Verses 23-26 have three levels of quotation. The first level is Say to Aaron and his sons; the second level is Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them; and the third level is verses 24-26. Good News Bible uses indirect speech throughout these verses. However, in languages that prefer direct instead of indirect discourse, such embedding will usually not present a problem. Bijbel in Gewone Taal renders the most deeply embedded speech as direct speech by beginning verses 22-26 as follows: “22-23 The Lord commanded Moses to say to Aaron and his sons: ‘Thus you will bless the Israelites:….’ ” New International Version keeps the three levels of quotation by saying “22 The LORD said to Moses, 23 ‘Tell Aaron and his sons, “This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:….” ’ ”

Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: The pronoun you is plural in Hebrew, referring to Aaron and his sons. They are to use the particular formulation of the blessing that Moses gives to them from the LORD. The adverb Thus may be rendered “In this manner,” “This is how” (New Jerusalem Bible), or “This is the way” (NET). The verb bless presents special problems here in languages where only God can be the subject of this verb (see the comments on the next verse). In those languages translators may render this clause as “This is the way you will ask the LORD to bless the people of Israel.”

You shall say to them is literally “Say to them” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). This command also addresses Aaron and his sons, who are in turn to pronounce the words of the blessing in verses 24-26. The pronoun them refers to the Israelites.

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 .