Ancient Jewish scribes put the Hebrew letter nun in inverted form before and after verses 35-36. Perhaps this indicated that these verses originally occurred in a different place in this text, a suggestion already made in works by early Jewish rabbis (so Tov, pages 54-55). Perhaps these verses were taken from another text (so Levine, pages 317-318). Translators should keep these verses in their present place, but treat them as a separate paragraph. Of the ancient translations, only the Septuagint places these verses elsewhere (before verse 34).
And whenever the ark set out … And whenever it rested …: The conjunction And at the beginning of verse 35 does not introduce the next chronological event after verses 33-34. Instead, verse 35 describes further what would happen as part of the action of verses 33-34. In some languages it is better to omit this conjunction (so Good News Translation). Whenever the ark set out and whenever it rested refer to repetitive events. In some languages it will be very awkward to say that the covenant chest set out (“started out” in Good News Translation) and rested (“stopped” in Good News Translation). But Contemporary English Version‘s solution to this problem goes too far. It does not even mention the ark, saying “Each day as the Israelites began their journey … when they stopped to set up camp….” A translation should express that the ark—not only the cloud in verse 34—marks the LORD’s presence with his people. (1 Sam 4–6 shows that the ark was regarded as a portable throne on which God sat while fighting Israel’s enemies.) So a better model here is “Whenever the wooden chest was ready for the journey … whenever the wooden chest was set down…” or “Whenever the ark was about to be moved/transported … whenever the ark was put down….”
Moses said … he said refers to repetitive actions, so Good News Translation has “Moses would say … he would say.”
Arise, O LORD: In this context Arise is better rendered “Advance” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “Attack” (Levine).
And let thy enemies be scattered: It is implied that the LORD should do this. Good News Translation makes this explicit by saying “scatter your enemies,” and so does Contemporary English Version with “defeat your enemies.” Moses’ whole request to the LORD in verse 35 is very similar to Psa 68.1.
And let them that hate thee flee before thee: In some languages it may be better to say “may those hostile to you flee at your approach” (Revised English Bible). Them that hate thee refers to the same people as thy enemies in the previous sentence, so New Living Translation renders these two sentences as “and let your enemies be scattered! Let them flee before you!”
Return, O LORD, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel: This rendering is one way to understand the Hebrew expression here. According to this understanding, Moses asks the LORD to return to the many thousands of Israelites. This suggests the notion of a “holy war” (so NET Bible footnote) and that the LORD is coming back from a battle against his enemies without the Israelite army being involved in it (so Knierim and Coats, page 167). Contemporary English Version gives an alternative interpretation, saying “Our LORD, stay close to Israel’s thousands and thousands of people,” that is, protect them from all hostile forces. The Hebrew actually lacks the preposition to, so it reads literally “Return, LORD, the ten thousand thousands of Israel.” Good News Translation‘s footnote shows one way of following the Hebrew without this preposition: “Return, LORD, you who are like an army for millions of Israel” (similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). But this rendering seems quite speculative. New Revised Standard Version provides a better model for following the Hebrew closely: “Return, O LORD of the ten thousand thousands of Israel.” For the literal expression the ten thousand thousands of Israel, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “the countless multitudes of Israel,” which conveys its meaning clearly. New International Version and Revised English Bible are similar with “the countless thousands of Israel.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh expresses this phrase more poetically, saying “Israel’s myriads of thousands.” As noted at 1.16, the Hebrew word for thousands is not a kinship term, but refers to divisions in a tribe, more specifically, to military units. A rendering such as “families” (Good News Translation) certainly takes the reader away from the military meaning of the term. A model of the whole phrase that keeps this sense is “the tens of thousands of armies/militias of Israel.”
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 .