18 The standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their hosts shall be westward; and the prince of the sons of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud;
for the children of Joseph: for Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud; for Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur;
And the standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set forward according to their hosts, and over his host was Elishama the son of Ammihud;
But Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid [it] on Ephraim's head -- now he was the younger -- and his left hand on Manasseh's head; guiding his hands intelligently, for Manasseh was the firstborn. And he blessed Joseph, and said, The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God that shepherded me all my life long to this day, the Angel that redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the land! When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it was evil in his eyes; and he took hold of his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn: put thy right hand on his head. But his father refused and said, I know, my son, I know: he also will become a people, and he also will be great; but truly his younger brother will be greater than he; and his seed will become the fulness of nations. And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee will Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and Manasseh! And he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
And now thy two sons, who were born to thee in the land of Egypt before I came to thee into Egypt, shall be mine: Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon.
Of the sons of Joseph: of the children of Ephraim: their generations, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, by the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that went forth to military service:
and for a sacrifice of peace-offering, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five yearling lambs. This was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud.
His majesty is as the firstling of his ox; And his horns are as the horns of a buffalo. With them shall he push the peoples Together to the ends of the earth. These are the myriads of Ephraim, And these are the thousands of Manasseh.
{To the chief Musician. On Shoshannim-Eduth. Of Asaph. A Psalm.} Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that sittest [between] the cherubim, shine forth. Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up thy strength, and come to our deliverance.
I have indeed heard Ephraim bemoaning himself [thus]: Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised as a bullock not trained: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art Jehovah my God. Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after I knew myself, I smote upon [my] thigh. I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, for I bear the reproach of my youth. Is Ephraim a dear son unto me? is he a child of delights? For whilst I have been speaking against him, I do constantly remember him still. Therefore my bowels are troubled for him: I will certainly have mercy upon him, saith Jehovah.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Numbers 2
Commentary on Numbers 2 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 2
The thousands of Israel, having been mustered in the former chapter, in this are marshalled, and a regular disposition is made of their camp, by a divine appointment. Here is,
Num 2:1-2
Here is the general appointment given both for their orderly encampment where they rested and their orderly march when they moved. Some order, it is possible, they had observed hitherto; they came out of Egypt in rank and file (Ex. 13:18), but now they were put into a better model.
Num 2:3-34
We have here the particular distribution of the twelve tribes into four squadrons, three tribes in a squadron, one of which was to lead the other two. Observe,