Charles Ellicott Commentary Numbers 10:17

"And the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who bare the tabernacle, set forward." — Numbers 10:17 (ASV)

And the tabernacle was taken down ... — The order of precedence regarding the twelve tribes encamped on the four sides of the Tabernacle is clearly set out in Numbers 2:0, where it is ordered that the camp of the Levites should move forward in the midst of the camps (Numbers 10:17). The precise position that the three divisions of Levites were to occupy in the marches is defined in this chapter.

The Gershonites, who had charge of the curtains and hangings of the Tabernacle and the court (Numbers 4:25–26), with their two wagons, and the Merarites, who had charge of the heavier and more bulky materials (Numbers 4:31–32), with their four wagons, were to set out after the first or eastern camp—consisting of the tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun—so that they would have time to erect the Tabernacle before the arrival of the Kohathites, bearing the sanctuary (or sacred things).

Next in order after the Gershonites and Merarites followed the southern camp, consisting of the three tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad. Then followed the Kohathites in the center of the procession, bearing the sanctuary. After them marched the three tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin, who formed the western camp; and as the rearguard, the three tribes of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali, who formed the northern camp. This arrangement serves to shed light on Psalm 80:2: Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us.