Numbers 2:18

18 "On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Efrayim according to their divisions: and the prince of the children of Efrayim shall be Elishama the son of `Ammihud.

Numbers 2:18 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 2:18

On the west side [shall be] the standard of the camp of
Ephraim, according to their armies
It was in the rear or behind, consisting of his tribe, and of the tribes of Manasseh and Benjamin, divided into several companies, and extended four miles, as the above Targum. The Jewish writers say F12, that Joseph's stone is the onyx or sardonyx, and his flag was coloured very black, and on it were figured for the two princes, Ephraim and Manasseh, Egypt, because they were born in Egypt; and upon the flag of Ephraim was figured an ox, because of what is said in ( Deuteronomy 33:17 ) ; and on the flag of the tribe of Manasseh was figured an unicorn, because of what is said in the same place. Benjamin's stone was the jasper, and his flag was coloured like to twelve colours, and on it was figured a wolf, because of what is said ( Genesis 49:27 ) ;

and the captain of the sons of Ephraim [shall be] Elishama the son of
Ammihud;
of whom see ( Numbers 1:10 ) ( 7:48 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F12 Bemidbar Rabba, ut supra. (sect. 2. fol. 178. 2.)

Numbers 2:18 In-Context

16 "All who were numbered of the camp of Re'uven were one hundred fifty-one thousand four hundred fifty, according to their hosts. They shall set out second.
17 "Then the tent of meeting shall set out, with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps. As they encamp, so shall they set out, every man in his place, by their standards.
18 "On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Efrayim according to their divisions: and the prince of the children of Efrayim shall be Elishama the son of `Ammihud.
19 His division, and those who were numbered of them, were forty thousand five hundred.
20 "Next to him shall be the tribe of Menashsheh: and the prince of the children of Menashsheh shall be Gamli'el the son of Pedatzur.
The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.