Numbers 2
2
The Camps and Leaders of the Tribes
1And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 2Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father's house: far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch. 3And on the east side toward the rising of the sun shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch throughout their armies: and Nahshon the son of Ammin´adab shall be captain of the children of Judah. 4And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred. 5And those that do pitch next unto him shall be the tribe of Is´sachar: and Nethan´e-el the son of Zu´ar shall be captain of the children of Is´sachar. 6And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred. 7Then the tribe of Zeb´ulun: and Eli´ab the son of Helon shall be captain of the children of Zeb´ulun. 8And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were fifty and seven thousand and four hundred. 9All that were numbered in the camp of Judah were a hundred thousand and fourscore thousand and six thousand and four hundred, throughout their armies: these shall first set forth.
10On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben according to their armies: and the captain of the children of Reuben shall be Eli´zur the son of Shede´ur. 11And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were forty and six thousand and five hundred. 12And those which pitch by him shall be the tribe of Simeon: and the captain of the children of Simeon shall be Shelu´mi-el the son of Zurishad´dai. 13And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred. 14Then the tribe of Gad: and the captain of the sons of Gad shall be Eli´asaph the son of Reu´el. 15And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty and five thousand and six hundred and fifty. 16All that were numbered in the camp of Reuben were a hundred thousand and fifty and one thousand and four hundred and fifty, throughout their armies: and they shall set forth in the second rank.
17Then the tabernacle of the congregation shall set forward with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camp: as they encamp, so shall they set forward, every man in his place by their standards.
18On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of E´phra-im according to their armies: and the captain of the sons of E´phra-im shall be Elish´ama the son of Ammi´hud. 19And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty thousand and five hundred. 20And by him shall be the tribe of Manas´seh: and the captain of the children of Manas´seh shall be Gama´li-el the son of Pedah´zur. 21And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred. 22Then the tribe of Benjamin: and the captain of the sons of Benjamin shall be Ab´idan the son of Gide-o´ni. 23And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred. 24All that were numbered of the camp of E´phra-im were a hundred thousand and eight thousand and a hundred, throughout their armies: and they shall go forward in the third rank.
25The standard of the camp of Dan shall be on the north side by their armies: and the captain of the children of Dan shall be Ahi-e´zer the son of Ammishad´dai. 26And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred. 27And those that encamp by him shall be the tribe of Asher: and the captain of the children of Asher shall be Pag´i-el the son of Ocran. 28And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty and one thousand and five hundred. 29Then the tribe of Naph´tali: and the captain of the children of Naph´tali shall be Ahi´ra the son of Enan. 30And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were fifty and three thousand and four hundred. 31All they that were numbered in the camp of Dan were a hundred thousand and fifty and seven thousand and six hundred: they shall go hindmost with their standards.
32These are those which were numbered of the children of Israel by the house of their fathers: all those that were numbered of the camps throughout their hosts were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty. 33But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel; as the Lord commanded Moses.
34And the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses: so they pitched by their standards, and so they set forward, every one after their families, according to the house of their fathers.
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Numbers 2: KJVAAE
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
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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