the Levites in the midst of the camp: as they encamp, so shall they set forward, every man in his place by their standards.

18¶On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their armies: and the captain of the sons of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud.

19 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty thousand and five hundred.

20 And by him shall be the tribe of Manasseh: and the captain of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pe

dahzur.

21 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred.

22 Then the tribe of Benjamin: and the captain of the sons of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni.

23 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred.

24 All that were numbered of the camp of Ephraim were an hundred thousand and eight thousand and an hundred, throughout their armies. And they shall go forward in the third rank.

25 ¶ The standard of the camp of Dan shall be on the north side by their armies: and the captain of the children of Dan shall be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

26 And his host, and those that were

numbered of them, were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred.

27 And those that encamp by him shall be the tribe of Asher: and the captain of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ocran.

28 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty and one thousand and five hundred.

29¶ Then the tribe of Naphtali: and the captain of the children of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan.

30 And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were fifty and three thou

sand and four hundred.

31 All they that were numbered in the camp of Dan were an hundred thousand and fifty and seven thousand and six hundred. They shall go hindmost with their standards.

32 These are those which were numbered of the children of Israel by the house of their fathers: all those that were numbered of the camps throughout their hosts were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.

33 But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses.

34 And the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses: so they pitched by their standards, and so they set forward, every one after their families, according to the house of their fathers.

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Verse 2.

ANCIENT PERSIAN STANDARDS.

Every man...shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father's house."-It is confessedly a matter of great difficulty to determine what the standards were which at this early time we find in use among the Israelites. It seems therefore the best course to look in the first instance at the standards which we find in use among ancient nations, as furnishing the only materials on which we can found any conjecture or conclusion.

The invention of standards is attributed by ancient authors to the Egyptians, and this with great probability, as they had the earliest organized military force of which we have any knowledge; we may therefore feel tolerably certain that the Hebrews had the idea of at least the use of ensigns from the Egyptians, for it is not at all likely that the small body of men which originally went down into Egypt had any such articles or any occasion for them. Diodorus informs

EGYPTIAN STANDARDS.

us that the Egyptian standards consisted of the figure of an animal at the end of a spear. Among the Egyptian sculptures and paintings there also appear other standards, which either resemble at top a round-headed table knife, or an expanded semicircular fan. These latter are attributed to the Græco-Egyptians; but we are unable to find any satisfactory data to show that they were other than varieties of most ancient Egyptian standards. The early Greeks employed for a standard a piece of armour at the end of a spear; but Homer makes Agamemnon use a purple veil with which to rally his men. The Athenians afterwards, in the natural progress which we observe in the history of ensigns, adopted the olive and the owl, and the other Greek nations also displayed the effigies of their tutelary gods, or their particular symbols, at the end of a spear. Some of them had simply the initial letter of their national name. The ancient Persian standard is variously described. It seems properly to have been a golden eagle at the end of a spear, fixed upon a carriage. They also employed the figure of the sun, at least on great occasions, when the king was present with his forces. Quintus Curtius mentions the figure of the sun, inclosed in crystal, which made a most splendid appearance above the royal tent. We therefore presume it was the grand standard, particularly as even at this day, when Mohammedanism has eradicated most of the more peculiar usages of the Persians, the sun continues to divide with the lion the honour of appearing on the royal standard. Among the very ancient sculptures at Persepolis, we discover specimens of other standards, as exhibited in our engraving. One sort consists of a staff terminated in a divided ring, and having below a transverse bar from which two enormous tassels are suspended. The other consists of five globular forms on a cross bar. They were doubtless of metal, and probably had some reference to the heavenly bodies, which were the ancient objects of worship in Persia. The proper royal standard of that country, however, for many centuries until the Mohammedan conquest, was a blacksmith's leathern apron, around which they had at one time been rallied to a successful opposition against the odious tyranny of Zohauk. Many national standards have arisen from similar emergencies, when that which was next at hand being seized and lifted up as a rallying point for the people, was afterwards, out of a sort of superstitious gratitude, adopted either as the common ensign or the sacred banner. Thus also originated the horse-tails of the modern Turks, and the bundles of hay at the top of a pole which formed the most ancient Roman standard; as mentioned in the following extract from the Introduction (p. liv.) of Dr. Meyrick's splendid work on Ancient Armour:-" Each century, or at least each maniple of troops, had its proper standard and standard-bearer. This was originally merely a bundle of hay on the top of a pole; afterwards a spear, with a cross piece of wood at the top, sometimes with the figure of a hand above, probably in allusion to the word manipulus, and below a small round or oval shield, generally of silver or of gold. On this metal plate were usually re

ROMAN STANDARDS.

presented the warlike deities, Mars or Minerva; but, after the extinction of the commonwealth, the effigies of the emperors and their favourites: it was on this account that the standards were called numina legionum, and held in religious veneration. The standards of different divisions had certain letters inscribed on them to distinguish the one from the other. The standard of a legion, according to Dio, was a silver eagle with expanded wings, on the top of a spear, sometimes holding a thunderbolt in its claws; hence the word aquila was used to signify a legion. The place for this standard was near the general, almost in the centre. Before the time of Marius figures of other animals were used. The vexillum, or flag of the cavalry, was, according to Livy, a square piece of cloth, fixed to a cross bar at the end of a spear." These flags had sometimes fringes and ribands, and were used less restrictedly than Dr. Meyrick seems to state. The divisions of a legion had also their particular ensigns, sometimes simply attached to the end of a spear, but sometimes fixed below the images. An infantry flag was red; a cavalry one, blue; and that of a consul, white. As the Roman standard is in the New Testament mentioned distinctly as "the abomination of desolation," we have here noticed them particularly under the general subject. As to the hand on the Roman standard, we may observe that at this day the flag-staff of the Persians terminates in a silver hand, as that of the Turks does in a crescent. After Trajan's conquest of the Dacians, the Romans adopted as a trophy the dragon, which was a general ensign among barbarians. The dragons were embroidered in cotton, silk, or purple. Mention is also made of pinna, which seem to have been aigrettes of feathers of different colours, intended for signals or rallying points. Animals also, fixed upon plinths, with holes through them, are often found; and were ensigns intended to be placed upon the ends of spears. In the East, the use of standards fixed upon cars seems to have been long continued. We have observed that this was an usage in ancient Persia, and at a period long subsequent we find it existing among the Saracens : Turpin, in his History of Charlemagne,' mentions it as belonging to them. He says, "In the midst of them was a waggon drawn by eight horses, upon which was raised their red banner. Such was its influence, that while the banner remained erect no one would ever fly from the field." (See Meyrick, vol. i. p. 50.) This custom was afterwards introduced into Europe, and found its way to England in the reign of King Stephen; after which the main standard was borne, sometimes at least, on a carriage with four wheels. The main standard of Henry V., at the battle of Agincourt, was borne thus upon a car, being too heavy to be carried otherwise.

After this rapid glance at ancient standards, it remains to ask, to which of all these classes of ensigns that of the Hebrews approached the nearest? We readily confess that we do not know: but the Rabbins, who profess to know every thing, are very particular in their information on the subject. They leave out of view the ensigns which distinguished the subdivisions of a tribe, and confine their attention to the tribe-standards; and in this it will be well to follow their example. They by no means agree among themselves; but the view which they most generally entertain is illustrated by the cut prefixed to this chapter, which is in accordance with the prevailing notion among the Jewish interpreters. They suppose that the standards were flags, bearing figures derived from the comparisons used by Jacob in his final prophetic blessing on his sons. Thus they have Judah represented by a lion, Dan by a serpent, Benjamin by a wolf, &c. But, as long since observed by Sir Thomas Browne (Vulgar Errors,' book v. ch. x.), the escutcheons of the tribes, as determined by these ingenious triflers, do not in every instance correspond with any possible interpretation of Jacob's prophecy, nor with the analogous prophecy of Moses, when about to die. The later Jews were of opinion that, with respect to the four grand divisions, the standard of the camp of Judah represented a lion; that of Reuben, a man; that of Joseph, an ox; and that of Dan, an eagle: this was under the conception that the appearances in the cherubic vision of Ezekiel alluded to this division. The Targumists, however, believe that the banners were distinguished by their colours, the colour for each tribe being analogous to that of the precious stone, for that tribe, in the breast-plate of the high-priest; and that the great standard of each of the four camps combined the three colours of the tribes which composed it. They add, that the names of the tribes appeared on the standards, together with a particular sentence from the law; and were moreover charged with appropriate representations, as of the lion for Judah, &c. Aben Ezra and other Rabbins agree with the Targumists in other respects, but put in other representations than the latter assign. Lastly, the Cabbalists have an opinion that the bearings of the twelve standards corresponded with the months of the year and the signs of the zodiac-the supposed characters of the latter being represented thereon; and that the distinction of the great standards was, that they bore the cardinal signs of Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn, and were also charged with each one letter of the tetragrammaton, or quadraliteral name of God. Thus much for Rabbinical interpretation. Most modern expositors seem to incline to the opinion that the ensigns were flags, distinguished by their colours, or by the name of the tribe to which each belonged. This is certainly as probable in itself as anything that can be offered; unless the instances we have given from the early practice of other nations do not lead to the conclusion that flags were not the earliest but the ultimate form which standards assumed. We have in most instances seen them preceded by any object that would serve for a distinguishing marksuch as leathern aprons, wisps of hay, pieces of armour, and horse-tails; then by metallic symbols and images, combined sometimes with feathers, tassels, and fringes; and then plain or figured flags, of linen or silk. Besides, the interprepation we have cited is founded on the hypothesis that all sculpture, painting, and other arts of design were forbidden to the Hebrews; and as we are not quite prepared to admit the existence of such a prohibition, we do not feel absolutely bound, unless on its intrinsic probability, to receive an explanation which takes it for granted.

MODERN ORIENTAL STANDARDS.

Verse 3. "Camp."-This is the only regular description of an encampment which the Bible contains; but, from incidental allusions, we may gather that the camps which the Hebrews in after-times formed in their mil tary operations, differed in several respects from the present, the admirable arrangement of which is easily perceived, although some difference of opinion exists as to a few of the details. The diagram below will exhibit the apparent order better than a verbal description, however minute. It is thus seen that the camp was formed in a quadrangle, having on each side three tribes under one general standard. How these tribes were placed with regard to each other is not very clear; some fix the leading tribe in the centre, and the two others on each side; but the description seems rather to indicate that the leading tribe extended along the whole exterior line, and that the two other tribes pitched beside each other, within. The only other alternative seems to be, to suppose that the two minor tribes also extended in full line, the last tribe mentioned in each division, being the innermost. The collective encampment enclosed a large open square, in the centre of which stood the tabernacle. The position which the tabernacle thus occupied still remains the place of honour in grand Oriental camps, and is usually occupied by the tent of the king or general. The distance between it and the common camp was indicative of respect; what the distance was we are not told, except by the Rabbins, who say that it was two thousand cubits, and apparently ground this statement upon Josh. iii. 4. The interval was not however wholly vacant, being occupied by the small camps of the Levites, who had the charge and custody 332