Numbers 10:12-14

New English Translation

¹²So the Israelites set out^[a] on their journeys from the desert^[b] of Sinai; and the cloud settled in the wilderness of Paran.

¹³This was the first time they set out on their journey according to the commandment^[c] of the Lord, by the authority^[d] of Moses.

¹⁴The standard^[e] of the camp of the Judahites set out first according to their companies, and over his company was Nahshon son of Amminadab.

Numbers 10:12 sn The verb is the same as the noun: “they journeyed on their journeyings.” This underscores the point of their continual traveling.
Numbers 10:12 tn The Hebrew term מִדְבָּר (midbar) refers to a dry region which may be characterized as receiving less than twelve inches of rain per year. It therefore cannot support trees but may have sparse vegetation if it receives at least six inches of rain. At less than six inches of rain the term “desert” is certainly appropriate, though this would not mean a sandy desert. The Sinai peninsula includes both treeless “wilderness” and “desert.” While there is some dispute about the location of Mt. Sinai, NET has chosen “desert of Sinai” as the designation for the region around Mt. Sinai. The same Hebrew term is used later in the verse in connection with Paran, but rendered as the “wilderness of Paran.”
Numbers 10:13 tn Heb “mouth.”
Numbers 10:13 tn Heb “hand.”
Numbers 10:14 sn The “standard” (דֶּגֶל, degel) was apparently some kind of a symbol put up on a pole to signify the tribal hosts. R. de Vaux thought it simply referred to a pole or a mast, but that would not distinguish tribes (Ancient Israel, 226-27).

New English Translation (NET)