Numbers 2:27-34

27 Those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher. The leader of the Asherites shall be Pagiel son of Ochran,
28 with a company as enrolled of forty-one thousand five hundred.
29 Then the tribe of Naphtali: The leader of the Naphtalites shall be Ahira son of Enan,
30 with a company as enrolled of fifty-three thousand four hundred.
31 The total enrollment of the camp of Dan is one hundred fifty-seven thousand six hundred. They shall set out last, by companies.
32 This was the enrollment of the Israelites by their ancestral houses; the total enrollment in the camps by their companies was six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty.
33 Just as the Lord had commanded Moses, the Levites were not enrolled among the other Israelites.
34 The Israelites did just as the Lord had commanded Moses: They camped by regiments, and they set out the same way, everyone by clans, according to ancestral houses.

Numbers 2:27-34 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.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Compare verses 9, 16, 24: Heb [by their regiments]
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