39 These are the offerings which you are to give to the Lord at your regular feasts, in addition to the offerings for an oath, and the free offerings you give, for your burned offerings and your drink offerings and your peace-offerings.
But if his offering is made because of an oath or given freely, it may be taken as food on the day when it is offered; and the rest may be used up on the day after: But if any of the flesh of the offering is still unused on the third day, it is to be burned with fire. And if any of the flesh of the peace-offering is taken as food on the third day, it will not be pleasing to God and will not be put to the account of him who gives it; it will be unclean and a cause of sin to him who takes it as food. And flesh touched by any unclean thing may not be taken for food: it is to be burned with fire; and as for the flesh of the peace-offerings, everyone who is clean may take it as food: But he who is unclean when he takes as food the flesh of the peace-offerings, which are the Lord's, will be cut off from his people. And anyone who, after touching any unclean thing of man or an unclean beast or any unclean and disgusting thing, takes as food the flesh of the peace-offerings, which are the Lord's, will be cut off from his people. And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the children of Israel: You are not to take any fat, of ox or sheep or goat, for food. And the fat of that which comes to a natural death, and the fat of that which is attacked by beasts, may be used for other purposes, but not in any way for food. For anyone who takes as food the fat of any beast of which men make an offering by fire to the Lord, will be cut off from his people. And you are not to take for food any blood, of bird or of beast, in any of your houses. Whoever takes any blood for food will be cut off from his people. And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the children of Israel: He who makes a peace-offering to the Lord, is to give an offering to the Lord out of his peace-offering: He himself is to take to the Lord the offering made by fire, even the fat with the breast, so that the breast may be waved for a wave offering before the Lord. And the fat is to be burned by the priest on the altar, but the breast is for Aaron and his sons. And the right leg you are to give to the priest for an offering to be lifted up out of what is given for your peace-offerings. That man, among the sons of Aaron, by whom the blood of the peace-offering and the fat are offered, is to have the right leg for his part. For the breast which is waved and the right leg which is lifted up on high I have taken from the children of Israel, from their peace-offerings, and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as their right for ever from the children of Israel. This is the holy part given to Aaron and to his sons, out of the offerings made to the Lord by fire, on the day when they were made priests before the Lord; Which the Lord said the children of Israel were to give them, on the day when he made them his priests. It is their right for ever from generation to generation. These are the laws for the burned offering, the meal offering, and the offering for wrongdoing; and for the making of priests, and for the giving of peace-offerings; As they were given by the Lord to Moses on Mount Sinai, on the day when the Lord gave orders to the children of Israel to make their offerings to the Lord, in the waste land of Sinai.
And whoever makes a peace-offering to the Lord, in payment of an oath or as a free offering, from the herd or the flock, if it is to be pleasing to the Lord, let it be free from any mark or damage. Anything blind or broken or damaged or having any disease or any mark on it may not be offered to the Lord; you may not make an offering of it by fire on the altar to the Lord. An ox or a lamb which has more or less than its natural parts, may be given as a free offering; but it will not be taken in payment of an oath.
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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.