17 And the tent of meeting -- the camp of the Levites -- hath journeyed in the midst of the camps; as they encamp so they journey, each at his station by their standards.
And the Kohathites have journeyed, bearing the tabernacle, and the `others' have raised up the tabernacle until their coming in.
And the tabernacle hath been taken down, and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari have journeyed, bearing the tabernacle.
and thou, appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its vessels, and over all that it hath; they bear the tabernacle, and all its vessels, and they serve it; and round about the tabernacle they encamp. `And in the journeying of the tabernacle, the Levites take it down, and in the encamping of the tabernacle, the Levites raise it up; and the stranger who is coming near is put to death.' And the sons of Israel have encamped, each by his camp, and each by his standard, by their hosts; and the Levites encamp round about the tabernacle of the testimony; and there is no wrath on the company of the sons of Israel, and the Levites have kept the charge of the tabernacle of the testimony.
And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, and unto Aaron, saying,
And those encamping before the tabernacle eastward, before the tent of meeting, at the east, `are' Moses and Aaron, and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the sons of Israel, and the stranger who cometh near is put to death.
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,