Take a census of the whole Israelite community by the clans of its ancestral houses, listing the names, every male, head by head.
(1) שאו את ראש כל עדת, from this point on the Israelites were headed for the land of Israel, and all males over the age of 20 were enlisted in the army for that purpose, because on the 20th of the second month the Torah speaks of the people leaving the region of Mount Sinai, the cloud having lifted off the Tabernacle and begun to move ahead of the people. (See Numbers 10:11). In that chapter, verse 29, Moses invited his father-in-law Yitro to accompany the people who were now “journeying” toward the promised land. God issued the command to count the people so that one could keep track of how many soldiers there were.
(1) שאו את ראש בני ישראל , “take a census of the sum of Children of Israel;” according to Rav b’chor shor, this census was performed by means of each person included handing over a shekel, as opposed to the census in Exodus 30,13, where only the total number of Israelite males between the ages of 20 and 60 was of interest. Here we find that the number counted in each tribe is listed separately, and they were listed according to families, i.e. each individual was of consequence. In Numbers, in the fortieth year after the Exodus it was of interest to number of members of each tribe all of whom had replaced the generation that had been condemned to die in the desert. This latter count did not include a single person who had been counted by Moses and Aaron at this time.
(1) אך את מטה לוי לא תפקד ONLY THOU SHALT NOT NUMBER THE TRIBE OF LEVI — The legion of the King is worthy to be numbered by itself (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Bamidbar 15). — Another explanation is: The Holy One, blessed be He, foresaw that a decree would once be made against all those that had been numbered from twenty years and upwards, viz., that they should die in the wilderness (Numbers 14:29). He therefore said: Let these (the Levites) not be included amongst those now counted, in which case they must die, because they are Mine, since they did not sin by worshipping the golden calf (cf. Numbers Rabbah 3:7; Bava Batra 121b).
(1) Counted separately. Meaning that they would not be counted from the age of twenty, but from the age of one month. Since the Levites were the legion of the King, the Levites’ children who had passed the stage when a baby may be categorized as stillborn, were considered as important as those who go forth into the army of Israel.
(1) והלוים יחנו סביב, “and the Levites are to encamp around it.” Their camp was situated between that of the priests and that of the ordinary Israelites. This fact prevented them from approaching too close to it. (B‘chor shor)
(1) ולא יהיה קצף THAT THERE BE NO ANGER [UPON THE CONGREGATION] — If you act according to My commands there will be no anger, but if not, — i.e., that strangers take part in this their (the Levites’) service, there will be anger, just as we find at the incident with Korah (Numbers 17:11): “for there is anger gone forth [from the Lord]”.
(1) והלוים יחנו סביבת, this is another difference between the Levites and the other tribes, i.e. that they were to be encamped immediately adjacent to the sacred domain of the Tabernacle. Whereas the other tribes encamped each around its flag, the Levites’ “flag” was the Tabernacle.
(1) באתת [EVERY MAN OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL SHALL ENCAMP BY HIS OWN STANDARD] WITH THE SIGNS [OF THEIR FATHERS’ HOUSES] — Each banner shall have a different sign — a piece of coloured cloth hanging on it, the colour of the one not being the same as the colour of another, but the colour of each tribe shall be like that of his stone that is fixed in the breastplate (of. Exodus 28:21), and by this means everybody will be able to recognise his banner . Another explanation of באתת לבית אבתם is: by the signs (i.e., following the signs) which their father Jacob gave them severally when they carried him out from Egypt, as it is said, (Genesis 50:12) “And his sons did unto him exactly as he had commanded them”. For he had commanded that Judah, Issachar and Zebulun should carry him, having their position at the east side of the bier, Reuben, Simeon and Gad at the south side, etc., — as it is related in Tanchuma on this section (Midrash Tanchuma, Bamidbar 12; cf. Rashi on Genesis 50:12).
(1) על דגלו באותות, “every man with his own standard according to the insignias of his father’s house;” the flags had the names of the (fore)father’s houses inscribed upon them. How did this work? On the flag of Reuven there was an inscription אי׳י, the respective first letters of the names of the patriarchs אברהם, יצחק, יעקב. On the second flag (there were four flags, for each army group of four tribes.) there were inscribed the letters בצ׳ע, the second letter in the names of each of the three patriarchs. The third flag would have the letters רח׳ק representing the third letter in the respective names of Avraham, Yitzchok and Yaakov, and the fourth flag the letters מק׳ב, representing the last letters each in their names. The letter ה which had been added to Avraham’s name, would be represented by the protective cloud that rested above the Israelites and protected them against nosy intruders during all the years they were in the desert.
An alternate interpretation of the line: באותות לבית אבותם. The flag of the camp of Reuven had the outline of a human being in red colour, matching the colour of his stone on Aaron’s breastplate. It represented the mandrakes Reuven had found in the field and brought to his mother Leah, which the latter had traded for an extra night with her husband. (Genesis chapter 30) These mandrakes were shaped like a human being. The outline of a lion was drawn or stitched ion the flag of Yehudah, who was called: “lion” in the Torah by his father (Genesis 49:9) The color of that outline was turquoise as was the color of his gem on Aaron’s breastplate. The flag of Ephrayim showed the outline of an ox, whom his father Joseph had reputedly called שור, ox, (Deuteronomy 33,17) The color of that outline was onyx, as was the color of his gemstone on the breastplate of Aaron. On the flag of Dan there was the outline of an eagle, coloured in a variety of colours, iridescent, as the gemstone that represented the tribe of Dan on Aaron’s breastplate. (Ibn Ezra) The Tabernacle located in the centre, was flanked by all these camps, and was a symbol of the holy angels called chayot, which surround the throne of G-d forming a square. The various nations learned from the Israelites to make flags and the like in a variety of colors. (Bamidbar Rabbah 2,6)
(4) דגל מחנה יהודה, “the banner of the camp of Yehudah, etc.” This camp traveled first and was situated in the east of the Tabernacle. It was accompanied by the soldiers from the tribes of Issachar and Zevulun. The Torah describes these three tribes as ראשונה יסעו, “being the first ones to start journeying.” The word ראשונה is an allusion to the fact that these three tribes were all endowed with more than an average amount of חכמה, wisdom, i.e. the first of the emanations. Scriptural verses supporting this claim are found in Psalms 60:9: “Yehudah My law giver.” The 200 men attending David’s crowning as king over the nation have been described as “people who understood the needs of the times,” (Chronicles I 1:32). The men of Zevulun have been described in Judges 5:14 as “holding the marshal’s staff.” In view of these tribes having wisdom as a common characteristic they were suitable partners traveling together as one single camp.
(5) דגל מחנה ראובן, “the banner of the camp of Reuven, etc.,” this camp was situated at the South of the Tabernacle. Reuven was a repentant sinner. The acceptance of repentance by G‘d is an outstanding act of love and kindness on G’d’s part vis-a-vis His creatures. Seeing that Reuven was the first person to demonstrate repentance he opened the gate for other repentant sinners. The Torah credited Reuven with having intended to save Joseph and even attributed Joseph’s life being saved to his suggestion to throw him into a pit instead of killing him (Genesis 37,21). His camp was accompanied by that of Shimon who was born right after him by his mother Leah. He was joined by the soldiers of the tribe of Gad, the firstborn of Leah’s maidservant Zilpah. The Torah writes that this camp was second in the procession of the Israelites traveling. The expression ושניים יסעו, “they are to travel in second position,” is a hint at the emanation בינה which is second to the emanation חכמה, which had been represented by the camp of Yehudah. The camp of Reuven may be perceived as a counterpart to the celestial camp headed by the archangel Michael whose camp also included the angels Kuchbiel and Pediel who are positioned to the right of the Shechinah. All three are known as the camp of Michael, seeing he represents the attribute of Love and Mercy. It was this camp which Moses alluded to when he said in the song after crossing the sea of reeds מי כמוך, and he concluded the Torah with the verse commencing אין כאל ישורון. When you combine the word מי in the Shirah, with the word כאל in Deut. 33,26 you get the word מיכאל, a reference to that angel who represents the attribute of Mercy.
(8) דגל מחנה אפרים לצבאותם ימה, “the flag of the camp of Ephrayim, according to its hosts, to the West.” You are aware that Jerobam both sinned himself and caused the whole people to sin. He was of the tribe of Ephrayim. There was therefore a need to heal the “fracture” or “rift” which this man created among the Jewish people, i.e. their camps. The tribe of Ephrayim was encamped together with the tribe of Menashe and the tribe of Binyamin. This is the meaning of Psalms 80,3: “at the head of Ephrayim, Binyamin, and Menashe! Rouse Your might and come to our help!” They were camped on the West side of the Tabernacle; our sages have stated (Baba Batra 25,) that the Shechinah resided in the Western part of the Temple. Concerning the camp headed by Ephrayim the Torah writes that the members of that camp traveled in third position (verse 24).
(9) דגל מחנה דן צפונה, “the flag of the camp of Dan, to the North.” It is a well known fact that two golden calves were erected by Jerobam in the territory of Dan [an historical inaccuracy as it hosted only one of these golden calves based on Shir Hashirim 2,4]. Jerobam erected one of these golden calves in Bet El (Kings I 12,29), whereas he placed the second one in the territory of Dan. It was quite appropriate to be in the North as material wealth is perceived as originating from the North and Dan caused the whole world to become darkened by the sin of idolatry. We have a Scriptural verse alluding to this in Isaiah 29,15 “Who do their work in the dark and say: ‘who sees us,’ etc.” Although the sun rises in the East, it is at its brightest when it is in the South at midday. The sun, by traveling westwards before it sets, also illuminates the West with its light. The only direction which the sun does not illuminate directly is the North. This is why the North is associated with the concept of darkness. The expression צפון השמש, “hidden from the sun,” is a double entendre as the word צפון also means “North.” In light of historical developments it was therefore quite appropriate that the camp of Dan should be situated to the North of the Tabernacle. In view of the problems the tribe of Dan would create for the Jewish people as a whole, this camp was in need of atonement, i.e. that G’d’s light should shine upon it notwithstanding the shortcomings mentioned which darkened the halo of that camp. This is why we find that Micah 7, 8 exclaims: “though I have fallen, I rise again; though I sit in darkness, the Lord is my light.” The tribe of Dan was joined by the tribes of Asher and Naftali who helped to brighten the darkness as we know from Deut. 33,24 and 23 describing Asher having plentiful oil, oil being the raw material from which man-made light is derived. The Torah also describes Naftali as blessed by the Lord and well satisfied (same passage), indicating that it did not suffer from spiritual darkness. This camp journeyed last. The Torah here used the expression לאחרונה where we would have expected it to write simply ואחרונה יסעו, without the introductory preposition ל. The letter ל points at the letter ה at the end of that word which itself is a reminder of the last letter ה in the tetragram, the symbol of the aspect of the attribute of Justice even in the name Hashem. The three tribes Dan, Asher, Naftali, are all understood as part of the term “the camp of Dan.”