Numbers 10

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Verse 1

10:1-10 Israel needed signals that were loud and clear so that the tribes could receive instructions. Two silver trumpets provided a simple, effective means to signal all the tribes to move. • These trumpets were not the ram’s horns (Hebrew shopar) mentioned frequently in the Old Testament (e.g., Josh 6:4-6); they were fashioned by Israelite craftsmen from hammered silver brought out of Egypt.

Verse 2

10:2-4 The two trumpets were used to get people’s attention for important pronouncements (cp. Rev 8–11).

Verse 5

10:5-8 When it was time to break camp, the sound of the trumpets supplemented the movement of the pillar of cloud (cp. 9:15-22) by signaling when to camp and when to move on (see ch 2).

Verse 8

10:8 Only the priests . . . are allowed to blow the trumpets: All uses of these trumpets were related to God and his government of Israel, both of which the priests served.

Verse 9

10:9-10 The trumpets marked holy events that might not readily be recognized as such. Trumpets that sounded a call to arms (Hos 5:8; Joel 2:1) would remind . . . the Lord to rescue the Hebrews from their enemies.

Verse 11

10:11-36 Leaving Sinai was a pivotal moment in Israel’s history. Now the Israelites had the law and would be tested as to how they would keep it. The departure from Sinai was the beginning of the march toward Canaan, though it turned into a long journey (cp. Deut 1:6-8, 19). This passage summarizes the daily procedures on the journey.

Verse 12

10:12 The Israelites marched to the wilderness of Paran, an arid or semi-arid region in the northeastern part of the Sinai Peninsula, south of the Negev and west of the Dead Sea/Arabah Rift (cp. Gen 21:21).

Verse 13

10:13-28 The order of march is different here than in 2:3-34, which specifies that all three clans of Levites were to carry the Tabernacle and its furnishings in the middle of the troop, between the groups headed by Judah and Reuben and the groups headed by Ephraim and Dan. Here, the Gershonites and Merarites carried the components of the Tabernacle structure between Judah and Reuben, and the Kohathites carried the most sacred furniture between Reuben and Ephraim. This useful arrangement allowed time for the Gershonites and Merarites to set up the Tabernacle before the Kohathites arrived with the sacred objects. It also provided security for their special cargo, and it spread the Levites out among the tribes, perhaps enhancing the leavening effect of their influence (cp. Matt 13:33; 16:6, 11-12; 1 Cor 5:6-7).

Verse 29

10:29-32 After the trek toward Paran had begun, Moses took the practical step of asking his brother-in-law, Hobab (cp. Judg 4:11), to join the Israelites as their guide (literally to serve as Israel’s eyes) and so to share in their promised blessings. As a Midianite shepherd, Hobab knew the routes and possible sources of food and water in this region of the Sinai Peninsula. • Reuel the Midianite: See “Jethro (Reuel)” Profile. • my own land and family: Midian was probably in northwestern Arabia. Judges 1:16 suggests that Hobab accepted the appeal.

Verse 33

10:33 The mountain of the Lord refers here to Mount Sinai; elsewhere the expression refers to Mount Moriah or Zion in Jerusalem (Gen 22:14; Ps 24:3; Isa 2:3; Zech 8:3).

Verse 35

10:35 Moses’ invocation, spoken when the Ark set out, acknowledged the Lord as a warrior who would give Israel the Promised Land and called him to fight Israel’s battles (cp. Ps 68:1).

Verse 36

10:36 This invocation called the Lord to join his people and protect Israel while they camped.