Numbers 2. Arrangement of the Camp

Arrangement of the Camp

• Arrangement visual included below! Don’t judge

The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ² “The people of Israel shall camp each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers’ houses. They shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side. 

• This puts God at the center!
• “Standard” is דֶּגֶל (degel) is something like a banner identifying a larger tribal camp. We aren’t sure what these looked like.

³ Those to camp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah by their companies, the chief of the people of Judah being Nahshon the son of Amminadab, ⁴ his company as listed being 74,600. ⁵ Those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar, the chief of the people of Issachar being Nethanel the son of Zuar, ⁶ his company as listed being 54,400. ⁷ Then the tribe of Zebulun, the chief of the people of Zebulun being Eliab the son of Helon, ⁸ his company as listed being 57,400. ⁹ All those listed of the camp of Judah, by their companies, were 186,400. They shall set out first on the march.

• Eastern Camp (Leading Camp) 
  • Tribes: Judah, Issachar, Zebulun
  • Leader of Judah: Nahshon son of Amminadab
  • Total: 186,400 men
  • They will set out first when traveling.
• Nahshon appears in the line leading to David and ultimately Jesus (Ruth 4:20-22; Matthew 1:4).

¹⁰ “On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben by their companies, the chief of the people of Reuben being Elizur the son of Shedeur, ¹¹ his company as listed being 46,500. ¹² And those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon, the chief of the people of Simeon being Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, ¹³ his company as listed being 59,300. ¹⁴ Then the tribe of Gad, the chief of the people of Gad being Eliasaph the son of Reuel, ¹⁵ his company as listed being 45,650. ¹⁶ All those listed of the camp of Reuben, by their companies, were 151,450. They shall set out second.

• Southern Camp 
  • Tribes: Reuben, Simeon, Gad
  • Leader of Reuben: Elizur son of Shedeur
  • Total: 151,450 men
  • They will set out second.

¹⁷ “Then the tent of meeting shall set out, with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; as they camp, so shall they set out, each in position, standard by standard.

• Levites and the Tabernacle in the Center 
  • The Levites camp around the Tabernacle in the center of the camp.
  • They move out in the middle of the procession (God also in the center during travel!)

¹⁸ “On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim by their companies, the chief of the people of Ephraim being Elishama the son of Ammihud, ¹⁹ his company as listed being 40,500. ²⁰ And next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh, the chief of the people of Manasseh being Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, ²¹ his company as listed being 32,200. ²² Then the tribe of Benjamin, the chief of the people of Benjamin being Abidan the son of Gideoni, ²³ his company as listed being 35,400. ²⁴ All those listed of the camp of Ephraim, by their companies, were 108,100. They shall set out third on the march.

• Western Camp 
  • Tribes: Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin
  • Leader of Ephraim: Elishama son of Ammihud
  • Total: 108,100 men
  • They will set out third.

²⁵ “On the north side shall be the standard of the camp of Dan by their companies, the chief of the people of Dan being Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, ²⁶ his company as listed being 62,700. ²⁷ And those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher, the chief of the people of Asher being Pagiel the son of Ochran, ²⁸ his company as listed being 41,500. ²⁹ Then the tribe of Naphtali, the chief of the people of Naphtali being Ahira the son of Enan, ³⁰ his company as listed being 53,400. ³¹ All those listed of the camp of Dan were 157,600. They shall set out last, standard by standard.”

• Northern Camp 
  • Tribes: Dan, Asher, Naphtali
  • Leader of Dan: Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai
  • Total: 157,600 men
  • They will set out last

³² These are the people of Israel as listed by their fathers’ houses. All those listed in the camps by their companies were 603,550. ³³ But the Levites were not listed among the people of Israel, as the Lord commanded Moses.

³⁴ Thus did the people of Israel. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so they camped by their standards, and so they set out, each one in his clan, according to his fathers’ house.

• Again, they obeyed!
• So this is interesting. Since North and South camps were about the same amount, West was the smallest, and East would have been the biggest (maybe longest from center), some have suggested that the shape would have been a cross!