Bamidbar 2: Let's Get in Formation

After counting the people in the first chapter, God sets out the organization of the camp. The encampment was set up like a giant plus sign. The Mishkan was in the middle surrounded by the Leviim. To the north of the Mishkan were the tribes of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali. To the east was Judah, Issaschar, and Zevulun. To the south was Reuven, Shimon, and Gad. To the west was Ephrayim, Binyamin and Menashe. The breakdown of the tribes seems a little off. The sons of Leah were Reuven, Shimon, Levi, Yehudah, Yissaschar and Zevulun. Zilpah had Gad and Asher, Bilhah had Dan and Naphtali, and Rachel had Yosef and Binyamin. Splitting up the tribes is like setting up tables at a wedding. It is complicateThe breakdown needed to be split into four groups of three to reach twelve. The grouping of Rachel was easy as she had three tribes- Benjamin, and Yosef’s two sons Ephrayim and Menashe. The other groupings were a little more complicated with Leah having five kids and the two concubines with two each. Reuven as the initial first born could not be mixed with Yehudah, the eventual leader of the people. They are split up. Levi is not included in the count, so he is left out. So, the first group starts in age order with Reuven and Shimon, skips Levi and cannot have Yehudah. It would be odd to leave Yehudah with sons of a different mother, so he gets to be with his younger brothers Yissaschar and Zevulun. Reuven still needs one more, so Gad, the first born of Zilpah goes to his group and Asher is split off with his other two brothers from Bilhah. Why do Bilhah’s children stay together, and Zilpah’s are the ones that are split? There are two possible answers. The first is that Zilpah was Leah’s maidservant, so it makes sense that one of her sons goes with a group of Leah’s children. Her other son then matches with the other maidservant children. Another possible answer is that Bilhah is Rachel’s maidservant. Because Rachel was Yaacov’s favorite, her maidservant’s children are given the honor of being kept together.