12 And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month ye shall have a holy convocation: no manner of servile work shall ye do; and ye shall celebrate a feast to Jehovah seven days;
The feast of tabernacles shalt thou hold seven days, when thou hast gathered in [the produce] of thy floor and of thy winepress. And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy bondman, and thy handmaid, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are in thy gates.
And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of booths seven days to Jehovah. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation: no manner of servile work shall ye do. Seven days ye shall present an offering by fire to Jehovah; on the eighth day shall be a holy convocation unto you; and ye shall present an offering by fire to Jehovah: it is a solemn assembly; no manner of servile work shall ye do. These are the set feasts of Jehovah, which ye shall proclaim as holy convocations, to present an offering by fire to Jehovah, a burnt-offering, and an oblation, a sacrifice, and drink-offerings, everything upon its day; besides the sabbaths of Jehovah, and besides your gifts, and besides all your vows, and besides all your voluntary offerings, which ye give to Jehovah. But on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the produce of the land, ye shall celebrate the feast of Jehovah seven days: on the first day there shall be rest, and on the eighth day there shall be rest. And ye shall take on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, palm branches and the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before Jehovah your God seven days. And ye shall celebrate it as a feast to Jehovah seven days in the year: [it is] an everlasting statute throughout your generations; in the seventh month shall ye celebrate it. In booths shall ye dwell seven days; all born in Israel shall dwell in booths; that your generations may know that I caused the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am Jehovah your God.
And it shall come to pass, that all that are left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, Jehovah of hosts, and to celebrate the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso goeth not up of the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, Jehovah of hosts, upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, neither [shall it be] upon them; [there] shall be the plague, wherewith Jehovah will smite the nations that go not up to celebrate the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations that go not up to celebrate the feast of tabernacles.
By faith he sojourned as a stranger in the land of promise as a foreign country, having dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with [him] of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, of which God is [the] artificer and constructor. By faith also Sarah herself received strength for [the] conception of seed, and [that] beyond a seasonable age; since she counted him faithful who promised. Wherefore also there have been born of one, and that of one become dead, even as the stars of heaven in multitude, and as the countless sand which [is] by the sea shore. All these died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them from afar off and embraced [them], and confessed that they were strangers and sojourners on the earth.
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Commentary on Numbers 29 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
The festal sacrifice for the new moon of the seventh month consisted of a burnt-offering of one bullock, one ram, and seven yearling lambs, with the corresponding meat-offerings and drink-offerings, and a sin-offering of a he-goat, “besides” (i.e., in addition to) the monthly and daily burnt-offering, meat-offering, and drink-offering. Consequently the sacrifices presented on the seventh new moon's day were, (1) a yearling lamb in the morning and evening, with their meat-offering and drink-offering; (2) in the morning, after the daily sacrifice, the ordinary new moon's sacrifice, consisting of two bullocks, one ram, and seven yearling lambs, with their corresponding meat-offerings and drink-offerings (see at Numbers 29:11); (3) the sin-offering of the he-goat, together with the burnt-offering of one bullock, one ram, and seven yearling lambs, with their proper meat-offerings and drink-offerings, the meaning of which has been pointed out at Leviticus 23:23.
On the day of atonement , on the tenth of the seventh month, a similar festal sacrifice was to be offered to the one presented on the seventh new moon's day (a burnt-offering and sin-offering), in addition to the sin-offering of atonement prescribed at Lev 16, and the daily burnt-offerings. For a more minute description of this festival, see at Lev 16 and Leviticus 23:26-32.
The feast of Tabernacles , the special regulations for the celebration of which are contained in Leviticus 23:34-36 and Leviticus 23:39-43, was distinguished above all the other feasts of the year by the great number of burnt-offerings, which raised it into the greatest festival of joy. On the seven feast-days, the first of which was to be celebrated with sabbatical rest and a holy meeting, there were to be offered, in addition to the daily burnt-offering, every day a he-goat for a sin-offering, and seventy oxen in all for a burnt-offering during the seven days, as well as every day two rams and fourteen yearling lambs, with the requisite meat-offerings and drink-offerings. Whilst, therefore, the number of rams and lambs was double the number offered at the Passover and feast of Pentecost, the number of oxen was fivefold; for, instead of fourteen, there were seventy offered during the seven days. This multiplication of the oxen was distributed in such a way, that instead of there being ten offered every day, there were thirteen on the first day, twelve on the second, and so on, deducting one every day, so that on the seventh day there were exactly seven offered; the arrangement being probably made for the purpose of securing the holy number seven for this last day, and indicating at the same time, through the gradual diminution in the number of sacrificial oxen, the gradual decrease in the festal character of the seven festal days. The reason for this multiplication in the number of burnt-offerings is to be sought for in the nature of the feast itself. Their living in booths had already visibly represented to the people the defence and blessing of their God; and the foliage of these booths pointed out the glorious advantages of the inheritance received from the Lord. But this festival followed the completion of the ingathering of the fruits of the orchard and vineyard, and therefore was still more adapted, on account of the rich harvest of splendid and costly fruits which their inheritance had yielded, and which they were about to enjoy in peace now that the labour of agriculture was over, to fill their hearts with the greatest joy and gratitude towards the Lord and Giver of them all, and to make this festival a speaking representation of the blessedness of the people of God when resting from their labours. This blessedness which the Lord had prepared for His people, was also expressed in the numerous burnt-offerings that were sacrificed on every one of the seven days, and in which the congregation presented itself soul and body to the Lord, upon the basis of a sin-offering, as a living and holy sacrifice, to be more and more sanctified, transformed, and perfected by the fire of His holy love (see my Archהol . i. p. 416).
The eighth day was to be azereth , a closing feast, and only belonged to the feast of Tabernacles so far as the Sabbath rest and a holy meeting of the seventh feast-day were transferred to it; whilst, so far as its sacrifices were concerned, it resembled the seventh new moon's day and the day of atonement, and was thus shown to be the octave or close of the second festal circle (see at Leviticus 23:36).
The sacrifices already mentioned were to be presented to the Lord on the part of the congregation, in addition to the burnt-offerings, meat-offerings, drink-offerings, and peace-offerings which individuals or families might desire to offer either spontaneously or in consequence of vows. On the vowing of burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, see Numbers 15:3, Numbers 15:8; Leviticus 22:18, Leviticus 22:21.
Numbers 29:40 forms the conclusion of the list of sacrifices in ch. 28 and 29.