1:7 from Judah, Nahshon 1 son of Amminadab;
2:3 “Now those who will be camping 2 on the east, toward the sunrise, 3 are the divisions 4 of the camp of Judah under their standard. The leader of the people of Judah is 5 Nahshon son of Amminadab.
7:12 The one who presented his offering on the first day was Nahshon son of Amminadab, from the tribe of Judah. 6
10:14 The standard 7 of the camp of the Judahites set out first according to their companies, and over his company was Nahshon son of Amminadab.
1 sn Nahshon was an ancestor of Boaz and David, and therefore of Christ (Luke 3:32-33).
2 tn The sentence begins with a vav (ו) on a word that is not a finite verb, indicating a new section begins here. The verbal form is a participle with the article used substantivally, with the meaning “and/now those camping.” Many English versions employ a finite verb; cf. KJV “on the east side…shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch.”
3 tc The two synonyms might seem to be tautological, but this is fairly common and therefore acceptable in Hebrew prose (cf. Exod 26:18; 38:13; etc.).
4 tn The sentence actually has “[those camping…are] the standard of the camp of Judah according to their divisions.”
5 tn Or “will be.”
6 sn The tribe of Judah is listed first. It seems that it had already achieved a place of prominence based on the patriarchal promise of the Messiahship in Judah (Gen 49:10).
7 sn The “standard” (דֶּגֶל, degel) was apparently some kind of a symbol put up on a pole to signify the tribal hosts. R. de Vaux thought it simply referred to a pole or a mast, but that would not distinguish tribes (Ancient Israel, 226-27).