Numbers 2:1-10

1 And Jehovah spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

2 The children of Israel shall encamp every man by his own standard, with the ensigns of their fathers' houses: over against the tent of meeting shall they encamp round about.

3 And those that encamp on the east side toward the sunrising shall be they of the standard of the camp of Judah, according to their hosts: and the prince of the children of Judah shall be Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

4 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred.

5 And those that encamp next unto him shall be the tribe of Issachar: and the prince of the children of Issachar shall be Nethanel the son of Zuar.

6 And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred.

7 [And] the tribe of Zebulun: and the prince of the children of Zebulun shall be Eliab the son of Helon.

8 And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were fifty and seven thousand and four hundred.

9 All that were numbered of the camp of Judah were a hundred thousand and fourscore thousand and six thousand and four hundred, according to their hosts. They shall set forth first.

10 On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben according to their hosts: and the prince of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur.

Numbers 2:1-10 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 2

This chapter contains the order of the encampment and march of the tribes of Israel in their proper places about the tabernacle; the general direction for the same is in Nu 1:1,2; the particulars follow; on the cast of the tabernacle the camp of Judah was to pitch, and under his standard the tribes of Issachar and Zebulun, Nu 1:3-9; on the south side of it the camp of Reuben, and under his standard the tribes of Simeon and Gad, Nu 1:10-16; then the tabernacle, with the camp of the Levites round it, were next, to stand or set forward, Nu 1:17; and on the west side the camp of Ephraim, and under his standard the tribes of Manasseh and Benjamin, Nu 1:18-24; and on the north side the camp of Dan, and under his standard the tribes of Asher and Naphtali, Nu 1:25-31; the sum total of the numbers of which camps are given, exclusive of the camp of Levi, Nu 1:32,33; and the chapter is concluded with observing, that all was done according to the commandment of God, Nu 1:34.