When you blow an alarm, the camps that lie on the east side shall go forward.
Parallel translations
- KJV When ye blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward.
- BSB When you sound short blasts, the camps that lie on the east side are to set out.
- NKJV When you sound the advance, the camps that lie on the east side shall then begin their journey.
- NASB And when you blow an alarm, the camps that are pitched on the east side shall set out.
- NLT “When you sound the signal to move on, the tribes camped on the east side of the Tabernacle must break camp and move forward.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
An alarm blast signaled the camps on the east side to set out. The trumpets directed the order of march.
Overview
A distinct alarm note told the eastern tribes to break camp and move first. The trumpets thus coordinated the orderly journey of a great host, illustrating how God leads His people forward in disciplined, unified movement.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Num 10:14First, the standard of the camp of the children of Judah went forward according to their armies. Nahshon the son of Amminadab was over his army.
- Num 2:3–9Those who encamp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah, according to their divisions: and the prince of the children of Judah shall be Nahshon the son of Amminadab.
- Num 10:6–7When you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that lie on the south side shall go forward. They shall blow an alarm for their journeys.
- Joel 2:1Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of Yahweh comes, for it is close at hand:
- Isa 58:1“Cry aloud, don’t spare. Lift up your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their disobedience, and to the house of Jacob their sins.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 10:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.