Numbers 2:7

_THEN THE TRIBE OF ZEBULUN: AND ELIAB THE SON OF HELON SHALL BE CAPTAIN OF THE CHILDREN OF ZEBULUN._ Then the tribe of Zebulun - on the other side. While Judah's tribe was the most numerous, those of Isaachar and Zebulun were also very numerous; so that the association of those three tribes formed a strong and imposing van....

The following plan shows the general arrangement of the camp, which would vary in different places according to local exigencies. The area of the camp might be about three square miles: Numbers 2:14 REUEL - Doubtless an error of transcription for Deuel Numbers 1:14....

EXPOSITION THE ENCAMPING OF THE TRIBES (Numbers 2:1). NUMBERS 2:1 THE LORD SPAKE UNTO MOSES AND UNTO AARON. Probably when they had finished the census, and brought the results into the tabernacle. NUMBERS 2:2 SHALL PITCH BY HIS OWN STANDARD. We are not told how they had pitched hitherto; the tribal and family order now enforced was the natural order, but in the absence of precise directions would sometimes be departed from. WITH THE ENSIGN. Rather, "ensigns" (_othoth _in the plural). Each tribe, it would s

[THEN] THE TRIBE OF ZEBULUN,.... He pitched next; though the order of their encampment was not, as it may seem, first Judah, after him Issachar, and below him Zebulun; for Judah lay between these two, the one before him, and the other behind him; and it was Issachar that was behind, and Zebulun before, as Aben Ezra observes; they were pitched on each side of the standard of Judah, one on one side, and the other on the other side: AND ELIAB, THE SON OF HELON, [SHALL BE], CAPTAIN OF THE CHILDREN OF ZEBULUN; see Numbers 1:9; each tribe had its own captain; nor does it appear that there was a general over those captains, that had the command of the camp, consisting of three tribes, but Moses was the generalissimo of all the camps....

2. THE CAMP PUT IN ORDER CHAPTER 2 _ 1. The command (Numbers 2:1)_ 2. The east-side: Judah, Issachar and Zebulun (Numbers 2:3) 3. The south-side: Reuben, Simeon and Gad (Numbers 2:10) 4. The position of the Levites (Numbers 2:17) 5. The west-side: Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin (Numbers 2:18) 6. The north-side: Dan, Asher and Naphtali (Numbers 2:25) The camp is now divinely arranged and put in order. Nothing was left

THE POSITION OF THE TRIBES IN THE CAMP AND ON THE MARCH. The encampment, when stationary, was arranged as a quadrilateral, containing within it the Tabernacle, surrounded by the consecrated tribe of Levi, and having each of its four sides constituted by the camps of three tribes. On the E. (or front) were Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun (descended from Leah, Genesis 29:35; Genesis 30:18); on the S. were Reuben. Simeon (also descended from Leah, Genesis 29:32 f.), and Gad (descended from Zilpah, Genesis 30:10 f.); on the W. were Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin (descendants of Rachel,...

THEN. This word, according to some codices, with Samaritan Pentateuch, should not be in italics. Compare verses: Numbers 2:14; Numbers 2:22; Numbers 2:29, ZEBULUN, brother of Judah (same mother, Leah). Genesis 35:23. Sign on standard. Virgo....

Issachar is said to -pitch next unto" Judah, and similarly in the other three cases. The important tribe thus appears to be placed in the centre, between the other two....

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,

THE DISPOSITION OF THE TRIBES IN THE CAMP AND ON THE MARCH The camp is in the form of a hollow square, each side of which is occupied by three tribes. On the E., the position of honour (cp. Numbers 3:38), is Judah, with whom are associated Issachar and Zebulun; on the S. is Reuben, with Simeon and Gad; on the W. is Ephraim, with Manasseh and Benjamin; on the N. is Dan, with Asher and Naphtali. In this arrangement regard seems to have been paid to family relationship. The priests and Levites form an inner square surrounding the tabernacle, which occupies the centre of the camp....