Numbers 28:7 - Exposition

In the holy place. בַּקֹּדֶשׁ . Septuagint, ἐν τῷ ἀγίῳ . Josephus paraphrases this by περὶ τὸν βωμόν (‘Ant.,' 3.10), and so the Targum of Onkelos; Jonathan and the Targum of Palestine render, "from the vessels of the sanctuary." The former would seem to be the real meaning of the original. There is nowhere any specific direction as to the ritual of the drink offering (see on Leviticus 23:1-44 , and Numbers 15:7 , Numbers 15:10 ), nor is it certain whether it was poured at the foot of the altar (as apparently stated in Ecclesiasticus 1:15) or poured upon the flesh of the sacrifice on the altar (as seems to be implied in Philippians 2:17 ). The strong wine. שֵׁכָר . Septuagint, σίκερα . The Targums render it "old wine," because the drink offering was in every other instance ordered to be made with wine ( Exodus 29:40 , &c.;). Shecar, however, was not wine, but strong drink other than wine (such as we call "spirits"), and it is invariably used in that sense in contradistinction to wine (see on Le Numbers 10:9 ; Numbers 6:3 , &c.;). It can only be supposed that the difficulty of procuring wine in the wilderness had caused the coarser and commoner liquor to be substituted for it. It is certainly remarkable that the mention of shecar should be retained at a time when wine must have been easily obtainable, and was about to become abundant ( Deuteronomy 8:8 ). As it would seem impossible that shecar should have been substituted for wine after the settlement in Canaan, its mention here may be accepted as evidence of the wilderness-origin of this particular ordinance. The quantity ordained (about a quart for each lamb) was very considerable.