Verses 33-34 make it clear that the LORD guided the Israelites on their journey, not Hobab. Good News Translation places a section heading here, which we do not recommend (see the introductory comments on this section).

So they set out from the mount of the LORD three days’ journey refers to the beginning of the Israelites’ journey from the desert of Sinai, as in verse 13 (see the comments there). They traveled for three days on the first stage of the journey. For the Hebrew verb rendered set out, see verse 12. The mount of the LORD refers to Mount Sinai (see 3.1). Good News Translation says “the holy mountain” to avoid the misunderstanding that the LORD owned the mountain. Another possible model is “the mountain where the LORD appeared.”

And the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them three days’ journey: The ark of the covenant of the LORD was the wooden chest in which the Israelites kept the text of the LORD’s covenant with them (see 3.31). As mentioned at 4.5, the text of the covenant, that is, the two stone tablets displaying the Ten Commandments, was kept in the wooden chest as a testimony and reminder of the LORD’s faithfulness to his people. The Hebrew word for covenant refers to an agreement that two persons or groups of people make in which both promise either to do or not do certain things. The agreement between the LORD and the Israelites is in view here. To say that the ark … went before them seems to contradict verse 21 (see the comments there), where the text says the holy things, which included the ark, traveled in the middle of the march. However, it is clear from this verse that the ark was in front of the march. Both the ark and the cloud guided the Israelites. Good News Translation renders this clause clearly, saying “The LORD’s Covenant Box always went ahead of them.” The three days’ journey refers to the same three days as in the previous sentence, so Good News Translation omits this phrase here. Good models that keep it are “during the three days’ journey” (NET Bible) and “during those three days” (Willibrordvertaling).

To seek out a resting place for them means “to find a place for them to camp” (Good News Translation).

In some languages it will be very awkward to say that the covenant chest went before them … to seek out a resting place for them, since it is only an object. Contemporary English Version solves the problem by making the carriers of the ark explicit, saying “the Levites who carried the sacred chest led the way, so the LORD could show them where to camp.” In a number of other languages and cultures, however, this notion would not be strange at all; for example, it is believed to happen at some Central African funerals, when the casket of a person killed through sorcery mysteriously directs its bearers to the location of the guilty party. In fact, in such situations a footnote may be needed to counteract any conflicting or potentially confusing traditional religious beliefs.

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 .