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And on the second day ye shall offer twelve young bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs of the first year without spot:
Numbers 29:17 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB “‘On the second day you shall offer twelve young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without defect;
  • BSB On the second day you are to present twelve young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, all unblemished,
  • NKJV ‘On the second day present twelve young bulls, two rams, fourteen lambs in their first year without blemish,
  • NASB ‘Then on the second day: twelve bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old without defect;
  • NLT “On the second day of this seven-day festival, sacrifice twelve young bulls, two rams, and fourteen one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

On the second day of Tabernacles Israel offered twelve bulls, two rams, and fourteen flawless lambs, beginning a daily decrease in bulls.

Overview

The second day's offering reduced the bulls from thirteen to twelve, starting a descending pattern unique to this feast. The careful, lavish sacrifices continued the week's overflowing worship while requiring flawless animals. Some see the diminishing total of seventy bulls across the feast as embracing the nations; what is clear is that such abundant worship anticipates the joy and provision found fully in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 13

  • Num 29:20–40And on the third day eleven bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish;
  • Num 29:13And 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:
  • Lev 23:36Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.
  • Jer 7:22–23For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:
  • Isa 1:11To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
  • Hos 6:6For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
  • Heb 9:3–14And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;
  • Heb 8:13In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
  • Ps 50:8–9I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me.
  • Ps 69:31This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.
  • Ps 51:16–17For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
  • Ps 40:6Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
  • Rom 12:1I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Numbers videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Numbers 29:17YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on NumbersMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.

How Numbers 29:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.