Numbers 2 General Notes

Structure and Formatting

1. Preparing to leave Sinai (1:1–10:10) * Counting and assembling the tribes (1:1–4:49)This chapter describes the arrangement of the Israelite camp and again includes the number of Israelite men over the age of 20 in each tribe.

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

Cardinal directions

Yahweh explains how the Israelites will camp in relation to the sacred tent and does so using cardinal directions: north, east, south, and west. These terms describe a person’s orientation in relation to the sunrise. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. If one faces the direction of the sunrise and then turns to his right, he is facing south. If, when facing the sunrise, he turns left, he is facing north.

Banners

Each of the four camps (each made up of three tribes) would have its own “banner.” A banner is a type of flag that has images and sometimes words on it. In this case, the specific images and possibly words would indicate which tribes would camp near that banner. The banner was most closely connected with the tribe that was the leader of the camp: Judah, Reuben, Ephraim, and Dan.

The order of the tribes

Here is a diagram of the tribes around the tent of meeting. Note the groups of three on each of the four cardinal directions.----------Asher---------Dan-----------Naphtali------------Benjamin--------------Levites---------------------IssacharEphraim---------------Tent of Meeting-------------JudahManasseh------------------------------------------Zebulun----------Gad-----------Reuben--------Simeon--------------

Translation Issues in This Chapter

“The sons of [tribe]”

Throughout this chapter, Yahweh uses the phrase “the sons of [tribe name].” He speaks of the people who belong to the tribe as if they were the direct “sons” of the man whom the tribe was named after. Consider how you would naturally refer to the members of a tribe. The UST uses the phrase “the descendants of [tribe name].”

“According to their armies”

The phrase “according to their armies” indicates that each tribe and camp was organized and arranged into military units or divisions. The people in each military unit would camp together, and their names were listed together when the census was recorded. The UST expresses this idea with the phrase “by their army divisions.”

Names repeated from chapter 1

In this chapter, the leaders of the tribes are the same as the leaders listed in [1:5–15](../01/05.md). The only difference is that the name Reuel in [2:14](../02/14.md) is spelled Deuel in [1:14](../01/14.md). See the note on [2:14](../02/14.md) for more information. For the rest of the names, translate them in this chapter as you did in chapter 1.

Verses with total numbers

The description of each tribe’s army ends with a phrase that is almost identical in each case. The only variation is whether “his” or “their” goes with the phrase “counted ones.” Translate these verses in the same way, changing only the numbers. Notes on the first instance of this phrase (2:4) provide guidance for several translation issues that it presents.

Repeated structure for the sides of the tent of meeting

This chapter repeats the same basic structure for each of the four sides of the tent of meeting. For the first occurrence of each structure, there are notes that give guidance on specific issues. For the following verses that use the same structure, there is just a single note that points back to a previous verse and that lists any major differences from that verse. Besides those differences, translate the verses with the same structure in the same way.