Numbers 2
New English Translation
The Arrangement of the Tribes
2 [a] The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron: 2 “Every one[b] of the Israelites must camp[c] under his standard with the emblems of his family;[d] they must camp at some distance[e] around the tent of meeting.[f]
The Tribes on the East
3 “Now those who will be camping[g] on the east, toward the sunrise,[h] are the divisions[i] of the camp of Judah under their standard. The leader of the people of Judah is[j] Nahshon son of Amminadab. 4 Those numbered in his division[k] are 74,600. 5 Those who will be camping next to them[l] 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[m] 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[n] at the front.
The Tribes on the South
10 “On the south will be the divisions of the camp of Reuben under their standard.[o] 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[p] the tribe of Gad. The leader of the people of Gad is Eliasaph son of Deuel.[q] 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[r] 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 Ammihud. 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[s] 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[t] 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.[u] 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[v] they camped under their standards, and that is the way they traveled, each with his clan and family.
Footnotes
- Numbers 2:1 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.
- Numbers 2:2 tn Heb “a man by his own standard.”
- Numbers 2:2 tn The imperfect tense is to be taken in the nuance of instruction.
- Numbers 2:2 tn Heb “of/for the house of their fathers.”
- Numbers 2:2 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).
- Numbers 2:2 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.
- Numbers 2:3 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.”
- Numbers 2:3 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.).
- Numbers 2:3 tn The sentence actually has “[those camping…are] the standard of the camp of Judah according to their divisions.”
- Numbers 2:3 tn Or “will be.”
- Numbers 2:4 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.
- Numbers 2:5 tn Heb “by him” [i.e., Judah].
- Numbers 2:7 tn This part has been supplied; the text simply has “the tribe of Zebulun.”
- Numbers 2:9 tn The verb is נָסָע (nasaʿ): “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.
- Numbers 2:10 tn Here and throughout the line is literally “[under] the standard of the camp of Reuben…according to their divisions.”
- Numbers 2:14 tn The Hebrew text simply has “and the tribe of Gad.”
- Numbers 2:14 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.
- Numbers 2:17 tn The Hebrew expression is עַל־יָדוֹ (ʿal yado, “upon his hand”). This clearly refers to a specifically designated place for each man.
- Numbers 2:22 tn Here too the Hebrew text simply has “and the tribe of Benjamin.”
- Numbers 2:29 tn The Hebrew text has “and the tribe of Naphtali.”
- Numbers 2:32 tn Heb “the house of their fathers.” So also in v. 34.
- Numbers 2:34 tn The Hebrew word is כֵּן (ken, “thus, so”).
Numbers 2
Young's Literal Translation
2 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, and unto Aaron, saying,
2 `Each by his standard, with ensigns of the house of their fathers, do the sons of Israel encamp; over-against round about the tent of meeting they encamp.'
3 And those encamping eastward towards the sun-rising, [are of] the standard of the camp of Judah, by their hosts; and the prince of the sons of Judah [is] Nahshon, son of Amminadab;
4 and his host, and their numbered ones, [are] four and seventy thousand and six hundred.
5 And those encamping by him [are of] the tribe of Issachar; and the prince of the sons of Issachar [is] Nethaneel son of Zuar;
6 and his host, and its numbered ones, [are] four and fifty thousand and four hundred.
7 The tribe of Zebulun; and the prince of the sons of Zebulun [is] Eliab son of Helon;
8 and his host, and its numbered ones, [are] seven and fifty thousand and four hundred;
9 all those numbered of the camp of Judah [are] a hundred thousand, and eighty thousand, and six thousand, and four hundred, by their hosts; they journey first.
10 The standard of the camp of Reuben [is] southward, by their hosts; and the prince of the sons of Reuben [is] Elizur son of Shedeur;
11 and his host, and its numbered ones, [are] six and forty thousand and five hundred.
12 And those encamping by him [are of] the tribe of Simeon; and the prince of the sons of Simeon [is] Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai;
13 and his host, and their numbered ones, [are] nine and fifty thousand and three hundred.
14 And the tribe of Gad; and the prince of the sons of Gad [is] Eliasaph son of Reuel;
15 and his host, and their numbered ones, [are] five and forty thousand and six hundred and fifty.
16 All those numbered of the camp of Reuben [are] a hundred thousand, and one and fifty thousand, and four hundred and fifty, by their hosts; and they journey second.
17 And the tent of meeting -- the camp of the Levites -- hath journeyed in the midst of the camps; as they encamp so they journey, each at his station by their standards.
18 The standard of the camp of Ephraim, by their hosts, [is] westward; and the prince of the sons of Ephraim [is] Elishama son of Ammihud;
19 and his host, and their numbered ones, [are] forty thousand and five hundred.
20 And by him [is] the tribe of Manasseh; and the prince of the sons of Manasseh [is] Gamaliel son of Pedahzur;
21 and his host, and their numbered ones, [are] two and thirty thousand, and two hundred.
22 And the tribe of Benjamin; and the prince of the sons of Benjamin [is] Abidan son of Gideoni;
23 and his host, and their numbered ones, [are] five and thirty thousand and four hundred.
24 All those numbered of the camp of Ephraim [are] a hundred thousand, and eight thousand, and a hundred, by their hosts; and they journey third.
25 The standard of the camp of Dan [is] northward, by their hosts; and the prince of the sons of Dan [is] Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai;
26 and his host, and their numbered ones, [are] two and sixty thousand and seven hundred.
27 And those encamping by him [are of] the tribe of Asher; and the prince of the sons of Asher [is] Pagiel son of Ocran;
28 and his host, and their numbered ones, [are] one and forty thousand and five hundred.
29 And the tribe of Naphtali; and the prince of the sons of Naphtali [is] Ahira son of Enan;
30 and his host, and their numbered ones, [are] three and fifty thousand and four hundred.
31 All those numbered of the camp of Dan [are] a hundred thousand, and seven and fifty thousand, and six hundred; at the rear they journey, by their standards.
32 These [are] those numbered of the sons of Israel by the house of their fathers; all those numbered of the camps by their hosts [are] six hundred thousand, and three thousand, and five hundred and fifty.
33 And the Levites have not numbered themselves in the midst of the sons of Israel, as Jehovah hath commanded Moses.
34 And the sons of Israel do according to all that Jehovah hath commanded Moses; so they have encamped by their standards, and so they have journeyed; each by his families, by the house of his fathers.
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