Numbers 2:18 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Numbers 2:18
On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their armies: and the captain of the sons of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud.
a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water · noun, common masculine singular absolute + directional suffix
standard
דֶּ֣גֶלDe.gel
H1714
a flag · noun, common masculine singular construct
camp
מַחֲנֵ֥הma.cha.Neh
H4264
an encampment (of travellers or troops) · noun, common feminine singular construct
Ephraim
אֶפְרַ֛יִם'ef.Ra.yim
H669
Ephrajim · proper noun, a man's name
armies
לְצִבְאֹתָ֖םle.tziv.'o.Tam
H6635
a mass of persons (or figuratively · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
captain
וְנָשִׂיא֙ve.na.Si'
H5387
properly · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
sons
לִבְנֵ֣יliv.Nei
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Ephraim
אֶפְרַ֔יִם'ef.Ra.yim
H669
Ephrajim · proper noun, a man's name
Elishama
אֱלִישָׁמָ֖ע'e.li.sha.Ma'
H476
Elishama · proper noun, a man's name
son
בֶּןben-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Ammihud
עַמִּיהֽוּד'a.mi.Hud
H5989
Ammihud · proper noun, a man's name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Numbers 1:10 Of the children of Joseph: of Ephraim; Elishama the son of Ammihud: of Manasseh; Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.
Numbers 10:22 And the standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set forward according to their armies: and over his host was Elishama the son of Amm…
Genesis 48:14-20 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guidi…
Genesis 48:5 And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as…
Numbers 1:32 Of the children of Joseph, namely, of the children of Ephraim, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, ac…
Numbers 7:48 On the seventh day Elishama the son of Ammihud, prince of the children of Ephraim, offered:
Numbers 7:53 And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Elishama…
Deuteronomy 33:17 His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Numbers 2:3–end
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, 1. God himself appointed them their place, to prevent strife and envy among them. Had they been left to determine precedency among themselves, they would have been in danger of quarrelling with one another (as the disciples who strove which should be greatest); each would have had a pretence to be first, or at least not to be last. Had it been left to Moses to determine, they would have quarrelled with him, and charged him with partiality; therefore God does it, who is himself the fountain and judge of honour, and in his appointment a…
On the south side the standard of the camp of Reuben--The description given of the position of Reuben and his attendant tribes on the south, of Ephraim and his associates on the west, of Dan and his confederates on the north, with that of Judah on the east, suggests the idea of a square or quadrangle, which, allowing one square cubit to each soldier while remaining close in the ranks, has been computed to extend over an area of somewhat more than twelve square miles. But into our calculations of the occupied space must be taken not only the fighting men, whose numbers are here given, but also the families, tents, and baggage. The tabernacle or sacred tent of their Divine King, with the camp…
On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim, according to their armies,.... It was in the rear or behind, consisting of his tribe, and of the tribes of Manasseh and Benjamin, divided into several companies, and extended four miles, as the above Targum. The Jewish writers say (l), that Joseph's stone is the onyx or sardonyx, and his flag was coloured very black, and on it were figured for the two princes, Ephraim and Manasseh, Egypt, because they were born in Egypt; and upon the flag of Ephraim was figured an ox, because of what is said in Deuteronomy 33:17; and on the flag of the tribe of Manasseh was figured an unicorn, because of what is said in the same place. Benjamin's…
Dictionary and topics
Ammihud — People of glory; i.e., “renowned.” (1.) The father of the Ephraimite chief Elishama, at the time of the Exodus (Num. 1:10; 2:18; 7:48, 53). (2.) Num. 34:20. (3.) Num. 34:28. (4.) The father of…
Army — The Israelites marched out of Egypt in military order (Ex. 13:18, “harnessed;” marg., “five in a rank”). Each tribe formed a battalion, with its own banner and leader (Num. 2:2; 10:14). In war the…
Banner — (1.) The flag or banner of the larger kind, serving for three tribes marching together. These standards, of which there were four, were worked with embroidery and beautifully ornamented (Num. 1:52;…
Camp — During their journeys across the wilderness, the twelve tribes formed encampments at the different places where they halted (Ex. 16:13; Num. 2:3). The diagram here given shows the position of the…
Elishama — Whom God hears. (1.) A prince of Benjamin, grandfather of Joshua (Num. 1:10; 1 Chr. 7:26). (2.) One of David’s sons (2 Sam. 5:16). (3.) Another of David’s sons (1 Chr. 3:6). (4.) A priest sent by…
Encamp — An encampment was the resting-place for a longer or shorter period of an army or company of travellers (Ex. 13:20; 14:19; Josh. 10:5; 11:5). The manner in which the Israelites encamped during their…
Ephraim, The tribe of — Took precedence over that of Manasseh by virtue of Jacob’s blessing (Gen. 41:52; 48:1). The descendants of Joseph formed two of the tribes of Israel, whereas each of the other sons of Jacob was the…
Ammihud · .And father of Elishama — .And father of Elishama
Benjamin · .Position of, in — .Position of, in
Benjamin, Tribe Of · Encamped on west side of the tabernacle under the standard of Ephrain — Encamped on west side of the tabernacle under the standard of Ephrain
And the Lord spake unto Moses, and unto Aaron This distribution into separate bands must have served to prevent contention; for, had not God thus assigned to each their proper position, so natural is ambition to man, that they would have quarrelled for the place of honor. It would have been grievous to the family of Reuben, the first-born, to resign his dignity; and, even if they had patiently submitted to the punishment inflicted upon them, they would have been made to take the lowest place, as being condemned to ignominy. Disputes would also have arisen respecting the children of the concubines, for they would not have thought it consistent that; those who sprang from Leah and Rachel shoul…
Order of the tribes in the camp and on the march. - Num 2:3-9. The standard of the tribe of Judah was to encamp in front, namely towards the east, according to its hosts; and by its side the tribes of Issachar and Zebulun, the descendants of Leah, under the command and banner of Judah: an army of 186,400 men, which was to march out first when the camp was broken up (Num 2:9), so that Judah led the way as the champion of his brethren (Gen 49:10).
Num 2:4-9
"His host, and those that were numbered of them" (cf. Num 2:6, Num 2:8, Num 2:11, etc.), i.e., the army according to its numbered men.
Num 2:10-16
On the south side was the standard of Reuben, with which Simeon and Gad, descendants of Leah…
The tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin marched behind the Tabernacle and the Levites.
Rashi on Numbers 2:17
ונסע אהל מועד AND THE TENT OF MEETING SHALL SET FORWARD after these two divisions (those of Judah and Reuben), as is shown by the position of this statement in the narrative.
כאשר יחנו כן יסעו AS THEY ENCAMP SO SHALL THEY JOURNEY — just as I have explained (v. 9): their positions when marching shall be the same as when encamping — each division marches on that side that is assigned to it.
על ידו means, in his place. The term יד does not even in this sense lose its original meaning, viz., that of “hand’’ — the area at one’s side is termed על ידו “that which is by his hand”, being that which is closest to him, and always within the reach of his hand (and not beyond it); en son aise in O. F.
Elishama · 1. Grandfather of Joshua — 1. Grandfather of Joshua
Ephraim · .Position in — .Position in
Ephraim, Tribe Of · Encamped west of the tabernacle — Encamped west of the tabernacle
Manasseh · .Place of, in — .Place of, in
Manasseh, The Tribe Of · Encamped next to, and under the standard of Ephraim west of tabernacle — Encamped next to, and under the standard of Ephraim west of tabernacle
Tribes Of Israel, The · Encamped in their divisions and by their standards round the tabernacles — Encamped in their divisions and by their standards round the tabernacles
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
