translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: NUM

label: NET translator note

text: Heb “a man by his own standard.”


text: The imperfect tense is to be taken in the nuance of instruction.


text: Heb “of/for the house of their fathers.”


text: The Hebrew expression מִנֶּגֶד ( minneged ) means “from before” or “opposite; facing” and “at some distance” or “away from the front of” (see BDB 617 s.v. נֶגֶד 2.c. a ; DCH 5:603-4 s.v. 3 .b).


text: The sentence begins with a vav ( ו ) on a word that is not a finite verb, indicating a new section begins here. The verbal form is a participle with the article used substantivally, with the meaning “and/now those camping.” Many English versions employ a finite verb; cf. KJV “on the east side…shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch.”


label: NET textual note

text: The two synonyms might seem to be tautological, but this is fairly common and therefore acceptable in Hebrew prose (cf. Exod 26:18; 38:13 ; etc.).


text: The sentence actually has “[those camping…are] the standard of the camp of Judah according to their divisions.”


text: Or “will be.”


text: The expression “and his divisions and those numbered of them” is somewhat tautological. The words are synonyms used for statistical purposes, and so neither should be simply deleted.


text: Heb “by him” [i.e., Judah].


text: This part has been supplied; the text simply has “the tribe of Zebulun.”


text: The verb is נָסָע ( nasa ’): “to journey, travel, set out,” and here, “to move camp.” Judah will go first, or, literally, at the head of the nation, when they begin to travel.


text: Here and throughout the line is literally “[under] the standard of the camp of Reuben…according to their divisions.”


text: The Hebrew text simply has “and the tribe of Gad.”


text: The Leningrad codex, upon which BHS is based, has “Reuel” here. In reading “Deuel” the translation presented above follows many medieval Hebrew manuscripts, Smr, and the Latin Vulgate. Cf. Num 1:14 .


text: The Hebrew expression is עַל־יָדוֹ (’ al-yado , “upon his hand”). This clearly refers to a specifically designated place for each man.


text: Here too the Hebrew text simply has “and the tribe of Benjamin.”


text: The Hebrew text has “and the tribe of Naphtali.”


text: Heb “the house of their fathers.” So also in v. 34 .


text: The Hebrew word is כֵּן ( ken , “thus, so”).