Don Isaac Abravanel, also spelled Abarbanel (1437-1508) was a probing and penetrating Jewish thinker, as well as a prolific
Biblical commentator. Numbers 2 paints a portrait of an orderly Hebrew encampment, a masterful one
at that. A splendid arrangement with flags all around, it established crisp tribal associations and parameters. Just as
importantly, Jews kept their distance from the Tabernacle, lest blurred lines breed contempt for the
mystical Shechinah’s dwelling.
“And God spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron saying. The Children of
Israel shall camp with each person by the flag bearing his father’s
insignias. He shall camp a [specified] way off from the Tent of Meeting.”
Abravanel asks: Precisely how many banners dotted the Hebrew encampment’s skies? How many flags
fluttered alongside the Tabernacle, anchoring people to their closest of kin of tribal descent? Context,
he contends, is key.
Abravanel believes that the earlier chapter focused on counting the Hebrews of conscription age as a
precursor to forging the tribal formations surrounding the Tabernacle. Thus, immediately after the
Hebrews’ numbers had been ascertained, the ensuing chapter choreographed the encampment’s
positions and flags. Judah, for example, was captain over his tribe. On his team were the tribes of
Issachar and Zebulun. Owing to this threesome’s dominance, their formation rode to the Tabernacle’s
vanguard in the east. Each grouping of three tribes had its own banner, thus there were a total of four
flags, Abravanel holds.
Emphatically, the Creator did not want each man to pitch his tent in a helter-skelter fashion. Chaos
would be an anathema to God, Who demands order. He called for tribes to encircle the Tabernacle, to
its east and west and south and north. Four directions consisted of three tribes each, as stated above.
When the divine cloud of glory gave marching orders, marvelous synchronization was set in motion –
the Tabernacle ensconced in the middle of twelve tribes.
The configuration, Abravanel observes, may be likened to a man’s anatomy; the heart is centrally
located within a human body. So too are the tribes vis-à-vis the Tabernacle. They should be viewed as
extremities to the camp’s matrix or its midpoint and focal point. Indeed, Jewish life revolves around the
Tabernacle. Flags around the Tabernacle gave more than guidance or logistics to the trekking nation. It
promised divine protection, and safe passage for the Chosen People throughout the desert sojourn.
