Camp

Morrish Bible Dictionary

'The Camp' was a common expression used of Israel in the wilderness: the tabernacle in the centre and the twelve tribes, each in its appointed place, arranged around it, composed the camp.

West

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| Camp Of Ephraim, |

| 108,100. |

| Manasseh , Benjamin, |

| 32,200 35,400 |

| Ephraim, |

| 40,500. |

| |

| Gad [[|¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|]] Naphtali, |

| 45,650 | K Gershonites M | 53,400 |

| | O E | |

| | H [[|¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|]] R | |

S | | A | Court | A | | N

O | Camp | T | Of The | R | Camp | O

U | Of Reuben | H | Taber- | I | Dan, Of | R

T | Reuben 46,500 | I | Nacle. | T | 62,700 Dan, | T

H | 151,450 | T | | E | 157,600 | H

| | E ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ S | |

| | S Moses, Aaron, | |

| Simeon, | And The Priests. | Asher, |

| 59,300 | | 41,500 |

| ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ |

| Judah, |

| 74,600 |

| Issachar, Zebulun, |

| 54,400 57,400 |

| Camp Of Judah, |

| 186,400 |

| |

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East

Everything was ordered of God, and each tribe must pitch its tents in the places appointed for them.  Numbers 2 . As we might have expected, Moses, Aaron, and the priests were nearest to the door of the Tabernacle, and the Levites surrounded the three other sides.

The order in which the tribes were to march was also specified. In  Psalm 80:2 we read "Before Ephraim, and Benjamin, and Manasseh, stir upthy strength, and come and save us." This alludes to those three being the tribes which immediately followed the Ark, the symbol of God's presence. It will be seen that the tribes were grouped under four leaders, each beingcalled a camp. They moved in the order given in   Numbers 10 .

Judah, with Issachar and Zebulun,

The Gershonites and the Merarites with the Tabernacle,

Reuben, with Simeon and Gad,

The Kohathites with the 'sanctuary,'

Ephraim, with Manasseh and Benjamin,

Dan, with Asher and Naphtali.

Certain defilements shut a person out of the camp until he was cleansed, and many things had to be carried outside as being unfit for the place in the midst of which God had His dwelling-place. When the camp itself had become defiled by the golden calf, Moses "took the tabernacle and pitched it without the camp . . . . and called it the tabernacle of the congregation." This was not really 'the tabernacle,' for it had not at that time been erected. The word used signifies 'the tent,' and it was doubtless a tent anticipatory of the tabernacle significantly pitched by Moses outside the camp, to show that God's dwelling could not be where there was an idol, for it is added, "Every one which sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp."  Exodus 33:7 .

The bodies of the beasts whose blood was brought into the sanctuary by the high priests for sin were burned without the camp.  Exodus 29:14;  Leviticus 4:11,12;  Hebrews 13:11 . With this is linked the fact that Jesus also 'suffered without the gate' (of Jerusalem, which then answered to the camp); on which is based the exhortation to Christians, "Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach."  Hebrews 13:12,13 . The whole earthly religious system adapted to the natural man, as Judaism of old, answers now to 'the camp' which Christians are exhorted to leave. Such systems, Judaism and Christendom, stand in direct contrast to the heavenly and spiritual character of the church of God. The camp in  Revelation 20:9 refers to the nation of Israel when again gathered into the land of Palestine. There is no 'camp' on earth for the church.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

or Encampment, of the Israelites. The whole body of the people, consisting of six hundred thousand fighting men, beside women and children, was disposed under four battalions, so placed as to enclose the tabernacle, in the form of a square, and each under one general standard. ( See Armies. ) There were forty-one encampments, from their first in the month of March, at Rameses, in the land of Goshen, in Egypt, and in the wilderness, until they reached the land of Canaan. They are thus enumerated in Numbers 33 :—

1 . Rameses

2. Succoth

3. Etham, on the edge of the wilderness

4. Pihahiroth

5. Marah

6. Elim

7. By the Red Sea

8. Wilderness of Sin

9. Dophkah

10 . Alush

11 . Rephidim

12 . Wilderness of Sinai

13 . Kibroth-hattaavah

14 . Hazeroth

15 . Rithmah

16 . Rimmon-parez

17 . Libnah

18 . Rissah

19 . Kehelatha

20 . Shapher

21 . Haradah

22 . Makheloth

23 . Tahath

24 . Tarah

25 . Mithcah

26 . Hashmonah

27 . Moseroth

28 . Bene-jaakan

29 . Hor-hagidgad

30 . Jotbathah

31 . Ebronah

32 . Ebion-gaber

33 . Kadesh

34 . Mount Hor

35 . Zalmonah

36 . Punon

37 . Oboth

38 . Ije-abarim

39 . Dibon-gad

40 . Almon-diblathaim

41 . Mountains of Abarim In the second year after their exodus from Egypt they were numbered; and upon an exact poll, the number of their males amounted to six hundred and three thousand, five hundred and fifty, from twenty years old and upward,  Numbers 1:2 . This vast mass of people, encamped in beautiful order, must have presented a most impressive spectacle. That it failed not to produce effect upon the richly endowed and poetic mind of Balaam, appears from  Numbers 24:2; "And Balaam lifted up his eyes and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he took up his parable and said, How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river side, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar trees beside waters." Grandeur, order, beauty, and freshness, were the ideas at once suggested to the mind of this unfaithful prophet, and called forth his unwilling admiration. Perhaps we may consider this spectacle as a type of the order, beauty, and glory of the true "church in the wilderness," in those happy days when God "shall not behold iniquity in Jacob, nor perverseness in Israel;" when it shall be said, "The Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them."

Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words

Machăneh (מַחֲנֶה, Strong'S #4264), “camp; encampment; host.” This noun derived from the verb chanah occurs 214 times in the Bible, most frequently in the Pentateuch and in the historical books. The word is rare in the poetical and prophetic literature.Those who travel were called “campers,” or in most versions (Kjv, Rsv, Nasb) a “company” or “group” (Niv), as in Gen. 32:8. Naaman stood before Elisha “with all his company” (2 Kings 5:15 Nasb, Neb, “retinue”). Travelers, tradesmen, and soldiers spent much time on the road. They all set up “camp” for the night. Jacob “encamped” by the Jabbok with his retinue (Gen. 32:10). The name Machăneh (Gen. 32:2, “camps”) owes its origin to Jacob’s experience with the angels. He called the place Machăneh in order to signify that it was God’s “camp” (Gen. 32:2), as he had spent the night “in the camp” (Gen. 32:21) and wrestled with God (Gen. 32:24). Soldiers also established “camps” by the city to be conquered (Ezek. 4:2) Usage of machăneh varies according to context.

First, it signifies a nation set over against another (Exod. 14:20). Second, the word refers to a division concerning the Israelites; each of the tribes had a special “encampment” in relation to the tent of meeting (Num. 1:52). Third, the word “camp” is used to describe the whole people of Israel: “And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled” (Exod. 19:16).

God was present in the “camp” of Israel: “For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee” (Deut. 23:14). As a result, sin could not be tolerated within the camp, and the sinner might have to be stoned outside the camp (Num. 15:35).

The Septuagint translated machăneh by the Greek parembole (“camp; barracks; army”) 193 times. Compare these Old Testament occurrences with the use of “camp” in Hebrews 13:11: “For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.” In the English versions, the word is variously translated “camp; company; army” (Kjv, Rsv, Nasb, Niv); “host” (Kjv); “attendances; forces” (Niv)

Webster's Dictionary

(1): (n.) The ground or spot on which tents, huts, etc., are erected for shelter, as for an army or for lumbermen, etc.

(2): (n.) A single hut or shelter; as, a hunter's camp.

(3): (v. t.) To afford rest or lodging for, as an army or travelers.

(4): (n.) To play the game called camp.

(5): (n.) A collection of tents, huts, etc., for shelter, commonly arranged in an orderly manner.

(6): (v. i.) To pitch or prepare a camp; to encamp; to lodge in a camp; - often with out.

(7): (n.) The company or body of persons encamped, as of soldiers, of surveyors, of lumbermen, etc.

(8): (n.) A mound of earth in which potatoes and other vegetables are stored for protection against frost; - called also burrow and pie.

(9): (n.) An ancient game of football, played in some parts of England.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Exodus 16:13 Numbers 2:3 Numbers 1:53 2:2-31 3:29,35,38 10:13-28

The area of the camp would be in all about 3 square miles. After the Hebrews entered Palestine, the camps then spoken of were exclusively warlike ( Joshua 11:5,7;  Judges 5:19,21;  7:1;  1 Samuel 29:1;  30:9 , etc.).

King James Dictionary

Camp, n.

1. The ground on which an army pitch their tents, whether for a night or a longer time. 2. The order or arrangement of tents, or disposition of an army, for rest as, to pitch a camp. Also, the troops encamped on the same field. 3. An army.

Camp, or I. To rest or lodge, as an army, usually in tents to pitch a camp to fix tents but seldom used. See Encamp.

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 Hebrews 13:13 (b) The great religious groups of the world established by human agencies and teaching men's theories are called a "camp."

 Revelation 20:9 (b) A term used to describe the armies of Israel encamped in and around Jerusalem.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Camp. See Encampment .

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Camp . See War.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(מִחֲנֶה, machaneh', an encampment, whether of troops or nomades, especially of the Israelites in the desert; hence also put for troops or a company itself; once מִהֲנוֹת, machanoth', camps, i.e. place of encampment,  2 Kings 6:8; παρεμβολή,  Hebrews 13:11;  Hebrews 13:13; Revelation 20:9; elsewhere "castle"). Of the Jewish system of encampmentthe Mosaic books have left a detailed description. From the period of the sojourn in the wilderness to the crossing of the Jordan the twelve tribes were formed into four great armies, encamping in as many fronts, or forming a square, with a great space in the rear, where the tabernacle of the Lord was placed, surrounded by the tribe of Levi and the bodies of carriers, etc., by the stalls of the cattle and the baggage: the four fronts faced the cardinal points while the march was eastward, but, as Judah continued to lead the van, it follows that, when the Jordan was to be crossed, the direction became westward, and therefore the general arrangement, so far as the cardinal points were concerned, was reversed. It does not appear that, during this time, Israel ever had lines of defense thrown up; but in after ages, when only single armies came into the field, it is probable that the castral disposition was not invariably quadrangular;and, from the many position is indicated on the crests of steep mountains, the fronts were clearly adapted to the ground and to the space which it was necessary to occupy. The rear of such positions, or the square camps in the plain, appear from the marginal reading of  1 Samuel 17:20;  1 Samuel 26:5, to have been enclosed with a line ‘ of carts or chariots, which, from the remotest period, was a practice among all the nomad nations of the north. (D'Aquine, Le Camp des Israelites, Par. 1623, 1624.) For a more general treatment of the subject, from a military point of view, (See Encampe).