2a“Everyone of the children of Israel shall camp by his own1 standard, beside the emblems of his father’s house; they shall camp bsome distance from the tabernacle of meeting.
3 On the aeast side, toward the rising of the sun, those of the standard of the forces with Judah shall camp according to their armies; and bNahshon the son of Amminadab shallbe the leader of the children of Judah.”
4 And his army was numbered at seventy-four thousand six hundred.
5 “Those who camp next to him shallbe the tribe of Issachar, and Nethanel the son of Zuar shallbe the leader of the children of Issachar.”
6 And his army was numbered at fifty-four thousand four hundred.
7 “Then comes the tribe of Zebulun, and Eliab the son of Helon shallbe the leader of the children of Zebulun.”
8 And his army was numbered at fifty-seven thousand four hundred.
9 “All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with Judah, one hundred and eighty-six thousand four hundred—athese shall break camp first.
10 “On the asouth side shallbe the standard of the forces with Reuben according to their armies, and the leader of the children of Reuben shallbe Elizur the son of Shedeur.”
11 And his army was numbered at forty-six thousand five hundred.
12 “Those who camp next to him shallbe the tribe of Simeon, and the leader of the children of Simeon shallbe Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.”
13 And his army was numbered at fifty-nine thousand three hundred.
14 “Then comes the tribe of Gad, and the leader of the children of Gad shallbe Eliasaph the son of Reuel.”
15 And his army was numbered at forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty.
16 “All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with Reuben, one hundred and fifty-one thousand four hundred and fifty—athey shall be the second to break camp.
17a“And the tabernacle of meeting shall move out with the1 camp of the Levites bin the middle of the camps; as they camp, so they shall move out, everyone in his place, by their3 standards.
18 “On the west side shallbe the standard of the forces with Ephraim according to their armies, and the leader of the children of Ephraim shallbe Elishama the son of Ammihud.”
19 And his army was numbered at forty thousand five hundred.
20 “Next to him comes the tribe of Manasseh, and the leader of the children of Manasseh shallbe Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.”
21 And his army was numbered at thirty-two thousand two hundred.
22 “Then comes the tribe of Benjamin, and the leader of the children of Benjamin shallbe Abidan the son of Gideoni.”
23 And his army was numbered at thirty-five thousand four hundred.
24 “All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with Ephraim, one hundred and eight thousand one hundred—athey shall be the third to break camp.
25 “The1 standard of the forces with Dan shallbe on the north side according to their armies, and the leader of the children of Dan shallbe Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.”
26 And his army was numbered at sixty-two thousand seven hundred.
27 “Those who camp next to him shallbe the tribe of Asher, and the leader of the children of Asher shallbe Pagiel the son of Ocran.”
28 And his army was numbered at forty-one thousand five hundred.
29 “Then comes the tribe of Naphtali, and the leader of the children of Naphtali shallbe Ahira the son of Enan.”
30 And his army was numbered at fifty-three thousand four hundred.
31 “All who were numbered of the forces with Dan, one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred—athey shall break camp last, with their2 standards.”
32 These are the ones who were numbered of the children of Israel by their fathers’ houses. aAll who were numbered according to their armies of the forces were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.
33 But athe Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
standard ... ensign - The "standard" marked the division, or camp (cf. Numbers 1:9, Numbers 1:16, Numbers 1:24, Numbers 1:31); the "ensign" the family. There would thus be four "standards" only, one for each "camp" of three tribes. The "standard" was probably a solid figure or emblem mounted on a pole, such as the Egyptians used. Tradition appropriates the four cherubic forms (Ezekiel 1:5-12; Revelation 4:7 ff), the lion, man, ox, and eagle, to the camps of Judah, Reuben, Ephraim, and Dan respectively; and this, as to the first, has a certain support from Genesis 49:9 (compare Revelation 5:5), and as to the third, from Deuteronomy 33:17.
Far off - See the margin, over against; i. e. facing the tabernacle on every side. The distance was perhaps 2,000 cubits or rather more than 14 mile: compare Joshua 3:4.
Other Barnes' Notes entries containing Numbers 2:2:
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