103-1002-Numbers Chapter 2

Chapter 2

In this chapter we see how God wanted the tribes of Israel to be placed when in camp. Each member of a tribe must camp under the flag of his tribe and by his own family tribe. God’s tent was to be placed in the midst or in the middle of the nation of Israel. But the tribes must not camp too close to the Tent of Meeting. The Tribes were divided into groups of three each.

Judah’s tribe must camp to the east of God’s tent. The two tribes that walk with Judah are the tribe of Issachar and Zebulun. These two tribes are to camp on each side of Judah’s.

Tribe	Leader	Number
Judah	Nahshon son of Amminadab	74,600
Issachar	Nethanel son of Zuar	54,400
Zebulun	Eliab son of Helon	57,400

The Number of all three tribes of Judah’s group were 186,400 men. Whenever the camp was to move Judah’s group would lead.

Reuben’s group must camp to the south of God’s tent. The tribes that walk with Reuben were Simeon and Gad.

Tribe	Leader	Number
Reuben	Elizur son of Shedeur	46,500
Simeon	Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai	59,300
Gad	Eliasaph son of Deuel	45,650

The Total number of men in Reuben’s group was 151 450 men. Reuben’s group was the second in the line of march whenever the Israelite nation moved.

The tribe of Levi was to follow the first two groups of Judah and Reuben. They were to carry the Tent of Meeting and care for all of its belongings. They were to dismantle it when the Israelite nation moved and restore it when the Israelite nation camped.

Ephraim’s camp must camp to the west of the Tent of Meeting as well as the tribes that walked with them. These tribes were Manasseh’s tribe and Benjamins.

Tribe	Leader	Number
Ephraim son of Joseph	Elishama son of Ammihud	40,500
Manasseh son of Joseph	Gamaliel son of Pedahzur	32,200
Naphtali	Ahira son of Enan	35,400

Ephraim’s group totaled 108,100 men and their order of march was behind Reuben’s group.

Dan’s group made up the last and they were the tribes of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali. They were to make their camp to the north of the Tent of Meeting.

Tribe	Leader	Number
Dan	Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai	62,700
Asher	Pagiel son of Ocran	41,500
Benjamin	Abidan son of Gideoni	53,400

Dan’s group totaled 157,600 men and their order of march was last.

Verses 32-34

The tribes of Israel formed a square when placed and God’s Tent was placed in the middle. This was also the practice of the Army of Egypt in the 13^th century BC. They would place their armies in a square with the king’s tent in the middle. But in the Israelite’s camp God’s tent was in the middle and He was the King of Israel.

The tribe of Levi camped in the space between the other camps and the Tent of Meeting. They were responsible for it and did not allow the other tribes to come too close to it.

Each tribe camped beneath its own flag. There was an Israelite tradition that each flag bore the colors of one of the precious stones in the High Priest clothes. (Exodus 28:15-34) We find nothing in the bible to support this belief.

The tribes were aligned in the order of their importance. The most important position was to the east. It was the same as the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. So it was to this position that the largest and most important group was positioned which was Judah’s

← Previous Lesson     Next Lesson →