Ibn Ezra on Numbers 1:19

ויפקדם. משה שהוא העיקר והחל מראובן כי הוא הבכור ואחריו שמעון הנולד אחריו ואחריו גד בכור שפחת לאה והנה דגל ראובן ואחר כך דגל יהודה ואחר כך דגל אפרים ואחר כך דגל דן והחונים על כל דגל ודגל כאשר הם בחנוכת המזבח ודע כי אחר שהיו כל השבטים שנים עשר שיצא לוי והיו ליוסף בנים שנים ורוחות העולם ארבע הנה לכל רוח שלשה והנה יש ללאה חמשה בנים יחסר האחד ויהיו לה שני דגלים השלימו הדגל עם בכור שפחתה ושמוהו עם דגל ראובן שהוא גם בכור והדגל השני ליהודה והחונים עליו אחיו הקטנים ממנו ולרחל דגל בפני עצמה ואפרים מקום יוסף הוא קודם מנשה כדברי יעקב והדגל הרביעי לשפחת רחל שהוא הבכור שלה ואחריו אשר ואם הוא קטן בשנים מנפתלי בעבור היות הדגל לבן שפחת רחל שם זאת המעלה לבן שפחת לאה ואם תסתכל היטב אז תדע כי הראש הוא הדרום והזנב הוא הצפון ולא אוכל לפרש על כן ראובן בדרום כי הוא הראש ודן בצפון ודע כי לא היו גבורים בשבטים כשבט יהודה הנמשל לגור אריה וכשבט דן הנמשל כן בדברי משה על כן היו הם בראשונה ובאחרונה. והזכיר לגלגלותם בראובן גם בשמעון להורות על האחרים כי הכתוב אחז דרך קצרה: SO DID HE NUMBER THEM. The reference is to Moses,³⁰Va-yifkedem (so did he count them) is in the singular. Hence I.E.’s comment. who was the most important.³¹Actually Aaron and the heads of the tribes also participated in counting the people (see verse 44). However, Scripture here mentions only Moses, because he was the most important. Scripture begins³²The count. with Reuben,³³Verse 20. as he was the first-born. Simeon is next³⁴Verse 22. because he was born after Reuben. Gad the first-born of Leah’s handmaid,³⁵See note 24. follows. We thus have Reuben’s standard.³⁶In verses 20-25. The tribes listed in verses 20-25 (Reuben, Simeon, and Gad) made up the standard of Reuben. See Num. 2:10-16. Next³⁷Verses 26-30. comes the standard of Judah,³⁸See Num. 2:3-9. followed by the standard of Ephraim³⁹Verses 32-37. Also see Num. 2:18-24. and the standard of Dan.⁴⁰Verses 38-43. Also see Num. 2:25-31. Those who camped around each standard did so in the same manner in which they offered the sacrifices dedicating the altar. Note, there were twelve tribes,⁴¹In verses 20-43; and in Num. 2:10-31. for Levi was not counted and Joseph’s two sons were. Now the world has four sides.⁴²North, south, east, and west. Behold, three tribes camped on each one of the four sides.⁴³For purposes of symmetry. Now Leah had five sons,⁴⁴That is, five of Leah’s six sons were counted among the twelve tribes of Israel. They were Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. for one of her six sons⁴⁵Levi. was not counted. She had two standards.⁴⁶The standards of Judah and Reuben. See Num. 2:3-16. They [Moses and Aaron] completed one of her standards⁴⁷The standard of Reuben. See Num. 2:10-16. with [Gad] the first-born of her handmaid.⁴⁸See note 20. They placed Gad with the standard of Reuben, who was also a first-born. Judah made up the second standard [of Leah]. His younger brothers camped with him.⁴⁹Issachar and Zebulun. Rachel had a standard of her own.⁵⁰The standard of Ephraim. See Num. 2:18-24. Ephraim was in place of Joseph. He preceded Manasseh, in keeping with the words of Jacob.⁵¹See Gen. 48-14-20. The fourth standard was that of Rachel’s handmaid. It was led by [Dan] her first-born.⁵²See Num. 2:25-31. Asher followed⁵³That is, Asher pitched next to Dan. See Num. 2:27. even though he was younger than Naphtali.⁵⁴The standard of Dan consisted of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali. Asher, who was younger than Naphtali, pitched next to Dan. The son of Leah’s handmaid⁵⁵Asher. was so honored because the standard belonged to Rachel’s handmaid.⁵⁶In other words, Asher, son of the handmaid Zilpah, was pacified for being under the standard of Dan, the son of the handmaid Bilhah, by being placed before Naphtali, another son of Bilhah. If you look carefully into things, you will know that the south is the head and the north the tail.⁵⁷The sun in its annual journey moves from north to south. The face of the sun is thus to the south while its back, the tail, is to the north (see Weiser). I cannot explain the aforementioned.⁵⁸When I.E. uses this expression it means that he is unable or does not want to explain further. Reuben was therefore placed in the south⁵⁹The standard of Reuben was on the south side of the tabernacle. See Num. 2:10. because he was the head.⁶⁰He was the first-born. Dan was placed in the north.⁶¹That is, at the tail of the camp. See Num. 2:25. Observe, there was no one among the tribes comparable in might to Judah, who was compared to a lion’s whelp (Gen. 49:9),⁶²In Jacob’s blessing. and to the tribe of Dan, who is likewise compared to a lion by Moses.⁶³See Deut. 33:22. These tribes were thus first and last.⁶⁴When the tribes marched, the standard of Judah marched first and that of Dan last. See Num. 10:14-25. Scripture mentions by their polls (le-gulgelotam) with regard to Reuben⁶⁵Verse 20. and also with regard to Simeon⁶⁶Verse 22. to show that it was the same case with the other tribes,⁶⁷Even though the term is not mentioned with regard to the other tribes. for Scripture was being brief.