Arrangement of the Camps

Now the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, (A)The sons of Israel shall camp, each by his own [a]flag, with the banners of their fathers’ households; they shall camp around the tent of meeting [b]at a distance. Now those who camp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the flag of the camp of Judah, by their armies; and the leader of the sons of Judah: (B)Nahshon the son of Amminadab, and his army, their [c]numbered men: 74,600. Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar; and the leader of the sons of Issachar: (C)Nethanel the son of Zuar, and his army, their numbered men: 54,400. Then follows the tribe of Zebulun; and the leader of the sons of Zebulun: (D)Eliab the son of Helon, and his army, his numbered men: 57,400. The total of the numbered men of the camp of Judah: 186,400, by their armies. (E)They shall set out first.

10 “On the south side shall be the flag of the camp of Reuben by their armies; and the leader of the sons of Reuben: (F)Elizur the son of Shedeur, 11 and his army, their numbered men: 46,500. 12 And those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon; and the leader of the sons of Simeon: (G)Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, 13 and his army, their numbered men: 59,300. 14 Then follows the tribe of Gad; and the leader of the sons of Gad: (H)Eliasaph the son of [d]Deuel, 15 and his army, their numbered men: 45,650. 16 The total of the numbered men of the camp of Reuben: 151,450 by their armies. And (I)they shall set out second.

17 (J)Then the tent of meeting shall set out with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; just as they camp, so they shall set out, every man in his place by their flags.

18 “On the west side shall be the flag of the camp of (K)Ephraim by their armies; and the leader of the sons of Ephraim: (L)Elishama the son of Ammihud, 19 and his army, their numbered men: 40,500. 20 Next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh; and the leader of the sons of Manasseh: (M)Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, 21 and his army, their numbered men, 32,200. 22 Then follows the tribe of (N)Benjamin; and the leader of the sons of Benjamin: (O)Abidan the son of Gideoni, 23 and his army, their numbered men, 35,400. 24 The total of the numbered men of the camp of Ephraim: 108,100, by their armies. And (P)they shall set out third.

25 “On the north side shall be the flag of the camp of Dan by their armies; and the leader of the sons of Dan: (Q)Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, 26 and his army, their numbered men: 62,700. 27 Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher; and the leader of the sons of Asher: (R)Pagiel the son of Ochran, 28 and his army, their numbered men: 41,500. 29 Then follows the tribe of (S)Naphtali; and the leader of the sons of Naphtali: (T)Ahira the son of Enan, 30 and his army, their numbered men: 53,400. 31 The total of the numbered men of the camp of Dan was 157,600. (U)They shall set out last by their flags.”

32 These are the numbered men of the sons of Israel by their fathers’ households; the total of the numbered men of the camps by their armies, (V)603,550. 33 (W)The Levites, however, were not counted among the sons of Israel, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 34 So the sons of Israel did all this; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so they camped by their flags, and so they set out, everyone by his family according to his father’s household.

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 2:2 Or division, and so throughout the ch
  2. Numbers 2:2 Or facing it
  3. Numbers 2:4 Lit mustered, and so throughout the ch
  4. Numbers 2:14 Many mss (cf. 1:14); some ancient versions Reuel

1-2 The Lord gave these further instructions to Moses and Aaron: “Each tribe will have its own tent area, with its flagpole and tribal banner; and at the center of these tribal compounds will be the Tabernacle.” 3-31 Here are the tribal locations:[a]

Tribe:Leader:Location:Census:
JudahNahshon (son of Amminadab)East side of Tabernacle74,600
IssacharNethanel (son of Zuar)Next to Judah54,400
ZebulunEliab (son of Helon)Next to Issachar57,400

So the total of all those on Judah’s side of the camp was 186,400. These three tribes led the way whenever the Israelites traveled to a new campsite.

Tribe:Leader:Location:Census:
ReubenElizur (son of Shedeur)South side of Tabernacle46,500
SimeonShelumiel (son of Zurishaddai)Next to Reuben59,300
GadEliasaph (son of Reuel)Next to Simeon45,650

So the total of the Reuben side of the camp was 151,450. These three tribes were next in line whenever the Israelis traveled.

Next in the line of march was the Tabernacle, with the Levites. When traveling, each tribe stayed together under its own flag, just as each was separate from the others in camp.

Tribe:Leader:Location:Census:
EphraimElishama (son of Ammihud)West side of Tabernacle40,500
ManassehGamaliel (son of Pedahzur)Next to Ephraim32,200
BenjaminAbidan (son of Gideoni)Next to Manasseh35,400

So the total on the Ephraim side of the camp was 108,100, and they were next in the line of march.

Tribe:Leader:Location:Census:
DanAhiezer (son of Ammishaddai)North side of Tabernacle62,700
AsherPagiel (son of Ochran)Next to Dan41,500
NaphtaliAhira (son of Enan)Next to Asher53,400

So the total on Dan’s side of the camp was 157,600. They brought up the rear whenever Israel traveled. 32-33 In summary, the armies of Israel totaled 603,550 (not including the Levites, who were exempted by Jehovah’s commandment to Moses). 34 So the people of Israel set up their camps, each tribe under its own banner, in the locations indicated by the Lord to Moses.

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 2:3 Here are the tribal locations, implied. Reuel. Deuel in ch. 1.