The Pulpit Commentary — Numbers — Section 13

great oongregationa.l assembly, as when, in oh. i. 16, the princes of the tribes o.re df'l!!i.gnated " the renowned of the congregation," lit-era.lly, the oalled men of the oon- gregation, "beoause," adds Keil, "they were called t.o diets of the congregation, as representatives of the tribes, t.o regulate the affairs of the nation,'' an interpretation (l()nonn-ed in by the best authorities (of. oh. xvi. 2). IIL Tn !U..ROHING OF THB B'OST. In the estimation of some the observance by two and a half millions of people of the marching orders prescribed for thlilir jolll'Jleyings seems a. harder problem than even their subsistence in the wilderness. Aooording t,o eh. ii., as subsequently modified byoh. x. 14-28, the camp of Judah, consisting of 186,400 soldiers, led the van. These were followed by the Gershonites a.nd Mere.rites, 13,700 strong, aocompa.nied by the tabernacle furniture on waggona. Next came the camp of Reuben, numbering 151,450 men of war. Behind these the Kohathites, 8600, kept the cha.rge of the ea.notua.ry. These were eucceeded by the camp of Epb.rsim, oont,a,ining 108,100 adult males; while the camp of Dan, with 157,600 warriors, brought up the rear. In ea.eh case the soldiers were accompanied by their families, so that, counting women e.nd children, ea.eh of the four ca.mpl!I may be roughly estimated e.t half e. million. Now, since the narrative does not permit us to think of anything but an orderlr ma.rob, we must imagine, it is said, these four main divisions of half a million each falling int,o line e.nd moving oft the ground, not simultaneously, but in prearranged succellSion, so that, as the first; ea.mp would require at least four or five hours for its necessary evolutions, the day would practically be at an end before the last oompany had begun to move; after which we must further contemplate this long line of two and a half millions travel• ling, say ten or e. dozen miles, a.n.d e.t the close of the day's journey re-forming, no matter where they halted, int.o a camp of exactly the dimensions of that from which in the morning they had broken up-e.ll which, even with the help of 11 little miracle in the way of warding off sickness and imparting unusual vigour 11-nd intelligence t,o the people and thei:r leaders, it is alleged is eoarcely within the limits of physice.l poesibility. And unquestionably, e.s thus represented, it must 'have been a problem for the Israelites to understand how they were t.o get away from the spot, since, if sixteen hours were demanded for the work of falling int.o line, it is doubtful if they could have been e::s::peot-ed t.o do more for the day than fall -out a.gain a.nd return t,o their square formations. But the manifest absurdity of this suffices to show that such a representation must be wholly inoorrect; and indeed e.ny interpretation of the marching orders which profeeeee t,o exhibit their impracticability will be found e.e difficult t.o harmonise with the modern theory of .s. late authorship a.e with that of a. Mosaic origin, since it is simply incredible the.f; sny writer possessed of intelligence would have inserted in his manuscript what by the supposition is so palpably impossible. The essential fallacy in the hypothesis is that each division waited before commencing its movements until those of its predecessor were completed, that the camp of Reuben, e. g., remained perfectly .itationarytill the last line in Juda.h's company was started, na.y, till the Gershonites and :Mera.rites ha.d taken up position in J uda.h's rear. But obvioUBly all the four divisions might have simultaneously commenced their preparations, by falling int.o line 88 far as practicable on the ground ; a.nd the work of doing BO, it must not be forgotten, would be largely facilitated by the principle adopted in their several -encampments, the men being arranged " by their generations, after their families. by the house of their fathers, e.ccording t,o the number of their ne.mee," ,. e. by hundreds e.nd fifties a.nd tens; eo that, even granting four or five hours for the oompletion of the moveme11.ts of Judah, it d~e not follow that more than three oz  TIIE BOOK OF NUMBERS. xv