Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
God prescribes the appointed victims to be offered on feast days: first, that each day one lamb in the morning and another in the evening be sacrificed; this was the perpetual sacrifice. Secondly, verse 9, that on the sabbath two lambs be sacrificed in the morning. Thirdly, verse 11, that on the new moon, as a holocaust, two calves, one ram, and seven lambs be sacrificed; and for sin, one he-goat. He commands the same victims to be offered on the feast of Passover, verse 16, and on the feast of Pentecost, verse 26.
Note: In this chapter and the following, wherever "sacrifice" appears, it is understood as the grain offering, namely the mincha; "incense" however is called not the incense proper, but the victim burned and cremated to God: "perpetual holocaust" finally means the continual sacrifice of the lamb.
Vulgate Text: Numbers 28:1-31
1. The Lord also said to Moses: 2. Command the children of Israel, and you shall say to them: Offer My oblation, and bread, and incense of the sweetest odor, in their due seasons. 3. These are the sacrifices which you shall offer: Two unblemished yearling lambs each day as a perpetual holocaust. 4. One you shall offer in the morning, and the other in the evening: 5. a tenth part of an ephah of fine flour, which shall be sprinkled with the purest oil, and shall have the fourth part of a hin. 6. It is the perpetual holocaust which you offered on Mount Sinai for a most sweet odor of incense to the Lord. 7. And for a libation you shall offer the fourth part of a hin for each lamb in the sanctuary of the Lord. 8. And you shall offer the other lamb in like manner in the evening according to all the rites of the morning sacrifice, and of the libations thereof, an oblation of most sweet odor to the Lord. 9. And on the sabbath day you shall offer two unblemished yearling lambs, and two tenths of fine flour sprinkled with oil as a sacrifice, and the libations, 10. which are duly poured out on each sabbath as a perpetual holocaust. 11. And on the first days of the months you shall offer a holocaust to the Lord: two bulls from the herd, one ram, seven unblemished yearling lambs, 12. and three tenths of fine flour sprinkled with oil as a sacrifice for each bull; and two tenths of fine flour sprinkled with oil as a sacrifice for the ram; 13. and a tenth of a tenth of fine flour mixed with oil as a sacrifice for each lamb. It is a holocaust of most sweet odor and a burnt offering to the Lord. 14. And these shall be the libations of wine that are to be poured out for each victim: half a hin for each bull, a third of a hin for the ram, and a fourth part of a hin for each lamb. This shall be the holocaust for every month, as they succeed one another in the course of the year. 15. A he-goat also shall be offered to the Lord for sins, as a perpetual holocaust with its libations. 16. And in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, shall be the Phase of the Lord, 17. and on the fifteenth day the solemnity: for seven days they shall eat unleavened bread. 18. Of which the first day shall be venerable and holy: you shall do no servile work therein. 19. And you shall offer a burnt sacrifice, a holocaust to the Lord: two bulls from the herd, one ram, seven unblemished yearling lambs; 20. and the sacrifices of each of them, of fine flour sprinkled with oil: three tenths for each bull, and two tenths for the ram, 21. and a tenth of a tenth for each lamb, that is, for all seven lambs: 22. and a he-goat for sin to make atonement for you, 23. besides the morning holocaust, which you shall always offer. 24. In this manner you shall do on every day of the seven days for fuel of fire, and for a most sweet odor to the Lord, which shall rise from the holocaust, and from the libations of each. 25. The seventh day also shall be most solemn and holy to you: you shall do no servile work therein. 26. The day also of firstfruits, when after the weeks are accomplished, you shall offer new fruits to the Lord, shall be venerable and holy: you shall do no servile work therein. 27. And you shall offer a holocaust for a most sweet odor to the Lord: two bulls from the herd, one ram, and seven unblemished yearling lambs; 28. and in the sacrifices of each, fine flour sprinkled with oil, three tenths for every bull, two for every ram, 29. a tenth of a tenth for each lamb, which together are seven lambs: a he-goat also, 30. which is slain for expiation: besides the perpetual holocaust and its libations, 31. you shall offer them all unblemished with their libations.
Verse 1: The Lord Said to Moses
1. The Lord also said to Moses. -- It is not certain when and where God said these things: it is likely, however, that the order of time and narration is preserved here (for there is nothing against it being preserved, and therefore that these things were said to Moses shortly before his death in the 40th year of the departure from Egypt, at the last encampment). So Abulensis.
Verse 2: Offer My Oblation and Bread
2. Offer My oblation, and bread, and incense of the sweetest odor. -- By oblation, bread, and incense, He means not the showbread, nor the incense proper, but only the victims offered and burned to God. For these are the bread, that is, the food of God; this is clear from the Hebrew, which reads thus: offer My oblation, (namely) My bread (that is, My victims) through My fire-offerings (by which these victims are set on fire and cremated to God by fire) as a sweet-smelling odor.
Verse 3: Two Unblemished Yearling Lambs Each Day
3. Two unblemished yearling lambs each day. -- Here is described the sacrifice to be offered twice daily, namely once in the morning and a second time in the evening, which was therefore called the perpetual sacrifice. The victim to be offered was not a calf, nor a kid (which could be offered at Passover), but a lamb. For this alone is what the Hebrew word kebes signifies.
Note first: This lamb had to be entirely burned to God, as the supreme Lord of all, and made a holocaust. Secondly, one was burned in the morning, another in the evening, so that both at the beginning and at the end of the day they might worship God with this service, and end the day as they had begun it. What Christian, then, would neglect morning and evening prayer, by which he gives thanks to God in the evening for the blessings of the day, in the morning for those of the night, and commends himself and all his affairs to Him? Thirdly, the lamb had to be a yearling, that is, not exceeding one year: whence Abulensis thinks that a yearling, or one of one year, is so called even if it were only 8 days old; for after eight days lambs, kids, and calves could be sacrificed to God, as is clear from Exodus xxii, 30. Fourthly, it had to be unblemished, that is, whole and without bodily defect; it could however be white, black, and have white or black spots. Fifthly, to each lamb, in place of a libation, a tenth part, or issaron, of fine flour mixed with oil had to be added, which had the measure of a fourth part of a hin; also a fourth part of a hin of wine, which likewise had to be poured out as a libation over the lamb and the flour, and burned with them: understand this of a portion of the wine and of a handful of the flour or mincha. For this alone was burned with the lamb; but the remainder of the flour and wine went to the priest who offered, as I said at ch. xv, verse 5, and as Abulensis teaches here. An issaron of flour is about four pounds; a fourth part of a hin is three cups of thirteen ounces of water or wine.
Verse 6: The Perpetual Holocaust Offered at Sinai
6. It is the perpetual holocaust which you offered on Mount Sinai. -- From this it is sufficiently gathered that the Hebrews in the desert did not offer these lambs, nor did they sacrifice after their departure from Sinai for 38 years; but that the perpetual sacrifice was offered at Sinai is clear from Leviticus ix, 17, and Exodus xxix, 38. For at Sinai the priesthood and sacrifices were instituted, and there Aaron and his sons celebrated their firstfruits by sacrificing.
Of incense. -- In Hebrew: of fire-offering, that is, of a sacrifice set on fire and cremated to God. See what was said at verse 2.
Verse 9: On the Sabbath Day
9. On the sabbath day you shall offer two lambs. -- These are the victims for the sabbath feast, namely two lambs. In the morning of the sabbath, therefore, three lambs were sacrificed, namely one for the perpetual sacrifice, two for the sabbath; this is clear from the Hebrew, as I shall soon show.
And two tenths of fine flour mixed with oil, as a sacrifice -- for the sacrifice, namely for the mincha; for this is what "sacrifice" commonly means in Leviticus, namely that it is a grain offering, not a meat offering.
Verses 9-10: The Sabbath Libations and the Perpetual Sacrifice
9 and 10. And the libations (drink offerings of flour, oil, and wine) which are duly poured out on each sabbath, as a perpetual holocaust. -- In Hebrew and Chaldee it reads: The holocaust of the sabbath on its sabbath, that is, on each sabbath two lambs, as stated, shall be offered, in addition to the perpetual holocaust and its libation. And so what our translator renders as "and the libations," etc., is to be understood in the same way, meaning: Besides the sacrifice of the sabbath, you shall also offer the libations, that is, the drink offerings, which are duly poured out according to the law on each sabbath, that is, on each day (for the sabbath often means this), for, or in addition to, the perpetual and continual holocaust. So Abulensis. Whence it is clear that on the sabbath, as on other feast days, the daily perpetual sacrifice was maintained; but in addition to this, it was proper to the sabbath feast that on account of the sabbath, two other lambs were sacrificed, which in the morning, like the other victims, after the offering of the perpetual sacrifice, were sacrificed together. So Abulensis.
In the same way, if two feasts fell on the same day, the sacrifices proper to each feast were made on that day, and in addition the perpetual sacrifice, which was first and preceded all the rest. Thus the feast of Trumpets always fell on the new moon, namely on the first day of the seventh month, and it could happen that this first day was a sabbath, and then the victims both of the sabbath, and of Trumpets and of the new moon, had to be offered after the perpetual sacrifice. Likewise Passover and Pentecost could fall on a sabbath, but not on the first of the month, because Passover never fell on the first but always on the 14th day of the first month; while Pentecost always fell on the sixth day of the third month.
Verse 11: On the Calends
11. On the first days of the months you shall offer a holocaust. -- The calends were the first day of the month, which is also called the new moon or new moon day, because the Hebrews calculated their months according to the course of the moon, namely from one new moon to the next, so that the first day of the month always fell on the new moon. This first day of the month was not properly a feast, because on it work was not ceased from by God's precept; although perhaps out of devotion many did cease from work, which St. Augustine implies when he says: "Jewish women would do better to spin on the new moons than to dance immodestly on them." Whence in Leviticus xxiii, new moons are not numbered among the feasts. Yet it was solemn with the sounding of trumpets and sacrifices, as is clear from this passage, and from Numbers x, 10, and from Psalm 80, verse 4: "Blow the trumpet at the new moon, on the solemn day of your feast."
On the Hebrew Calendar and New Moon
Furthermore, although the new moon and the first day of the month fell on the same day, they did not always fall at the same hour; for since from one new moon to the next 29 days and 12 hours intervene, and each day has 24 hours, it happened that the Hebrew month alternately had sometimes 29, sometimes 30 days, the 12 extra hours of both months (the present and the preceding) being joined together to make up the thirtieth day.
Therefore, if we suppose that in the first month, which is of 29 days, the new moon and the first day of the month begin at the same hour, it is necessary that in the following month, which has 30 days, the new moon begins not at the first hour of the first day, but after 12 hours, namely in the evening of that day. For the 12 hours left over from the preceding new moon and month were carried over to the following month and its first day, after which the next new moon begins.
Hence it is clear that no intercalary months of the Hebrews were of 22 or 23 days, as Sigonius and some others held; but all were of either 29 or 30 days: for otherwise the calends would have been celebrated on a day other than the new moon, and the first day of the month would not have fallen on the new moon; which from what has been said is clearly false.
Whence the Jews even now, when the new moon is approaching, ascend turrets in their synagogues, and diligently observe the rising of the moon, and as soon as it rises, immediately announce the new moon by the sound of the trumpet. Similarly, the ancient Romans reckoned their months by lunations, before the reform of the year into solar months, as Macrobius teaches, book I of the Saturnalia.
Hence it is clear, secondly, that the year of the Hebrews sometimes began before the vernal equinox, sometimes after it; for the intercalation, which took place every other year, or every third year, caused the first month of the following year to fall after the equinox; the reason for this was that the intercalary month was the last of the year, and therefore not the first but the thirteenth, which was consequently closer to the equinox than the first month of the following year; and therefore the first month of the following year had to follow, not precede, the equinox, as Abulensis teaches in Leviticus xxiii.
It is clear, thirdly, that the months of the Hebrews did not correspond equally to the Roman solar months. For so even now we see that the new moon often does not coincide with the first day of the month, but occurs much later, and therefore one lunation and one lunar month falls partly in one solar month and partly in the following one.
Why God Instituted the New Moon
You ask: what were the reasons why God instituted the new moon? I answer: The first was to recall the benefit of divine governance; for just as on the sabbath the Hebrews celebrated the memorial of creation, so on the new moon they celebrated divine governance. For this is fittingly signified by the new moon; for the moon rules over these lower bodies, and is wont to change them especially at the new moon. So Lyra here, and St. Thomas, I-II, Question 102, article 4, ad 10. Therefore by celebrating the new moon, the Jews gave thanks to God for the benefit of governance, both of every kind, but especially for that which God provides us through the influence of the sun, moon, and other heavenly bodies.
For this reason the Gentile Romans "consecrated the year to Jupiter, that is, to the sun, and the months to Juno, that is, to the moon. For the sun produces the year, the moon the months. Moreover, the moon was called Juno from 'growing young,' and Lucina as if 'the shining one'; and they thought that she brought aid to women in childbirth, whence the line: Through the azure pole of the stars, and the moon that hastens births. For women seem to give birth most easily under the full moon," says Plutarch in the Roman Questions.
Again, the Gentiles, to profess divine governance, taught that twelve gods presided over the twelve months. For January was believed to have the guardianship of Juno, February Neptune, March Minerva, April Venus, May Apollo, June Mercury, July Jupiter, August Ceres, September Vulcan, October Mars, November Diana, December Vesta, as Giraldus teaches, Syntagma 1.
The second reason was that the Hebrews might pay to God the firstfruits both of time and months, and of crops: hence at the new moon they offered as a holocaust two calves, one ram, seven lambs, with their libations, as is said in this verse; also one he-goat for sin, as is said in verse 15.
The third, that by sacrifices and prayers they might ask and obtain from God, at the very beginning of the month, a prosperous and salutary course for the whole month.
The fourth, to hear the law of God and what was to be done that month in the tabernacle. For this reason also among the Romans on the calends the people gathered in the city, so that each might learn and understand what had to be done that month in divine and human affairs; whence the pontiff, having summoned the people to the Capitol (calata, that is, called together), would announce by the repeated cry of 'calo' how many days remained until the Nones, and from this the calends received their name, about which Macrobius speaks at length, book I of the Saturnalia. And from the calends, calendars are so called, namely daily records in which the calends of each month with the other days were described.
You may fittingly apply these things to the first Sunday of the month, on which more devout Christians are accustomed to renew their spirit, to confess, to receive communion, to give thanks to God for the blessings received in the past month, and to offer Him the beginning of the new month, and the whole month, and to ask for all good things in it; for which purpose plenary indulgences have been granted in our churches by the Supreme Pontiffs; for it is not fitting that Christians should yield to Jews in this piety and gratitude.
Verse 13: A Tenth of a Tenth of Fine Flour
13. And a tenth of a tenth of fine flour mixed with oil. -- A tenth of a tenth was one tenth. For just as for a calf they offered three tenths of fine flour as a libation, for a ram two, so for a lamb one tenth, as is clear from ch. xv, verse 5. That one tenth, therefore, here and in verse 21, is called a tenth of a tenth, that is, a tenth part of an ephah, which was a tenth part of a kor; for a kor contained 10 ephahs, and an ephah contained 10 tenths or issarons. An issaron, therefore, or tenth, was a tenth part of the tenth, that is, of the ephah, but a hundredth part of the kor (for ten times ten is a hundred). For "a tenth of a tenth" the Hebrew has issaron issaron; which with the Chaldean can also be translated: and individual tenths for individual lambs: for the Hebrew doubling distributes, and means the same as "for each one."
Verse 15: A He-Goat for Sin
15. A he-goat also shall be offered to the Lord for sins, as a perpetual holocaust with its libations. -- Up to this point he has described the holocausts to be sacrificed on the calends or new moon; now he describes the sin-offering to be sacrificed on the calends: it was a he-goat.
The Talmudists fable that this he-goat was sacrificed each month on the calends as a sin-offering, not of the people, but of God, because He, they say, committed a sin when He diminished the light of the moon and made it wane, whereas before the moon had equal light with the sun; and this because the moon had said to God that one king should not have two crowns -- desiring that God should take away the sun's light, so that she herself might surpass the sun in her splendor. But these things are as foolish and stupid as they are blasphemous.
I say therefore that this he-goat was offered for the sin of the whole people, indeterminately and in general for the whole year, but especially for sins committed in the preceding month just passed.
You ask: how is this he-goat for sin called a perpetual holocaust? Again, how did it have libations? One could answer that this he-goat is called a perpetual holocaust by catachresis, because at set times, namely on the calends, the fat of the he-goat always had to be burned to God; for the remaining flesh went to the priest, according to the law of Leviticus vi, 25. In a similar way, the fat of the peace offering is said to be burned as a holocaust, ch. iii, 5.
Again, by "libations" here could be understood salt; for the mincha, that is, fine flour, wine, and oil, were not offered as libations in sin-offerings, as was said at ch. xv, 3; nor was frankincense burned with them, as is clear from Leviticus v, 12.
But these explanations seem forced and strained. Whence I say the sense of this passage must be drawn from the Hebrew, which the Chaldean, Septuagint, Vatablus and others translate clearly and plainly thus: you shall offer a he-goat for sin, in addition to the perpetual holocaust with its libations; meaning: On the calends you shall offer a he-goat for sin, in addition to and after the perpetual sacrifice. For the perpetual holocaust could never be omitted, neither on the calends nor on any other occasion, even if many other victims were offered, and it had its own libations of flour, oil, and wine. That this is so is further clear from the fact that in exactly the same way he said, in verse 10, that on the sabbath two lambs are to be offered in addition to the perpetual sacrifice, as is clear from the Hebrew; for the same words are there as here. In the same way also, in verse 23, he says that in Passover the paschal victims are to be offered "besides the morning holocaust," as our translator renders it, and the same is repeated in all the other individual feasts, last verse, and the following chapter verses 6, 11, 16, 22, 25, 28, 32, 34, 38; therefore there is no doubt that he intended to say the same about the calends. Wherefore our translation at this place is to be explained in the same way according to the Hebrew, Chaldean, and Septuagint, so that "as a holocaust" means "in addition to the holocaust, with the holocaust, beyond the holocaust"; so we commonly say: The king gave golden garments to his daughter as a dowry, that is, in addition to the dowry, with the dowry; for garments are not usually given as the dowry itself, and the preposition "in" is often taken for "to, with," etc. Perhaps also instead of "as a holocaust," one should read "moreover the holocaust," as Abulensis holds, who thinks the Latin text here is corrupted, or mutilated through the fault of scribes.
Verse 16: The Phase of the Lord
16. It shall be the Phase of the Lord -- it shall be the feast of Passover.
Verse 19: The Passover Offerings
19. And you shall offer a fire-offering as a holocaust to the Lord. -- For "incense" the Hebrew has "fire-offering," that is, a victim which is burned by fire and becomes a holocaust. From this verse it is clear that on the feast of Passover, two calves, one ram, seven lambs with their libations, and one he-goat for sin were offered as a holocaust.
Verses 22-23: Expiation Besides the Morning Holocaust
22 and 23. That expiation may be made (that there may be atonement) for you, besides the morning holocaust. -- Understand also the evening one, but that is not expressed, because there was no reason to doubt about it, as there was about the morning one; for the morning one could seem to be omittable, since so many other sacrifices were being offered that same morning: whence God expressly commands that it not be omitted.
Verse 24: As Fuel for Fire
24. As fuel for fire. -- In Hebrew: as the bread, or food of fire, that is, as nourishment for the fire.
Verse 26: The Day of Firstfruits
26. The day of firstfruits also (on which they offered the first ripe crops, that is, loaves from the first crops, namely the day of Pentecost, which is celebrated when seven weeks have been completed, counted from the second day of Unleavened Bread) shall be venerable and holy.
Verse 27: The Pentecost Offerings
27. And you shall offer a holocaust. -- The same victims are here commanded to be offered on the feast of Pentecost as were commanded to be offered at Passover, verse 19. Note that these victims are different from those about which see Leviticus xxiii, 18, as I said there.