📋 Shiur Overview
Summary of Bamidbar Chapter 2: The Organization of the Tribes Around the Mishkan
Main Topic
The organization of the twelve tribes around the *Mishkan* (Tabernacle) for encampment and travel through the desert, explaining the functional purpose of the census from Chapter 1.
Purpose of the Organization
The census conducted in Chapter 1 was not merely for counting but to assign each person their designated place in the organizational structure for traveling through the *midbar* (desert) toward *Eretz Yisrael*. This arrangement mirrors ancient camp organization (including Egyptian records) where the king occupied the center; here *Hashem* via the *Mishkan* holds that central position. The twelve tribes are arranged in four groups of three (*degalim*), one on each side of the *Mishkan*.
The Term *Degel*
The word *degel* may mean “flag” or “sign” but functions primarily as an organizational or military division. The *Targum* translates it as *tikkes* (possibly derived from Roman military terminology). Each person encamps *ish al diglo* (by his division) according to *beit avot* (ancestral houses).
The Four Camps (in Order of Travel)
1. East (*Mizrach/Kedem*) – *Machne Yehuda*: Yehuda, Yissachar, Zevulun = 186,400 (largest camp, travels first)
2. South (*Teman/Darom*) – *Machne Reuven*: Reuven, Shimon, Gad = 151,450 (travels second)
3. Center – *Leviyim* with the *Mishkan* (travel third, serve as guards)
4. West (*Ma’arav*) – *Machne Ephraim*: Ephraim, Menashe, Binyamin = 108,100 (smallest camp)
5. North (*Tzafon*) – *Machne Dan*: Dan, Asher, Naftali = 157,600 (second largest, travels last)
Total: 603,550 (excluding *Leviyim*)
Strategic Arrangement
The largest camps (Yehuda and Dan) are positioned at the front and rear for maximum protection, while intermediate-sized camps occupy the sides. This demonstrates deliberate military strategy in the formation.
Literary and Theological Significance
The repetitive language throughout the chapter—repeating the names of the *nesi’im* and their numbers from Chapter 1—serves a poetic and enacting function. The *Torah* verbally creates and enacts the *machne* (camp) through its words. This follows the characteristic pattern of command (*mitzvah*) followed by fulfillment (*vaya’asu* – “and they did”).
Debate: *Machlokes Tanaim*
A dispute exists among the *Tanaim* regarding whether the tribes traveled in their square formation as they encamped, or whether they reorganized into a straight line during travel.
📝 Full Transcript
Bamidbar Chapter 2: The Organization of the Camp
Today, we are learning Bamidbar chapter 2. This is a chapter which is a follow-up continuation of the first chapter, which is the census of the people. As we’ve explained, the point of the census is not just for curiosity’s sake to know how many people there are. It always has a functional goal, which is to give every person his place in a certain organization, in a certain scheme of a certain job. Particularly, that job is the job of what we call the traveling in Bamidbar, the traveling in the desert, which really ends up being the march towards Eretz Yisrael, which they will conquer.
This chapter, chapter 2, makes this goal, this point explicit, by organizing the 12 tribes that were counted before, not only giving them their numbers, but by putting them all around the Mishkan. This is how they travel. This is actually how, apparently, in the ancient camps, also in Egypt, we have some records from its time, how they traveled. In the middle, there was, for them, the king. And here, our king, Hashem, is the Mishkan. They traveled with the Mishkan in the middle and the 12 tribes on three for each side. So 3 times 4 is 12. Surrounding it, and that’s how they traveled, or at least that’s how they encamped. They might have traveled slightly differently. There’s a debate, a question about that. But in any case, this is the purpose of really the count.
The Literary Structure and Purpose
This whole chapter is very, very much repetitive. We have to see the chapters, the language of the Torah, the framing, the sort of poetry, the announcement of the words, as enacting in words, verbally, this machna, this beautiful and organized organization of society. It’s literally called armies here, surrounding the Mishkan in order to accomplish what they need to accomplish. So it’s accomplished in words by these sayings. Maybe this is also how they organized it then. But it’s definitely how it’s written down. So we read it so we could experience, verbally, in words, this organization that they had.
What we have, again, is a framing of a mitzvah and doing the mitzvah. First, Hashem is telling them, each man, each person, for his degel. As I said, degel might mean a flag. But degel means something like a sign, the way in which they’re organized is itself a sign. They must have had some kind of sign to show them where to go and so on. Also, signs, or levayis ha-voyisam, by their beis avos, which we discussed, they will all encamp saviv l’ohel moed, around the ohel moed.
Here we get a description going around from Mizrach to the other sides, who is on each side. Also repeating, that’s why I said it’s a lot of repeating. It repeats also who’s the nasi, who’s the leader of each tribe, which is something we already know, really, from that previous chapter. And repeating the amount of people that he had, also something we already know. And then giving a summary count of each side, each degel, because each side is really like the 12 tribes get now divided into four major categories or major divisions, or whatever you want to call it, a degel, which might be like an ancient military term or something, like the Targum translates tikkes. Tikkes is apparently a Roman word for something like a division. So maybe degel just literally means this level of division of military or some other kind of organizational level.
As I said, the repetition shows us that this is not just informative. It’s enacting something. It’s telling us a story. It’s creating this Mishkan itself, this machna itself, in words.
The Eastern Camp – Machne Yehuda
We have from Mizrach, called also kedem. So there’s two words for Mizrach. Very often in these kind of descriptions, the Torah doubles the words. It gives us kedem and Mizrach. This also probably has a poetic meaning.
First, there’s Yehuda, the degel of Yehuda, which is with their nasi, Nachshon ben Aminadav, with the tzava, the military army of Yehuda, and their countings, 74,600 people, which we already know.
With Yehuda, we have Yissachar, with their nasi, with his 54,400 men.
Then we have Zevulun, with their nasi, Eliav ben Cheilon, with his army of 57,400 men.
Altogether, all of Machne Yehuda. Yehuda is the leader of these three. Yehuda, Yissachar, and Zevulun, which are also coincidentally the largest, the largest number of all, is 186,400 people. This is like the big army, and therefore they go in the front. So they go in the front. They’re in the Mizrach. We travel from Mizrach, or at least this is the front. Maybe that’s also why Mizrach is kedem, right? It’s the front. They’re the first to travel.
The Southern Camp – Machne Reuven
Then to the right side of the Mishkan, Teiman, or called south, and darom, which is to the right of the east. If you’re facing east, then the south is to the right. This is how the directions are always organized in Tanach, in the language, in the ancient Hebrew language.
We have Reuven with their nasi Elitzur ben Shedeiur, which is with his 46,500 men, together with him Shimon, with their nasi Shelumiel ben Tzurishaddai, with their 59,300 men, together with them is Gad, with their leader, Elyasaf ben Reuel, with their 45,650 men.
Altogether, this camp, led by Reuven, has 151,450 men, and they’re going to travel second. So we’ve got the front, and then the right side, which is always preferred, always before the left. That’s also how the Hebrew language works, and how, apparently, the camp is actually organized. That’s also how the body works, right? Your right hand is usually the dominant one. So that’s the second. They travel the second.
The Leviyim in the Center
And then third, after them, traveled ohel moed, machne, and Leviyim. As we’ve already said, in the end of the previous chapter, Leviyim are really guards of the Mishkan. They’re the guards of the Mishkan, so to speak. They travel along with it. Also, ish al machanehu, the other, the degalim, they travel along with this.
There was a machlokes Tanaim, if we were to imagine this travel as they’re traveling with one in the front and two on the two sides. Or maybe when they travel, they organize themselves into a straight line. And then the Mishkan’s in the middle of that. But both of these readings, apparently, can be understood in the pesukim equally, as far as I can tell.
The Western Camp – Machne Ephraim
Then we go to the, we’re going around, right? Now we go to the back, to ma’arav, to the west. And now we have, in the back, we have Ephraim with their leader, Elishama ben Amihud, with his 40,500 men, together with the Menashe, with their leader, Gamliel ben Pedahtzur, with his 32,200 men, Binyamin, with their leader, Avidan ben Gideoni, with his 35,400 men.
This is the smallest machna. So the left side, sorry, the back is the smallest. And these travel third. So it goes around. This is maybe a reason why we should understand that they’re somehow organized themselves to be right behind the Mishkan when they’re traveling. They’re traveling third.
The Northern Camp – Machne Dan
Then we have Machne Dan, which is in the tzafon. So that’s probably the shitah that says that they traveled in a straight line. It makes more sense simply from this. But we can interpret both ways.
Then the Machne Dan, which is on the north, so on the left side, and starts with Dan, with their nasi Achiezer ben Ammishaddai, with his 62,700 men, together with Asher, with their nasi Pagiel ben Ochran, with his 41,500 men, and Naftali, with their nasi Achira ben Enan, with his 53,400 men.
Altogether, Dan has 157,600 men. So if you look at the total numbers, you’ll see that degel Machne Yehuda is the largest one. Second to that is Dan, which traveled the last. These make sense, right? You have the front of the army, and the last needs to be the most. They’re protecting from the front and the back. And in between is the intermediate numbers. We have Ephraim on the right side with, sorry, before Ephraim, right in the back, with his 150,000 total, 151,000, and even less than that. Sorry, and so we have right to the right side, 151,000, and in the back, even less than that, with 108,000 for Machne Ephraim.
The Total Count and Conclusion
Now, we’re going to get the total. In total, total of all these pekudei machna is the same, 603,550. Leviyim don’t count in this number, although we did mention Leviyim in this because they’re part of the structure, but they’re not mentioned as numbers.
Now, this was all sort of the command, right? I could have organized it. It’s not clearly organized in my organization here. But here, we have also vaya’asu. Just like everything is organized as the tzivah, so we have the command. And they did what, as Hashem commanded, they traveled and encamped according to these degalim, according to these divisions that were commanded from Moshe, each with his family, with his beis avos.
And that is the end of chapter 2.