Seventh-day Adventist Bible CommentaryNumbers 10

Trumpets of silver. There are three OT Hebrew words translated “trumpet.” One is the ram’s horn used at Sinai (Ex. 19:13) and at Jericho (Joshua 6:5). There was the trumpet used at secular services; then there was the one here called a “clarion” by some writers. It was a straight, slender tube with a flaring mouth.

With them. The sounding of both trumpets was a summons to the entire camp. For a significant blowing of the trumpets, refer to Joel 2:15.

Blow an alarm. The word for “alarm” is translated “shouting” in Jer. 20:16 and Amos 1:14.

The priests. As the trumpets were used for religious duties, and sounded in harmony with God’s expressed desires, it was but natural to place the instruments in the custody of the priests and to restrict the blowing of the instruments to them.

In your land. The reference is to the Holy Land, when their wanderings would have ceased and the practical use for which the trumpets were made would be ended.

Day of your gladness. This would mean any occasion of national thanksgiving (see 2 Chron. 5:12, 13; 7:6; 29:27; Esther 9:19; John 10:22). In your solemn days. Literally, “on your appointed gatherings,” meaning the Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of Weeks, Feast of the Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Feast of the Tabernacles (Lev. 23). Beginnings of your months. That is, the first day of each month, or with every new moon (see article on the Jewish calendar in Vol. II).

On the twentieth day. This was the Israelites’ first journey from the Wilderness of Sinai, where they had camped for almost a year (see Ex. 16:1; 19:1). Second year. One year and a little over one month since the beginning of the Exodus (see p. 187). The cloud was taken up. The cloud had now rested over the tabernacle 1 month and 19 days (Ex. 40:17, 34).

Wilderness of Paran. The precise limits of this wilderness have not been determined. In a general way, it was bounded by the Gulf of ‘Aqaba on the east, the Gulf of Suez on the west, and the mountains of Sinai on the south. It was Ishmael’s dwelling place (Gen. 21:21; cf. Gen. 14:6; Deut. 33:2; Hab. 3:3).

Nahshon. The prince in each case (vs. 14–27) was the appointed leader of his tribe (ch. 1:4–16), and issued all orders when on the march.

The sanctuary. This does not refer to the tabernacle, or tent, which was carried by the Gershonites and the Merarites, but to the holy things—the ark, etc.—carried on the shoulders of the Kohathites (see ch. 4:4, 15).

The rereward. That is, rearward, or rear guard, literally, “the collector.” Naphtali, part of the division under Dan, was actually in the very rear. The word is applied to God as protector in Isa. 52:12; 58:8.

Hobab. This verse does not make it clear whether Hobab or Raguel was Moses’ father-in-law, for the word means merely an “in-law” of any sort. The context must determine each case. But Raguel (or Reuel) was the father-in-law (Ex. 2:16–21); hence his son Hobab was Moses’ brother-in-law (see PP 628).

Thou knowest how. As a desert dweller Hobab would be well acquainted with its signs and ways and know where to look for water.

If thou go with us. Presumably Hobab finally consented to accompany them, for the children of Hobab dwelt among the children of Judah (Judges 1:16; 4:11).

Ark of the covenant. That is, of the Ten Commandments (Num. 14:44; Deut. 10:8; 31:9, 25; Joshua 4:7, 18; 6:8). A covenant is an argument. The covenant between God and Israel was the agreement into which both entered, by which they were to be His people, to obey Him and to become His representatives before the world, and by which He on His part would bless them and be their God (see on Ex. 19:5 and 24:7). It was upon the basis of their voluntary choice to accept the role of being God’s chosen people that He gave them the Ten Commandments, which they promised to obey as their part of the agreement (Ex. 19:8; 24:3, 7). Appropriately, the Ten Commandments, written by the hand of God upon two tables of stone,came to be called the “covenant” (Deut. 4:13), for they constituted a written copy of the conditions on which the covenant was based. The ark itself, containing the Ten Commandments, therefore, became known as the “ark of the covenant” (see on Ex. 25:16 and Num. 1:50).

Moses said. The setting out of the children of Israel on their march to the Holy Land was a demonstration of faith and hope. Upon Moses lay the greatest burden. Verses 35 and 36 record his morning prayer for a good day’s journey, and his evening prayer for rest and protection. The apostle Paul speaks of Israel’s being “baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea” (1 Cor. 10:2).