eight bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lavmbs a year old without defect;
30and their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance;
31and one male goat for a sin offering; besides the continual burnt offering, its meal offering, and its drink offerings.
32On the seventh day seven bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old without defect;
33and their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance;
34and one male goat for a sin offering; besides the continual burnt offering, its meal offering, and its drink offering.
35On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly. You shall do no regular work;
36but you shall offer a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without defect;
37their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance;
38and one male goat for a sin offering; besides the continual burnt offering and its meal offering and its drink offering.
39These you shall offer to Yahweh in your set feasts, besides your vows and your free will offerings, for your burnt offerings, for your meal offerings, for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings."
40Moses told the children of Israel according to all that Yahweh commanded Moses.
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Summary
The seventh month of Israel's calendar is the most sacred, containing three major festivals in rapid succession. The first day is the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah), marked by trumpet blasts and special offerings. The tenth day is the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), the most solemn day of the year, when Israel "afflicts its soul." The fifteenth day begins the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), a joyful seven-day feast with an extraordinary escalating sacrifice: 13 bulls on day one, decreasing by one each day to 7 bulls on day seven, concluding with a solemn assembly on the eighth day.
Themes
- The sacred seventh month as the climax of Israel's worship calendar
- Solemnity and joy as complementary aspects of covenant life with God
- The lavish generosity of the Tabernacles offering
- Self-denial (afflicting the soul on Yom Kippur) as essential to worship
- The eighth day as a symbol of new beginning after the cycle of seven
Key verses
- Num 29:1 — “In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work. It is a day of blowing of trumpets for you.”
- Num 29:12 — “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work, and you shall keep a feast to Yahweh seven days.”
- Num 29:7 — “On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall afflict your souls. You shall do no kind of work.”
Context & background
These festivals are given to the new generation in the plains of Moab (modern central Jordan). The seventh month (Tishri, corresponding to September/October) was Israel's most sacred month. The Feast of Trumpets (v. 1) is still celebrated as Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year). Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement, v. 7) remains the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, featuring fasting and repentance. Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles, v. 12) was the great harvest festival when Israel lived in temporary booths, remembering the wilderness. The descending number of bulls during Tabernacles (13 to 7 — total of 70) may symbolize Israel's offerings for all 70 nations of the world (Genesis 10). The "eighth day solemn assembly" (Shemini Atzeret) was a final intimate gathering with God after the seven-day feast.
Cross-references
- Heb 9:7 — The high priest enters the Most Holy Place once a year (Yom Kippur), pointing to Christ's once-for-all atonement
- John 7:37-39 — Jesus stood up on the last, great day of Sukkot and cried out: "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink"
- Lev 16 — The full ritual of the Day of Atonement that corresponds to the tenth-day observance here
- Lev 23 — The companion festival calendar that gives the names and meanings of all these feasts
- Rev 8:2-6 — The seven trumpets of Revelation echo the sacred trumpet imagery of Rosh Hashanah