So the Israelites did everything the LORD commanded Moses; they camped under their standards in this way and set out in the same way, each man with his clan and his family.
Parallel translations
- WEB Thus the children of Israel did. According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, so they encamped by their standards, and so they set out, everyone by their families, according to their fathers’ houses.
- KJV And the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses: so they pitched by their standards, and so they set forward, every one after their families, according to the house of their fathers.
- NKJV Thus the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses; so they camped by their standards and so they broke camp, each one by his family, according to their fathers’ houses.
- NASB So the sons of Israel did all this; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so they camped by their flags, and so they set out, everyone by his family according to his father’s household.
- NLT So the people of Israel did everything as the Lord had commanded Moses. Each clan and family set up camp and marched under their banners exactly as the Lord had instructed them.
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
Israel did everything exactly as the Lord commanded Moses, encamping and setting out by their standards. Their obedience fulfilled God's design for an ordered, God-centered people.
Overview
This summary statement confirms that Israel arranged itself precisely according to divine instruction. The repeated emphasis on doing 'all that Yahweh commanded' highlights faithful obedience as the proper response to God's word. An ordered people, gathered around God's dwelling and moving at His direction, pictures the church called to walk in obedient unity under Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ps 119:6Then I would not be ashamed when I consider all Your commandments.
- Num 24:2When Balaam looked up and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came upon him,
- Num 24:5–6How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel!
- Luke 1:6Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord.
- Num 10:28This was the order of march for the Israelite divisions as they set out.
- Num 1:54Thus the Israelites did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
- Exod 39:42The Israelites had done all the work just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
- Num 2:2“The Israelites are to camp around the Tent of Meeting at a distance from it, each man under his standard, with the banners of his family.
- Num 23:9–10For I see them from atop the rocky cliffs, and I watch them from the hills. Behold, a people dwelling apart, not reckoning themselves among the nations.
- Num 23:21He considers no disaster for Jacob; He sees no trouble for Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of the King is among them.
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 2:34 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.