And Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying: The pronoun them refers to the Israelites. For in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, see 22.1, where it says “beyond the Jordan” instead of by the Jordan. However, the Israelites were still east of the Jordan River, so it is important not to give the wrong suggestion in translation that they had already crossed this river. This whole phrase is repeated several more times in the rest of Numbers (26.63; 31.12; 33.48, 50; 35.1; 36.13), so that it unifies the final major part of the book.

Take a census of the people: This clause does not occur in the Hebrew text, but Revised Standard Version believes it is implied from verse 2 (so also New Revised Standard Version, ESV, Budd; similarly New International Version, New Living Translation, NET Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). This is the easy way of handling a problematic Hebrew text here and may be followed by translators if it is absolutely necessary. In the discussion that follows, however, we will attempt to understand and translate the text without supplying this clause.

The major problem in verses 3-4 is that verse 4 does not seem to be direct speech of Moses and Eleazar after the quote frame in verse 3. This makes the Hebrew text difficult to translate. The following solutions have been given for this problem:

1. A few translations have attempted to solve the problem by changing the Hebrew text to read “numbered/mustered them” (La Bible de Jérusalem Nouvelle, Zürcher Bibel, Luther, Willibrordvertaling, Swedish Bible, New Afrikaans Version, Noth) instead of spoke with them. Such a reading would bring the text more in line with the first census (see 1.19), but it is not based on the Hebrew and has little support from the ancient translations (only from the Peshitta). Therefore it seems better to explore other options.
2. Bijbel: Vertaling in opdracht van het Nederlandsch Bijbelgenootschap and Buber follow the Hebrew and take just from twenty years old and upward as the direct speech.
3. Another alternative is to include the clause as the LORD commanded Moses in the direct speech as well by beginning verse 4 with “Those twenty years of age and above, as the LORD commanded Moses” (similarly Levine). However, in solutions 2 and 3 the direct speech appears to be incomplete as it stands.
4. Probably in order to solve this problem, Alter treats the clause The people of Israel, who came forth out of the land of Egypt as part of the direct speech as well by rendering verse 4 as “From twenty years and up, as the LORD charged Moses and the Israelites who came out of the land of Egypt.” However, the clause about the Israelites at the end of verse 4 does not seem to make sense if it is part of the words of Moses and Eleazar.
5. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh follows the Hebrew text and avoids the direct speech at the same time by rendering verses 3-4a as follows: “3 So Moses and Eleazar the priest, on the steppes of Moab, at the Jordan near Jericho, gave instructions about them, namely, 4 those from twenty years up, as the LORD had commanded Moses.” A model based on this one is: “3 So on the steppes of Moab, at the Jordan River near Jericho, Moses and Eleazar gave instructions 4 concerning those from twenty years up, as the LORD had commanded Moses.”
6. De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling also follows the Hebrew text and avoids the direct speech by rendering verses 3-4a as “3-4 Moses and Eleazar the priest called together all men of twenty years and over, in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, as the LORD had commanded Moses.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is similar with “3-4 Moses and Eleazar obeyed the command of the LORD and called together all the adult males. This happened in the Moabite steppes in the plain of Jordan opposite Jericho” (similarly Good News Translation).

As the LORD commanded Moses: New International Version, New Living Translation, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Budd, and Levine render this clause as the final part of the direct speech of Moses and Eleazar, which may sound more natural in some languages.

The people of Israel, who came forth out of the land of Egypt, were: Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New International Version, ESV, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, and Levine take this clause as the introduction to the actual census that follows. Most of these translations add the verb “were” in order to make it a full sentence. However, such an addition may not be necessary since the Hebrew clause here can easily be interpreted (and in some languages translated) as a title of the census record that follows. At first sight, the choice of words in Revised Standard Version for this clause seems strange, because this is the second census and the first generation had already died. If so, it may be rendered “The descendants of the Israelites who came out of the land of Egypt were” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh; similarly New Living Translation, De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling, Levine). A few translations do not treat this clause as the introduction to the census that follows, but rather as a reference to the first census in Numbers, soon after the Exodus from Egypt (so Contemporary English Version, NET Bible, Alter), but we recommend treating it as an introduction to the second census. However, the list that follows is not a list of individuals, but clans.

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 .