Numbers 10:6

6 At the second blast the camps on the south set out. The long blasts are the signals to march.

Numbers 10:6 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 10:6

When ye blow an alarm the second time
Another "tara-tan-tara":

then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey;
the camps of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad, which were encamped on the south side of the tabernacle, ( Numbers 2:10 Numbers 2:12 Numbers 2:14 ) ; and, as Josephus F11 says, at the third sounding of the alarm, that part of the camp which lay to the west moved, which were the camps of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin, ( Numbers 2:18 Numbers 2:20 Numbers 2:22 ) ; and at the fourth sounding, as he says, those which were at the north, the camps of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali, ( Numbers 2:25 Numbers 2:27 Numbers 2:29 ) ; which, though not expressed in the Hebrew text, are added in the Septuagint version, as they are to be understood:

they shall blow an alarm for their journeys;
for the journeys of the said camps, as a signal or token when they should begin to march.


FOOTNOTES:

F11 Ut supra. (Antiq. l. 3. c. 12. sect. 6.)

Numbers 10:6 In-Context

4 "When a bugle gives a single, short blast, that's the signal for the leaders, the heads of the clans, to assemble.
5 When it gives a long blast, that's the signal to march. At the first blast the tribes who were camped on the east set out.
6 At the second blast the camps on the south set out. The long blasts are the signals to march.
7 The bugle call that gathers the assembly is different from the signal to march.
8 "The sons of Aaron, the priests, are in charge of blowing the bugles; it's their assigned duty down through the generations.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.