The Arrangement of the Israelite Camp

Numbers 2

Biblical Period

1The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 2The Israelites shall camp each with his standard, under the banners of their ancestral house; they shall camp around the Tent of Meeting at a distance.

3Camped on the front, or east side: the standard of the division of Judah, troop by troop.

Chieftain of the Judites: Nahshon son of Amminadab. 4His troop, as enrolled: 74,600.

5Camping next to it:

The tribe of Issachar.

Chieftain of the Issacharites: Nethanel son of Zuar. 6His troop, as enrolled: 54,400.

7The tribe of Zebulun.

Chieftain of the Zebulunites: Eliab son of Helon. 8His troop, as enrolled: 57,400.

9The total enrolled in the division of Judah: 186,400, for all troops. These shall march first.

10On the south: the standard of the division of Reuben, troop by troop.

Chieftain of the Reubenites: Elizur son of Shedeur. 11His troop, as enrolled: 46,500.

12Camping next to it:

The tribe of Simeon.

Chieftain of the Simeonites: Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.

13His troop, as enrolled: 59,300.

14And the tribe of Gad.

Chieftain of the Gadites: Eliasaph son of Reuel. 15His troop, as enrolled: 45,650.

16The total enrolled in the division of Reuben: 151,450, for all troops. These shall march second.

17Then, midway between the divisions, the Tent of Meeting, the division of the Levites, shall move. As they camp, so they shall march, each in position, by their standards.

18On the west: the standard of the division of Ephraim, troop by troop.

Chieftain of the Ephraimites: Elishama son of Ammihud. 19His troop, as enrolled: 40,500.

20Next to it:

The tribe of Manasseh.

Chieftain of the Manassites: Gamaliel son of Pedahzur. 21His troop, as enrolled: 32,200.

22And the tribe of Benjamin.

Chieftain of the Benjaminites: Abidan son of Gideoni. 23His troop, as enrolled: 35,400.

24The total enrolled in the division of Ephraim: 108,100 for all troops. These shall march third.

25On the north: the standard of the division of Dan, troop by troop.

Chieftain of the Danites: Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai. 26His troop, as enrolled: 62,700.

27Camping next to it:

The tribe of Asher.

Chieftain of the Asherites: Pagiel son of Ochran. 28His troop, as enrolled: 41,500.

29And the tribe of Naphtali.

Chieftain of the Naphtalites: Ahira son of Enan. 30His troop, as enrolled: 53,400.

31The total enrolled in the division of Dan: 157,600. These shall march last, by their standards.

32Those are the enrollments of the Israelites by ancestral houses. The total enrolled in the divisions, for all troops: 603,550. 33The Levites, however, were not recorded among the Israelites, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

34The Israelites did accordingly; just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so they camped by their standards, and so they marched, each with his clan according to his ancestral house.

Credits

Reprinted from Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures by permission of the University of Nebraska Press. Copyright 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 1.

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