Discovery BoxNumbers 2:2 
Context2:2 “Every one 1 of the Israelites must camp 2 under his standard with the emblems of his family; 3 they must camp at some distance 4 around the tent of meeting. 5
Numbers 11:21
Context11:21 Moses said, “The people around me 6 are 600,000 on foot; 7 but you say, ‘I will give them meat, 8 that they may eat 9 for a whole month.’
Numbers 16:34
Context16:34 All the Israelites 10 who were around them fled at their cry, 11 for they said, “What if 12 the earth swallows us too?”
Numbers 21:4
Context21:4 Then they traveled from Mount Hor by the road to the Red Sea, 13 to go around the land of Edom, but the people 14 became impatient along the way.
Numbers 35:4
Context35:4 The grazing lands around the towns that you will give to the Levites must extend to a distance of 500 yards 15 from the town wall.
1 tn Heb “a man by his own standard.”
2 tn The imperfect tense is to be taken in the nuance of instruction.
3 tn Heb “of/for the house of their fathers.”
4 tn 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).
5 sn The Israelites were camping as a military camp, each tribe with the standards and emblems of the family. The standard was the symbol fastened to the end of a pole and carried to battle. It served to rally the tribe to the battle. The Bible nowhere describes these, although the serpent emblem of Numbers 21:8-9 may give a clue. But they probably did not have shapes of animals in view of the prohibition in the Decalogue. The standards may have been smaller for the families than the ones for the tribes. See further K. A. Kitchen, “Some Egyptian Background to the Old Testament,” TynBul 5 (1960): 11; and T. W. Mann, Divine Presence and Guidance in Israelite Tradition, 169-73.
6 tn Heb “the people who I am in their midst,” i.e., among whom I am.
7 tn The Hebrew sentence stresses the number. The sentence begins “600,000….”
8 tn The word order places the object first here: “Meat I will give them.” This adds to the contrast between the number and the statement of the
9 tn The verb is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, carrying the sequence from the preceding imperfect tense. However, this verb may be subordinated to the preceding to express a purpose clause.
10 tn Heb “all Israel.”
11 tn Heb “voice.”
12 tn Heb “lest.”
13 tn The “Red Sea” is the general designation for the bodies of water on either side of the Sinai peninsula, even though they are technically gulfs from the Red Sea.
14 tn Heb “the soul of the people,” expressing the innermost being of the people as they became frustrated.
15 tn Heb “one thousand cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) in length, so this would be a distance of 1,500 feet or 500 yards (675 meters).
