Nevertheless those that died by the plague were twenty-four thousand is literally “And those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.” The Hebrew text gives a summary here, without indicating any contrast with the preceding verse, so the Hebrew waw conjunction at the beginning of this verse should not be rendered Nevertheless or “but” (Good News Translation). Verse 9 concludes this episode of the narrative (verses 4-9), even as it prepares the way for the next one (verses 10-15).

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .