And suddenly the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam: The word suddenly is specified in the Hebrew text; it is as if the LORD were right there on the scene listening to the preceding conversation. Rashbam, the Jewish medieval commentator, noted that suddenly means “immediately” (so also New Living Translation, De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling) in this context. By saying to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, Revised Standard Version groups Aaron and Miriam separately from Moses, but the Hebrew does not do so here. The Hebrew has “to Moses and to Aaron and to Miriam,” which is equivalent to saying “to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam” (Good News Translation). The LORD addresses the three as a group, which is brought out by what he says to them.

Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting: The Hebrew verb rendered Come out does not imply leaving the main camp of the Israelites, since the Tabernacle was in the middle of the camp. So it may be better to say “come over” or simply “come” (New Century Version). For the tent of meeting, see 1.1.

And the three of them came out: Moses, Aaron, and Miriam went to the Tabernacle as the LORD requested. New International Readers Version says simply “So they did.”

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 .