Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan: After verses 2-3 and 16 this clause may seem quite repetitive. Since it repeats previous information, Good News Translation renders it as a subordinate clause, saying “When Moses sent them out,” and so does Contemporary English Version with “Before Moses sent them into Canaan.” In some languages this repeated information may cause some confusion since Moses had already sent out these men in verse 3. The repetition marks a resumption of the storyline: after the list of names in verses 4-16 the text now returns to the major theme of the present section.

And said to them introduces what Moses said to the spies before they left. His instructions to them are given in verses 17b-20a. In Revised Standard Version most of these instructions are packed into one sentence. In many languages it is not natural to pack so much information in one sentence. Good News Translation gives a good model for breaking it into shorter sentences.

Go up into the Negeb yonder: The Hebrew verb rendered Go up (ʿalah) does not always mean going up higher. Good News Translation translates “Go north” since in this particular case Moses instructs the spies to go in a northern direction. ʿAlah is a key Hebrew verb, not only in Numbers, but throughout the Old Testament narrative books. It usually indicates movement toward or into the land of Israel and (later) its capital Jerusalem, while the Hebrew verb for “go down” (yarad) refers to a corresponding departure (see, for example, 20.15). If possible, a similar verb in the target language should be used consistently to reflect this geographical symbolism. The Hebrew word for Negeb means “south” and refers to the wilderness territory stretching to the south of the Canaanite hill country. Good News Translation translates the Negeb as “the southern part of the land of Canaan,” but this rendering does not reflect that it is a specific geographical term. Contemporary English Version expresses this more clearly by means of capital letters, saying “the Southern Desert of Canaan.” A more formal correspondence version may prefer to keep “Negev” (New International Version) as a place name and define the region in a footnote or glossary. Yonder means “over there,” so New Revised Standard Version says “there.” It may seem confusing that Good News Translation has “from here.” The wilderness of the Negeb was nearby, next to the wilderness of Paran where the Israelites were presently located (verse 3). This should be clearly expressed; for example, Alter translates this clause as “Go up this way through the Negeb.”

And go up into the hill country: The hill country refers to the central mountain range of Canaan. It was the highest part of the entire land, though the hills were not all that high, comparatively speaking, as those further north in Lebanon, for example. Bible en français courant says “the mountain region.”

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 .