48443 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Only thou shall not number the tribe of Levi,.... That is, along with the other tribes, for it might be numbered by itself, as it afterwards was, Numbers 3:43; neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel; which confirms what is before observed: now this being the declared will of God clears Moses from all partiality to his own tribe,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony,.... So called from the ark in it, in which was the law of God, which was a testimony of the will of God to his people: and over all the vessels thereof; the candlestick, table: and altars, as Aben Ezra notes: and over all things that [belong] to it; the vessels of vessels, as the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when the tabernacle setteth forward,.... Or was about to set forward; that is, the congregation were about to journey, and take the tabernacle with them, as they always did, when and wherever they journeyed: the Levites shall take it down; unpin it, take the boards and pillars out of their sockets, and the bars out of their places, and the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp,.... There were four, unless every tribe was a camp, and so then there were twelve camps, besides the camp of the Levites: the Targum of Jonathan is, "by the house of his troop,'' the regiment to which he belonged, every tribe or camp having various troops or regiments...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony,.... Between the tabernacle and the camps of Israel, to guard the tabernacle and preserve the things in it, and to keep persons from going into it that should not, to pollute or plunder it: these were placed in like manner as the four living creatures round the throne, Revelation...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the children of Israel did according to all the Lord commanded Moses,.... Pitched their tents by their own camps and standards; did not come near the tabernacle but kept at a proper distance from it, and did not meddle with things they had no concern, with, and which were peculiar to the Levites: so they did; which is repeated to show how...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Numbers 2 This chapter contains the order of the encampment and march of the tribes of Israel in their proper places about the tabernacle; the general direction for the same is in Numbers 1:1; the particulars follow; on the cast of the tabernacle the camp of Judah was to pitch, and under his standard the tribes of Issachar and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the Lord spake unto Moses, and unto Aaron,.... Very probably after the number of the children of Israel was taken, of which in the preceding chapter, and when the congregation of Israel with the tabernacle were about to set forward on their journey; and therefore directions are here given for their orderly and regular proceeding in it, in what...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
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, I. A general order concerning it, ver. 1, 2. II. Particular directions for the posting of each of the tribes, in four distinct squadrons, three tribes in each squadron. 1....
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard,.... Or banner, of which there were four, as appears from the following account, under each of which were placed three tribes; and so every man of each tribe was to pitch his tent in the tribe he belonged to, and by the standard under which his tribe was marshalled, and in the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And on the east side, towards the rising of the sun,.... Which rises in the east; or of all; for, as Jarchi observes, that which is "before" is called "Kedem", the east, as the west is called "behind": shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch, throughout their armies; the tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, formed one camp, which...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And his host, and those that were numbered of them,.... As they had been before; and, supposing these words to be the words of God, there is no necessity of rendering them in the future, as some have observed; though they seem rather to be the words of Moses, who under every tribe repeats the number, which is exactly the same as when taken; and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And those that do pitch next unto him [shall be] the tribe of Issachar,.... Who with Zebulun, after mentioned, as placed with him under the same standard, were the brethren of Judah, by the same mother Leah, and so fitly put together, as most likely to continue in harmony and love; and being the youngest sons of Leah, and brethren of Judah, would,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And his host,.... The host of Issachar; and those that were numbered thereof, [were] fifty and four thousand and four hundred. 54,400 men. Which had been numbered, for it does not appear that there was a fresh account taken; see Numbers 1:29.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
[Then] the tribe of Zebulun,.... He pitched next; though the order of their encampment was not, as it may seem, first Judah, after him Issachar, and below him Zebulun; for Judah lay between these two, the one before him, and the other behind him; and it was Issachar that was behind, and Zebulun before, as Aben Ezra observes; they were pitched on...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And his host,.... That is, the host of Zebulun; and those that were numbered thereof, [were] fifty and seven thousand and four hundred. 57,400 men; see Numbers 1:31.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
All that were numbered in the camp of Judah [were] an hundred thousand and fourscore thousand and six thousand and four hundred, throughout their armies,.... 186,400 men. The sum total of the three tribes, which formed that camp: this was the largest camp of them all, being near 30,000 more than Dan's, Numbers 2:31, which was the next in number...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
On the south side [shall be] the standard of the camp of Reuben, according to their armies,.... This camp consisted of the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad, which was divided into lesser bodies, regiments, or companies, called armies; and this was placed to the south of the tabernacle, or to the right hand, as Aben Ezra interprets it; this was...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And his host,.... That is, the host of Reuben, as distinct from his camp, of which it was only a part, and of which Elizur was captain; and those that were numbered thereof, [were] forty and six thousand and five hundred. 46,500 men; see Numbers 1:21.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And those which pitch by him [shall be] the tribe of Simeon,.... Under his standard, and on one side of it; Reuben and Simeon being brothers by the mother as well as the father's side, might well be thought to agree together; and Reuben being the eldest brother, and the eldest of all Jacob's sons, Simeon would not grudge to pitch under him: and...