Numbers 2
2
The Arrangement of the Tribes
1#sn For this chapter, see C. E. Douglas, “The Twelve Houses of Israel,” JTS 37 (1936): 49-56; C. C. Roach, “The Camp in the Wilderness: A Sermon on Numbers 2:2,” Int 13 (1959): 49-54; and G. St. Clair, “Israel in Camp: A Study,” JTS 8 (1907): 185-217. The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron: 2 “Every one#tn Heb “a man by his own standard.” of the Israelites must camp#tn The imperfect tense is to be taken in the nuance of instruction. under his standard with the emblems of his family;#tn Heb “of/for the house of their fathers.” they must camp at some distance#tn The Hebrew expression מִנֶּגֶד (minneged) means “from before” or “opposite; facing” and “at some distance” or “away from the front of” (see BDB 617 s.v. נֶגֶד 2.c.a; DCH 5:603-4 s.v. 3.b). around the tent of meeting.#sn The Israelites were camping as a military camp, each tribe with the standards and emblems of the family. The standard was the symbol fastened to the end of a pole and carried to battle. It served to rally the tribe to the battle. The Bible nowhere describes these, although the serpent emblem of Numbers 21:8-9 may give a clue. But they probably did not have shapes of animals in view of the prohibition in the Decalogue. The standards may have been smaller for the families than the ones for the tribes. See further K. A. Kitchen, “Some Egyptian Background to the Old Testament,” TynBul 5 (1960): 11; and T. W. Mann, Divine Presence and Guidance in Israelite Tradition, 169-73.
The Tribes on the East
3 “Now those who will be camping#tn The sentence begins with a vav (ו) on a word that is not a finite verb, indicating a new section begins here. The verbal form is a participle with the article used substantivally, with the meaning “and/now those camping.” Many English versions employ a finite verb; cf. KJV “on the east side…shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch.” on the east, toward the sunrise,#tc The two synonyms might seem to be tautological, but this is fairly common and therefore acceptable in Hebrew prose (cf. Exod 26:18; 38:13; etc.). are the divisions#tn The sentence actually has “[those camping…are] the standard of the camp of Judah according to their divisions.” of the camp of Judah under their standard. The leader of the people of Judah is#tn Or “will be.” Nahshon son of Amminadab. 4 Those numbered in his division#tc The expression “and his divisions and those numbered of them” is somewhat tautological. The words are synonyms used for statistical purposes, and so neither should be simply deleted. are 74,600. 5 Those who will be camping next to them#tn Heb “by him” [i.e., Judah]. are the tribe of Issachar. The leader of the people of Issachar is Nethanel son of Zuar. 6 Those numbered in his division are 54,400. 7 Next will be#tn This part has been supplied; the text simply has “the tribe of Zebulun.” the tribe of Zebulun. The leader of the people of Zebulun is Eliab son of Helon. 8 Those numbered in his division are 57,400. 9 All those numbered of the camp of Judah, according to their divisions, are 186,400. They will travel#tn The verb is נָסָע (nasa’): “to journey, travel, set out,” and here, “to move camp.” Judah will go first, or, literally, at the head of the nation, when they begin to travel. at the front.
The Tribes on the South
10 “On the south will be the divisions of the camp of Reuben under their standard.#tn Here and throughout the line is literally “[under] the standard of the camp of Reuben…according to their divisions.” The leader of the people of Reuben is Elizur son of Shedeur. 11 Those numbered in his division are 46,500. 12 Those who will be camping next to them are the tribe of Simeon. The leader of the people of Simeon is Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai. 13 Those numbered in his division are 59,300. 14 Next will be#tn The Hebrew text simply has “and the tribe of Gad.” the tribe of Gad. The leader of the people of Gad is Eliasaph son of Deuel.#tc The Leningrad codex, upon which BHS is based, has “Reuel” here. In reading “Deuel” the translation presented above follows many medieval Hebrew manuscripts, Smr, and the Latin Vulgate. Cf. Num 1:14. 15 Those numbered in his division are 45,650. 16 All those numbered of the camp of Reuben, according to their divisions, are 151,450. They will travel second.
The Tribe in the Center
17 “Then the tent of meeting with the camp of the Levites will travel in the middle of the camps. They will travel in the same order as they camped, each in his own place#tn The Hebrew expression is עַל־יָדוֹ (’al-yado, “upon his hand”). This clearly refers to a specifically designated place for each man. under his standard.
The Tribes on the West
18 “On the west will be the divisions of the camp of Ephraim under their standard. The leader of the people of Ephraim is Elishama son of Amihud. 19 Those numbered in his division are 40,500. 20 Next to them will be the tribe of Manasseh. The leader of the people of Manasseh is Gamaliel son of Pedahzur. 21 Those numbered in his division are 32,200. 22 Next will be#tn Here too the Hebrew text simply has “and the tribe of Benjamin.” the tribe of Benjamin. The leader of the people of Benjamin is Abidan son of Gideoni. 23 Those numbered in his division are 35,400. 24 All those numbered of the camp of Ephraim, according to their divisions, are 108,100. They will travel third.
The Tribes on the North
25 “On the north will be the divisions of the camp of Dan, under their standards. The leader of the people of Dan is Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai. 26 Those numbered in his division are 62,700. 27 Those who will be camping next to them are the tribe of Asher. The leader of the people of Asher is Pagiel son of Ocran. 28 Those numbered in his division are 41,500. 29 Next will be#tn The Hebrew text has “and the tribe of Naphtali.” the tribe of Naphtali. The leader of the people of Naphtali is Ahira son of Enan. 30 Those numbered in his division are 53,400. 31 All those numbered of the camp of Dan are 157,600. They will travel last, under their standards.”
Summary
32 These are the Israelites, numbered according to their families.#tn Heb “the house of their fathers.” So also in v. 34. All those numbered in the camps, by their divisions, are 603,550. 33 But the Levites were not numbered among the other Israelites, as the Lord commanded Moses.
34 So the Israelites did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses; that is the way#tn The Hebrew word is כֵּן (ken, “thus, so”). they camped under their standards, and that is the way they traveled, each with his clan and family.
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Numbers 2
2
The Arrangement of the Camps
1Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2“The Israelites#Literally “sons/children of Israel” will encamp each with his standard, with a banner according to their families;#Literally “the house of their fathers” they will encamp around the tent of assembly. 3The ones who encamp on the eastern side, toward the sunrise, will be of the standard of the camp of Judah according to their divisions; and the leader of the descendants of Judah will be Nahshon son of Amminadab, 4and his division and the ones counted#Literally “the ones counted of them,” or “the ones mustered of them” are seventy-four thousand six hundred. 5And the ones who encamp next to him will be the tribe of Issachar. And the leader of the descendants of Issachar will be Nethanel son of Zuar, 6and his division are fifty-four thousand four hundred. 7For the tribe of Zebulun: the leader of the descendants of Zebulun will be Eliab son of Helon, 8and his division and the ones counted#Literally “the ones counted of him,” or “the ones mustered of him” are fifty-seven thousand four hundred. 9All those counted from the camp of Judah are one hundred and eighty-six thousand four hundred. They will set out first according to their divisions.
10“The standard of the camp of Reuben will be to the south according to their divisions. The leader of the descendants will be Elizur son of Shedeur. 11And his division and the ones counted#Literally “the ones counted of him,” or “the ones mustered of him” are forty-six thousand five hundred. 12Those encamped next to him will be the tribe of Simeon. The leader of the descendants of Simeon will be Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai. 13And his division and the ones counted#Literally “the ones counted of them,” or “the ones mustered of them” are fifty-nine thousand three hundred. 14For the tribe of Gad: the leader of the descendants of Gad will be Eliasaph son of Reuel. 15And his division and the ones counted#Literally “the ones counted of them,” or “the ones mustered of them” are forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty. 16All those counted#Or “those mustered” from the camp of Reuben are one hundred and fifty-one thousand four hundred and fifty. They will set out second according to their divisions.
17“The tent of assembly the camp of the Levites will set out in the midst of the camps; they will set out just as they encamped, each according to their standards.#Literally “each man on his hand according to their standards”
18“The standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their divisions will be to the west. The leader of the descendants of Ephraim will be Elishama son of Ammihud. 19And his division and the ones counted#Literally “the ones counted of them,” or “the ones mustered of them” are forty thousand five hundred. 20The tribe of Manasseh will be next to him. The leader of the descendants of the tribe of Manasseh will be Camaliel son of Pedahzur. 21And his division and the ones counted#Literally “the ones counted of them,” or “the ones mustered of them” are thirty-two thousand two hundred. 22For the tribe of Benjamin: the leader of the descendants of Benjamin will be Abidan son of Gideoni. 23And his division and the ones counted#Literally “the ones counted of them,” or “the ones mustered of them” are thirty-five thousand four hundred. 24All those counted#Or “those mustered” from the camp of Ephraim are one hundred and eighty thousand one hundred. They will set out third according to their divisions.
25“The standard of the camp of Dan according to their divisions will be to the west. The leader of the descendants of Dan will be Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai. 26And his division and the ones counted#Literally “the ones counted of them,” or “the ones mustered of them” are sixty-two thousand seven hundred. 27Those encamped next to him will be the tribe of Asher. The leader of the descendants of Asher will be Pagiel son of Ocran. 28And his division and the ones counted#Literally “the ones counted of them,” or “the ones mustered of them” are forty-one thousand five hundred. 29For the tribe of Naphtali: the leader of the descendants of Naphtali will be Ahira son of Enan. 30And his division and the ones counted#Literally “the ones counted of them,” or “the ones mustered of them” are fifty-three thousand four hundred. 31All the ones counted#Literally “the ones counted of them,” or “the ones mustered of them” from the camp of Dan are one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred. They will set out last#Literally “from behind” according to their divisions.”
32These were the ones counted of the Israelites#Literally “sons/children of Israel” according to their families;#Literally “the house of their fathers” all those counted from the camps according to their divisions were six hundred and three thousand five hundred. 33The Levites were not counted in the midst of the Israelites,#Literally “sons/children of Israel” just as Yahweh commanded Moses.
34And the Israelites#Literally “sons/children of Israel” did everything that Yahweh commanded Moses. They encamped according to their standards, and they#Hebrew “each one,” or “each man” set out each one according to their clans#Hebrew “his clans” among their families.#Literally “the house of his fathers”
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