Numbers 2:1-34

IV. ARRANGEMENTS OF TRIBES FOR CAMPING, MARCHING (Numbers 2)

TEXT

Numbers 2:1. And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 2. Every 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. 3, And on the east side toward the rising of the sun shall they of the standard of Judah pitch throughout their armies: and Nahshon the son of Amminadab shall be captain of the children of Judah. 4. And his host, and those that were numbered of them were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred. 5. And those that do pitch next unto him shall be the tribe of Issachar: and Nethaneel the son of Zuar shall be captain of the children of Issachar. 6. And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred. 7. Then the tribe of Zebulun: and Eliab the son of Helon shall be captain of the children of Zebulun. 8. And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were fifty and seven thousand and four hundred. 9. All that were numbered in the camp of Judah were a hundred thousand and four score thousand and six thousand and four hundred, throughout their armies: these shall first set forth.

10. On 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 Elizur the son of Shedeur. 11. And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were forty and six thousand and five hundred. 12. And those which pitch by him shall be the tribe of Simeon: and the captain of the children of Simeon shall be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 13. And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred. 14. Then the tribe of Gad: and the captain of the sons of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of Reuel. 15. And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty and five thousand and six hundred and fifty. 16. And 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.
17. Then 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.
18. On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their armies: and the captain of the sons of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud. 19. And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty thousand and five hundred. 20. And by him shall be the tribe of Manasseh: and the captain of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 21. And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred. 22. Then the tribe of Benjamin: and the captain of the sons of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni. 23. And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred. 24. All that were numbered of the camp of Ephraim were a hundred thousand and eight thousand and a hundred, throughout their armies: and they shall go forward in the third rank.
25. The 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 Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 26. And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred. 27. And those that encamp by him shall be the tribe of Asher: and the captain of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ocran. 28. And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty and one thousand and five hundred.
29. Then the tribe of Naphtali: and the captain of the children of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan. 30. And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were be Ahira the son of Enan. 30. And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were fifty and three thousand and four hundred. 31. All 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.
32. These 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. But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel: as the Lord commanded Moses. 34. And 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.

PARAPHRASE

Numbers 2:1. The Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, 2. The people of Israel shall encamp each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers-' houses; they shall encamp facing the Tent of Meeting on all sides. 3. Those who shall encamp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be under the standard of the camp of Judah by their armies, with Nahshon, son of Amminadab, captain of the army of the children of Judah. 4. And his host, and those who were numbered, were 74,600. 5. Those who encamp beside him shall be the tribe of Issachar, whose leader shall be Nethanel the son of Zuar of the tribe of Issachar; 6. his host is numbered at 54,400. 7. Next is the tribe of Zebulun, whose leader shall be Eliab, the son of Helon, of the tribe of Zebulun; 8. his host is numbered at 57,400. 9. The total number of the camp of Judah, by their armies, is 186,400. They shall lead out on the march.

10. On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben by their armies, whose leader shall be Elizur, the son of Shedeur, of the tribe of Reuben; 11. his host is numbered at 46,500. 12. And those who are to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon, with Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai, leader of the people of Simeon; 13. his host as numbered is 59,300. 14. Then Gad's tribe, with Eliasaph, the son of Reuel, the leader of the tribe of Gad; 15. his host as numbered was 45,650. 16. The entire number of the camp of Reuben by their armies is 151,450. They shall move out second.
17. Then the Tent of Meeting shall move out, with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; just as they encamp, so shall they move out, each in place, standard by standard.
18. On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim by their armies, with Elishama, the son of Ammihud, the leader of the tribe of Ephraim; 19. his host as numbered was 32,200. 20. And next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh, with Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, leader of the people of Manasseh; 21. his host as numbered was 32,200. 22. Then the tribe of Benjamin, with Abidan, the son of Gideoni, leader of the tribe of Benjamin; 23. his host as numbered was 35,400. 24. The entire number of the camp of Ephraim by their armies is 108,100. They shall move out third on the march.
25. On the north side shall be the standard of the camp of Dan by their armies, with Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai, leader of the tribe of Dan: 26. his host as numbered was 62,700. 27. And those who are to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher, with Pagiel, the son of Ochran, leader of the tribe of Asher; 28. his host as numbered was 41,500.
29. Then the tribe of Naphtali, with Ahira, the son of Enan, leader of the tribe of Naphtali; 30. his host as numbered was 53,400. 31. All those who were numbered in the camp of Dan were 157,600. They shall go forth last with their standards.
32. These are the children of Israel as they were numbered by their fathers-' houses; all who were numbered in their armies were 603,550. 33. But the Levites were not counted among the people of Israel, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 34. So the people of Israel did everything according to what the Lord had commanded Moses. In this manner they camped by their standards, and in this manner they set forth, every one with his family, according to his father's house.

COMMENTARY

Since the Tent of Meeting represented the literal presence of Jehovah, it was only appropriate that the Tent should be situated in the very center of the camp of Israel. All tribes were virtually equidistant from this Tent, lying roughly along the sides of a large rectangle.
With three tribes designated to each point of the compass about the Tent, and with the priestly families and the other Levites established in the inner camping area, directly before the door of the Tent, the place of greatest importance was toward the east, or sunrise. The sons of Aaron held this favored spot among the Levites, while Judah was awarded the choice spot among the secular tribesthe area central toward the rising sun.

We know the symbols of some, but not all, of the tribes. The best known of all must be Judah's lion. The symbol was both historic and prophetic, pointing to the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Jesus Christ (Revelation 5:5). Jacob had spoken of Judah as a lion's whelp, one to whom his brothers-' children would bow, one who would conquer his enemies, and one from whom the scepter would not depart -until Shiloh come-', (Genesis 49:8-10). History will show the validity of the statements. Rabbinical literature consistently affirms the symbol of Judah to be a young lion. The same sources, primarily Aben Ezra, assign to Reuben the sign of a man, to Ephraim that of an ox (see Deuteronomy 33:17), and an eagle to Dan; on the other hand, the Targum of Palestine, while concurring in the case of Judah, makes the stag a sign of Reuben, assigns a young man to Ephraim, and a basilisk serpent to Dan. In his blessings to his sons, Jacob had identified several of them with various figurative expressions. Besides that given of Judah, he had spoken of Reuben as boiling water (Genesis 49:3); of Issachar as a strong donkey (Genesis 49:14); of Dan as a horned snake (Genesis 49:17); of Naphtali as a freed doe (Genesis 49:21); of Joseph as a fruitful bough (Genesis 49:22); and of Benjamin as a ravening wolf (Genesis 49:27). No symbolic terms are given for Simeon, Levi, Zebulun, Gad or Asher. Since the list is incomplete, we may not infer that these omitted tribes had no symbols, nor that the symbols they used in the wilderness coincided with Jacob's identifications among those which are known, with the exceptions of Judah and, perhaps, Dan.

We do not know in what precise form these symbols were made, although it is believed the standard (degel) was a kind of banner or flag, perhaps of great size, such as might be carried in advance of a large troop under martial conditions. The ensigns (othoth), it is suggested, were smaller pennants which might be carried at the front before tribal subdivisions. Each tribe had its standard; each family its ensign. In no way did Israel consider the making of the flags a violation of the Commandment prohibiting images or likenesses of any created thing (Exodus 20:4). After all, they were erected by the very commission of the Lord; and, more important, in no way were they to be mistaken for religious objects and worshiped. Their erection simply served as a means of identifying the location of the tribes and families while encamped and on the move, and would allow quick regrouping should any lose its place. During the prolonged marches and many settlements, an unorganized or illogical arrangement could have caused numerous unnecessary problems.

The matter of Israel's multiplication between the time of entering and leaving Egypt has been much discussed. Genesis 46:27 gives a total of seventy souls who came to Egypt, including the family of Joseph, which was already there. The census here taken gives the number of male Israelites of age twenty and over at 603,550. To this must be added the number of Levites, or 22,000 (Numbers 3:39), more than one month old. Tribe by tribe, the increase is given as follows:

Tribe

Number at Coming to Egypt

Census in Numbers 2; Numbers 3

Reuben

7

46,500

Simeon

7

59,300

*Levi

4

*22,000

Judah

7

74,600

Issachar

5

54,400

Zebulun

4

57,400

Gad

8

45,650

Asher

9

41,500

Joseph

0 3

Ephraim

40,500

Manasseh

32,200

Benjamin

11

35,400

Dan

2

62,700

Naphtali

5

53,400

0 72

* 603,550

* The Levites, and their totals, are not included in the final figure.
° The total of 72 includes Ephraim and Manasseh, who would not have been reckoned among those who came into Egypt; they were born there.

Judah, along with Issachar and Zebulun, received the front position in the camp, that is, the eastward side, and their combined army of 186,400 men was appointed to lead the entire group as they marched. Those who camped on the south under the banner of Reuben, with Gad and Simeon, marched next. They totaled 151,450 men. At this point as the armies moved forward, the Tabernacle and the Levites moved into the center position. Symbolically, then, whether Israel might be in camp or on the march, the sacred Presence was in their midst.
Following next, under the banner of Ephraim, also came Manasseh and Benjamin. Their number totaled 108,100 men of war. Bringing up the rear was the tribe under Gad's standard, together with Asher and Naphtali, with 157,600 soldiers. The total picture would be impressive indeed.
The Palestinian Talmud says that the encampment of the Israelites covered an area of approximately twelve square miles. Later historians have estimated, however, that it was more probably three to three and one-half square miles, basing their figures upon relative sizes and spaces occupied by the Roman armies in camp. Whatever the true area might have been, there was a clear need for careful planning, tight discipline and constant cooperation among the people. We are not told what provisions are made for the animals; it would seem fit to assume they were pastured about the perimeter of the camp, and driven at the end of the marching band. Further, in many areas where the camps must have been erected, it would be very difficult to find even three square miles of level land in one spot, complicating the camping problems. This would have been true throughout their travels until they reached the plateaus of Moab. Doubtless adjustments were made, with the camp much elongated to fit the narrow accommodations of the tight valleys through which they traversed. We must not forget that these were slave people, and the tight quarters and handicaps of the wilderness should have been accepted as a part of the price of their freedom. What has been described is the ideal arrangement; how often they were able to conform precisely to the instructions, we may only speculate upon, As set forth, the plan of organization for the camp of Israel has become symbolic of the great city of Zion as portrayed by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 48:20), and in Revelation 21:16. Binnie, in his homily based upon the passage, points out the resemblances between the camp of Israel and the church of Christ as he notes 1. that the church is an army; it Isaiah 2. an army on the march; that Isaiah 3. an army moving under a banner; that 4. God keeps a perfect roll of His men by name; and that 5. the army has the Lord for its everpresent Leader.

QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH ITEMS

40.

Suggest some complications which might arise if the tribes of Israel had simply camped and marched at random.

41.

Draw a diagram showing the places of the camps of each tribe as they related to the Tent of Meeting.

42.

What reasons may be given for placing the sons of Aaron and the families of the Levites immediately about the Tent of Meeting?

43.

Group the placement of the tribes according to their maternal origin (see Genesis 35:23-26).

44.

Why was the tribe of Judah chosen to lead the marching order of the people? Is there something prophetic in this arrangement?

45.

Why are the Levites and the Tent of Meeting placed in the center of the camp? Why do they march in the midst of the tribes?

46.

What arrangements might have been made to provide for the herds and flocks both while camping and marching?

47.

Discuss the symbolism attached to the centrality of the Tent of Meeting; of the design of the encampment.

48.

Identify the tribes whose symbols we know, or for which there is traditional evidence. What is unusual about the symbol for Judah's group?

49.

List the totals of the tribes, tribe by tribe; then give the number of the Levites counted. Now show what the sum of the congregation was when the Levites are not counted, and what it was with them included.

50.

What are the probable differences between the -standards-' and the -banners-'? What were their separate purposes?

51.

Arrange the tribes in their marching order.