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 8:3
Context8:3 And Aaron did so; he set up the lamps to face toward the front of the lampstand, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Numbers 23:24
Context23:24 Indeed, the people will rise up like a lioness,
and like a lion raises himself up;
they will not lie down until they eat their 6 prey,
and drink the blood of the slain.” 7
Numbers 30:13
Context30:13 “Any vow or sworn obligation that would bring affliction to her, 8 her husband can confirm or nullify. 9
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 The pronoun “their” has been supplied for clarity; it is not present in the Hebrew text.
7 sn The oracle compares Israel first to a lion, or better, lioness, because she does the tracking and hunting of food while the lion moves up and down roaring and distracting the prey. But the lion is also the traditional emblem of Judah, Dan and Gad, as well as the symbol of royalty. So this also supports the motif of royalty as well as power for Israel.
8 tn The sentence uses the infinitive construct לְעַנֹּת (lÿ’annot, “to afflict”), which is the same word used in the instructions for the day of atonement in which people are to afflict themselves (their souls). The case here may be that the woman would take a religious vow on such an occasion to humble herself, to mortify her flesh, to abstain from certain things, perhaps even sexual relations within marriage.
9 tn Heb “or her husband can nullify.”
