Arrangement of the Camp

The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, (A)“The people of Israel shall camp each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers' houses. They shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side. Those to camp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah by their companies, the chief of the people of Judah being (B)Nahshon the son of Amminadab, his company as listed being 74,600. Those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar, the chief of the people of Issachar being Nethanel the son of Zuar, his company as listed being 54,400. Then the tribe of Zebulun, the chief of the people of Zebulun being Eliab the son of Helon, his company as listed being 57,400. All those listed of the camp of Judah, by their companies, were 186,400. (C)They shall set out first on the march.

10 “On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben by their companies, the chief of the people of Reuben being Elizur the son of Shedeur, 11 his company as listed being 46,500. 12 And those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon, the chief of the people of Simeon being Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, 13 his company as listed being 59,300. 14 Then the tribe of Gad, the chief of the people of Gad being Eliasaph the son of (D)Reuel, 15 his company as listed being 45,650. 16 All those listed of the camp of Reuben, by their companies, were 151,450. (E)They shall set out second.

17 (F)“Then the tent of meeting shall set out, with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; as they camp, so shall they set out, each in position, standard by standard.

18 “On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim by their companies, the chief of the people of Ephraim being Elishama the son of Ammihud, 19 his company as listed being 40,500. 20 And next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh, the chief of the people of Manasseh being Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, 21 his company as listed being 32,200. 22 Then the tribe of Benjamin, the chief of the people of Benjamin being Abidan the son of Gideoni, 23 his company as listed being 35,400. 24 All those listed of the camp of Ephraim, by their companies, were 108,100. (G)They shall set out third on the march.

25 “On the north side shall be the standard of the camp of Dan by their companies, the chief of the people of Dan being Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, 26 his company as listed being 62,700. 27 And those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher, the chief of the people of Asher being Pagiel the son of Ochran, 28 his company as listed being 41,500. 29 Then the tribe of Naphtali, the chief of the people of Naphtali being Ahira the son of Enan, 30 his company as listed being 53,400. 31 All those listed of the camp of Dan were 157,600. (H)They shall set out last, standard by standard.”

32 These are the people of Israel as listed by their fathers' houses. All those listed in the camps by their companies were (I)603,550. 33 But (J)the Levites were not listed among the people of Israel, as the Lord commanded Moses.

34 Thus did the people of Israel. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, (K)so they camped by their standards, and so they set out, each one in his clan, according to his fathers' house.

Arrangement of the Camps

Now the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, (A)The sons of Israel shall camp, each by his own [a]flag, with the banners of their fathers’ households; they shall camp around the tent of meeting [b]at a distance. Now those who camp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the flag of the camp of Judah, by their armies; and the leader of the sons of Judah: (B)Nahshon the son of Amminadab, and his army, their [c]numbered men: 74,600. Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar; and the leader of the sons of Issachar: (C)Nethanel the son of Zuar, and his army, their numbered men: 54,400. Then follows the tribe of Zebulun; and the leader of the sons of Zebulun: (D)Eliab the son of Helon, and his army, his numbered men: 57,400. The total of the numbered men of the camp of Judah: 186,400, by their armies. (E)They shall set out first.

10 “On the south side shall be the flag of the camp of Reuben by their armies; and the leader of the sons of Reuben: (F)Elizur the son of Shedeur, 11 and his army, their numbered men: 46,500. 12 And those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon; and the leader of the sons of Simeon: (G)Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, 13 and his army, their numbered men: 59,300. 14 Then follows the tribe of Gad; and the leader of the sons of Gad: (H)Eliasaph the son of [d]Deuel, 15 and his army, their numbered men: 45,650. 16 The total of the numbered men of the camp of Reuben: 151,450 by their armies. And (I)they shall set out second.

17 (J)Then the tent of meeting shall set out with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; just as they camp, so they shall set out, every man in his place by their flags.

18 “On the west side shall be the flag of the camp of (K)Ephraim by their armies; and the leader of the sons of Ephraim: (L)Elishama the son of Ammihud, 19 and his army, their numbered men: 40,500. 20 Next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh; and the leader of the sons of Manasseh: (M)Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, 21 and his army, their numbered men, 32,200. 22 Then follows the tribe of (N)Benjamin; and the leader of the sons of Benjamin: (O)Abidan the son of Gideoni, 23 and his army, their numbered men, 35,400. 24 The total of the numbered men of the camp of Ephraim: 108,100, by their armies. And (P)they shall set out third.

25 “On the north side shall be the flag of the camp of Dan by their armies; and the leader of the sons of Dan: (Q)Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, 26 and his army, their numbered men: 62,700. 27 Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher; and the leader of the sons of Asher: (R)Pagiel the son of Ochran, 28 and his army, their numbered men: 41,500. 29 Then follows the tribe of (S)Naphtali; and the leader of the sons of Naphtali: (T)Ahira the son of Enan, 30 and his army, their numbered men: 53,400. 31 The total of the numbered men of the camp of Dan was 157,600. (U)They shall set out last by their flags.”

32 These are the numbered men of the sons of Israel by their fathers’ households; the total of the numbered men of the camps by their armies, (V)603,550. 33 (W)The Levites, however, were not counted among the sons of Israel, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 34 So the sons of Israel did all this; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so they camped by their flags, and so they set out, everyone by his family according to his father’s household.

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 2:2 Or division, and so throughout the ch
  2. Numbers 2:2 Or facing it
  3. Numbers 2:4 Lit mustered, and so throughout the ch
  4. Numbers 2:14 Many mss (cf. 1:14); some ancient versions Reuel