Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel: For Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, see verse 7. Has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel may be rendered “has turned my anger away from the Israelites” (New International Version) or “has averted my wrath from the Israelites” (Moffatt [Moffatt]). In some languages Good News Translation‘s model for this whole clause will sound more natural while retaining the focus on the action of Phinehas: “Because of what Phinehas has done, I am no longer angry with the people of Israel.” This clause reflects the role of the priests in defending the people in the face of the holiness of God.

In that he was jealous with my jealousy among them explains how Phinehas stopped God from being angry with the Israelites. The Hebrew verb for was jealous and the noun for jealousy come from the same root (q n ʾ; for a good discussion on this root, see A Handbook on Numbers at Exo 20.5, where God says he is a “jealous” God). It refers to a single-minded devotion to a cause or a person. In modern English the word jealousy almost always has bad overtones. It means to be envious of someone who has something that I want, or to be suspicious about the actions of my spouse. In most languages the most obvious meaning is where a man is jealous of his wife (see 5.14, where it has this sense). But this is not the meaning of the Hebrew words for was jealous and jealousy here. The NET Bible footnote on this clause says that these words refer here to “a passionate intensity to protect or preserve divine or social institutions,” so NET Bible renders them “zeal” (similarly New International Version, New Living Translation, Alter), and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “passion.” Phinehas was passionate about God. The repetition of the Hebrew root meaning “zeal” emphasizes this passion, which translators should express. Some translations understand my jealousy as “jealousy that I have”; for example, New International Version renders this clause as “for he was as zealous as I am for my honor among them,” Revised English Bible has “he displayed among them the same jealous anger that moved me,” and New Living Translation says “by being as zealous among them as I was.” Other translations take my jealousy to mean “jealousy for me [or, for my sake]”; for example, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh renders this clause as “by displaying among them his passion for Me,” New Revised Standard Version has “by manifesting such zeal among them on my behalf,” and Luther says “through his jealousy for me.” The latter interpretation fits best with verse 13, where it says “because he was jealous for his God.” Good News Translation expresses very well the meaning of jealousy here by rendering this clause as “He refused to tolerate the worship of any god but me.” In many languages it will be helpful to start a new sentence at this point, as in Good News Translation.

So that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy: Here my jealousy refers to God’s zeal for his own honor. New Living Translation provides a helpful model for this clause, saying “So I stopped destroying all Israel as I had intended to do in my zealous anger.”

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 .