Numbers 2
English Standard Version
Arrangement of the Camp
2 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 (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. 3 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, 4 his company as listed being 74,600. 5 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, 6 his company as listed being 54,400. 7 Then the tribe of Zebulun, the chief of the people of Zebulun being Eliab the son of Helon, 8 his company as listed being 57,400. 9 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.
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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.
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- 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”).
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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