Numbers 6 15

Numbers 6:15 kjv

And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings.

Numbers 6:15 nkjv

a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their grain offering with their drink offerings.

Numbers 6:15 niv

together with their grain offerings and drink offerings, and a basket of bread made with the finest flour and without yeast?thick loaves with olive oil mixed in, and thin loaves brushed with olive oil.

Numbers 6:15 esv

and a basket of unleavened bread, loaves of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil, and their grain offering and their drink offerings.

Numbers 6:15 nlt

a basket of bread made without yeast ? cakes of choice flour mixed with olive oil and wafers spread with olive oil ? along with their prescribed grain offerings and liquid offerings.

Numbers 6 verses

Numbers 6 15 Meaning

Numbers 6:15 details the specific material offerings a Nazirite must bring to the Tent of Meeting upon the completion of their vow. These include a basket filled with unleavened bread in the form of fine flour cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil. These items are presented along with their designated grain and drink offerings, forming an essential part of the elaborate ritual that concludes their period of special dedication to the Lord. The specific types and quality of the offerings emphasize purity, completeness, and a profound act of worship and fellowship.

Numbers 6 15 Context

Numbers chapter 6 details the laws of the Nazirite vow. This vow represented a special period of voluntary dedication and separation to the Lord, open to both men and women. During this period, Nazirites were required to abstain from wine and all grape products, not cut their hair, and avoid contact with any dead body. Verse 15 specifically describes the intricate food offerings required at the completion of this vow (along with a burnt offering, a sin offering, and a peace offering mentioned in vv. 14, 16-17). These precise instructions for a return to ordinary life underscore the solemnity and divine order of Israelite worship, distinguishing it from spontaneous or unsanctioned religious practices of surrounding pagan cultures. The various components, especially the unleavened items, highlighted ritual purity and presented an offering of their best to God, signifying a pure and sincere end to their period of dedication.

Numbers 6 15 Word analysis

• and a basket (ve-sal - וְסַל):
  • sal (סַל): A common Hebrew word for a basket, often used to carry food or produce. Its inclusion here specifies the container for the various baked goods, indicating order and completeness in presentation. This humble yet essential item highlights the practical aspect of bringing a consecrated offering.
• of unleavened bread (matstsot - מַצּוֹת):
  • matstsot (מַצּוֹת): Plural of matzah, meaning unleavened bread. Crucial in Israelite ritual, symbolizing purity and truth, as leaven (yeast) was associated with corruption, sin, or old habits (cf. 1 Cor 5:6-8, Matt 16:6-12). It also recalls the haste and purity of the Exodus (Ex 12:8, 15), linking the Nazirite's release from their vow to the broader theme of divine liberation and new beginnings.
• cakes of fine flour (hallot solet - חַלּוֹת סֹלֶת):
  • hallot (חַלּוֹת): Loaves or cakes, specifically rounded and often made for offerings. This form indicates preparation suitable for sacrifice.
  • solet (סֹלֶת): Fine flour, the highest quality of flour. This specifies that only the best was to be offered to God, emphasizing reverence, dedication, and the preciousness of the Nazirite's completed vow. It stands in contrast to common or coarse flour, representing an offering of excellence.
• mixed with oil (belulot ba-shemen - בְּלוּלֹת בַּשֶּׁמֶן):
  • belulot (בְּלוּלֹת): Mixed, blended. This indicates that the oil was fully incorporated into the dough, not just poured on top. It signifies thorough saturation, symbolizing the complete pervading influence of divine anointing or blessing.
  • shemen (שֶּׁמֶן): Oil, specifically olive oil. In the Old Testament, oil frequently symbolizes consecration, anointing for sacred service (e.g., priests, kings), blessing, gladness, or the presence of the Holy Spirit (though direct identification with the Spirit is primarily a New Testament theological development, its symbolism often foreshadows it). Its mixing into the flour suggests consecration or sacredness being embedded into the offering itself.
• and wafers of unleavened bread (u-reqiqey matstsot - וּרְקִיקֵי מַצּוֹת):
  • reqiqey (רְקִיקֵי): Wafers, thin cakes or sheets of dough. The wafer form might allow for crispness and ease of anointing.
  • matstsot (מַצּוֹת): Again, unleavened bread, reinforcing the theme of purity and freedom from corruption in the offering.
• anointed with oil (meshuchim ba-shemen - מְשֻׁחִים בַּשֶּׁמֶן):
  • meshuchim (מְשֻׁחִים): Anointed, literally 'smeared' or 'rubbed' with oil. Unlike "mixed with oil," this implies application to the surface, suggesting external blessing, setting apart, or a protective covering. It carries strong connotations of sacredness and dedication.
  • shemen (שֶּׁמֶן): Oil, again highlighting its symbolic importance of consecration.
• with their grain offering (u-minchatam - וּמִנְחָתָן):
  • minchatan (מִנְחָתָן): Their grain offering. While the basket contents are specified components of a grain offering or peace offering, this phrase may refer to additional specified grain offerings beyond the baked goods, or function as a collective term for the food tribute accompanying the animal sacrifices. The grain offering symbolized dedication of sustenance and gratitude, typically of fine flour, olive oil, and frankincense. It was a primary expression of commitment and tribute to God, representing the fruits of human labor offered back to the Creator.
• and their drink offerings (ve-niskhehem - וְנִסְכֵּיהֶם):
  • veniskhehem (וְנִסְכֵּיהֶם): Their drink offerings. These were libations, usually of wine, poured out upon the altar with other sacrifices (Num 15:1-10). The act of pouring out symbolized total dedication, pouring out one's life in devotion, and joy before the Lord (Phil 2:17). The inclusion signifies a complete, all-encompassing sacrifice concluding the Nazirite vow.

Words-group by words-group analysis:

• "a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil": This precise listing details the baked components necessary for the Nazirite's offering. It speaks to the meticulously specific requirements of God's worship, emphasizing that a vow to Him demanded adherence to divine patterns, not human invention. The combination of "unleavened," "fine flour," and "oil" collectively speaks of purity, quality, and divine presence/consecration in the offering, indicative of a life lived for God.
• "with their grain offering and their drink offerings": This phrase functions as an inclusion, signifying that the baked goods specified form part of or are accompanied by the general categories of "grain offering" and "drink offering." These were fundamental aspects of nearly all public and many private sacrifices. Their presence ensures the Nazirite's completion ceremony is complete in the eyes of God, reflecting the prescribed ritual system where grain and drink offerings commonly accompanied burnt offerings and peace offerings (as are part of the Nazirite's complete offerings in vv. 14, 16-17).

Numbers 6 15 Bonus section

The specific components mentioned in Numbers 6:15, particularly the cakes and wafers, link closely to the typology of the "peace offering" (shelem or zevach shelamim) found in Leviticus 7:11-15, which also included unleavened bread. The peace offering was characterized by communion and fellowship with God, a fitting end to the Nazirite vow which began with intense separation. This signifies that the completed vow restores the individual to full fellowship with God and the community, through a divinely approved means. Furthermore, the very acts of baking and presenting such precise offerings reflect a profound investment of personal time, skill, and resources, demonstrating the depth of the Nazirite's devotion beyond mere abstinence, reinforcing the principle that genuine worship often involves tangible sacrifice and deliberate preparation. The absence of meat in this verse, while only detailing specific components of a larger offering sequence, serves to underscore the variety and distinct symbolism inherent in different sacrificial elements – from animal blood to baked goods and poured out wine.

Numbers 6 15 Commentary

Numbers 6:15 offers a detailed inventory of the baked goods and liquid offerings concluding the Nazirite vow, highlighting the intricate nature of ancient Israelite worship and the sacred importance of completing a commitment to God. The selection of unleavened bread, made from fine flour, underscored themes of purity, sincerity, and offering the best. Unleavened bread often represented absence of corruption, and "fine flour" symbolized the highest quality and reverence in dedicating one's labor to the divine. The integration of "oil" into these elements—both mixed into cakes and anointed onto wafers—is profoundly symbolic. Oil, representing anointing, blessing, or even the Holy Spirit (as understood in later theology), infused the offerings with sacredness, indicating a divinely sanctioned completion to the vow. The "grain offering" speaks to the dedication of one's sustenance and gratitude, while "drink offerings" (typically wine, now permitted again for the Nazirite) symbolized a complete pouring out of life and joyful submission to God's will. These offerings served as tangible expressions of thanksgiving and reconciliation, facilitating the Nazirite's sanctified re-entry into the regular life of the community, underscoring that dedication to God involves both separation and eventual communion through purified sacrifice. This precise ritual reinforces that our commitments to God require diligent, high-quality, and specific expressions of worship, culminating in an act of thanksgiving and fellowship, returning our very best to Him.