Numbers 10 Study Notes

10:1-2 The two trumpets of hammered silver were different from the ram’s horn (Hb shofar). The shofar announced the Day of Atonement (Lv 25:9), and it was used in the march around Jericho at the beginning of the conquest of the promised land (Jos 6:2-21). The distinctive pitch of the silver trumpets summoned the people to march through the wilderness. It was also blown by the priest Phinehas in the battle against Midian (Nm 31:6).

10:3-10 After the Lord moved his presence in the cloud, the priests would sound the trumpets in sequence and at varying duration, and possibly differing pitch, to signal the people of Israel to follow the Lord’s leading. The trumpet blasts could also represent prayers.

10:11-13 The twentieth of the month was less than a week after the unclean persons were able to celebrate Passover on the fourteenth of the second month (cp. 9:8-13). This was also about a month after the week-long Passover described in 9:1-14 (cp. Ex 13:6). After they spent eleven months in the Sinai Wilderness, the Lord would now begin to lead the people to his intended destination—the promised land. Again the Israelites are described as faithfully following the Lord’s command through Moses, in the language of the “Song of the Journey” (Nm 9:17-23).

10:12 The geographical parameters of this initial movement are the Sinai and Paran deserts. The Israelites camped at Taberah (11:3), Kibroth-hattavah (11:34-35), and Hazeroth (12:16) on their way to the Wilderness of Paran. Paran was west of Midian, east of Egypt, extending northward from some point north or northeast of Mount Sinai, northward toward Kadesh-barnea, and eastward to the Arabah. The text shifts from the Paran Wilderness region (13:26) to a more specific context, in a literary style similar to the listing of the itinerary of the spies (13:21) and later the rebellion of Moses (20:1-13; 27:14). Paran’s relationship to Midian is confirmed later in history when the Edomite king Hadad fled from Solomon to Egypt through Midian and Paran (1Kg 11:18).

10:14-28 The orderly departure from Mount Sinai of the priests, Levites, and twelve tribes follows the pattern of the encampment detailed in 2:1-3:38, with Judah led by Nahshon setting out first (v. 14). The tribal leaders who assisted Moses and Aaron in taking the military census (1:5-15) are those who led their respective groups at the beginning of the victory march to the promised land. Order, harmony, and faithfulness marked the beginning of the wilderness journey.

10:29-32 Moses noted twice that the Lord has promised good things to Israel, and twice Moses promised Hobab that the goodness would be apportioned to him as well if he would help guide them through the wilderness. Who was this Hobab son of Reuel? The dual names “Reuel” (Ex 2:18) and “Jethro” (Ex 3:1) in reference to Moses’s in-laws are perhaps references to two generations of this Midianite clan, since the Hebrew term can mean “father-in-law,” “brother-in-law,” or just “in-law.” Thus the patriarchal clan leader was probably named “Reuel” (taking “father” as “grandfather” which is common in the Hebrew Bible) and the actual father-in-law of Moses was named “Jethro.” Others suggest Jethro and Reuel are the same person, since dual names are commonly reflected in Bronze Age texts. The blessing of God was fulfilled for Hobab and his Kenite clan in Jdg 1:16.

Did Moses show a lack of faith by asking his brother-in-law to serve as a guide in the wilderness? The text does not even hint at this suggestion, since the focus is on the involvement of Hobab as a potential recipient of the covenant blessings of Israel. Instead, the idea of shared leadership is emphasized in which Moses was the interpreter of God’s direction as revealed through the cloud in the wilderness. Hobab would provide valuable support in the desert setting known by the Midianites.

10:33-36 The “Battle Song of the Ark” (vv. 35-36) is preceded by a dual chronological marker about the first stage in the movement of the Lord’s cloud. A three-day journey would mean a distance of about 35 to 45 miles, based on travel rates mentioned in military annals of the pharaohs of Egypt. On the journey the cloud, symbolizing God’s presence and leadership (9:15-23), preceded them at a distance though still covering them for protection. The ark of the Lord’s covenant, the symbolic throne of God in king-to-servant relationship with Israel, led the way for the people. The three-day journey is reminiscent of Moses’s request to Pharaoh to allow the Israelites to journey three days into the wilderness to worship the Lord.