And Moses said to Aaron …: Moses’ directions to Aaron are very urgent and this is reflected in the Hebrew construction of closely related imperative clauses that comprise most of the lengthy sentence of verse 46. In some languages this sentence would sound very natural in an oral expression. In other languages, however, the sequence of commands here may be too long, so a break must be made somewhere. The English versions differ in this respect; for example, Good News Translation has four sentences, and Contemporary English Version uses three.

Take your censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and lay incense on it: For censer see verse 6; for fire and incense, see verse 7. The altar refers to the altar of sacrifice in front of the entrance to the Tabernacle (see 3.26).

And carry it quickly to the congregation: Once again congregation is better rendered “community” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh; see 1.2).

And make atonement for them: This imperative constitutes the climax of the whole sequence of commands, so it may be best to break the sentence after this clause. For the Hebrew verb rendered make atonement, see 5.8. This key term should be translated contextually (but also with reference to past usage). Good News Translation says “perform the ritual of purification,” which does not adequately capture its meaning here. In view of the explanatory clause that follows, a better rendering is “make expiation [for the people’s sin]” (similarly Revised English Bible).

For wrath has gone forth from the LORD: The Hebrew particle ki rendered for introduces why Aaron must offer incense to make atonement for the people. The Hebrew noun for wrath is the same one used in 1.53. Some translations try to capture the urgency in Moses’ words at this point; for example, Good News Translation says “Hurry! The LORD’s anger has already broken out.” Another possible model is “Do this quickly. The LORD is very angry” (similarly Contemporary English Version).

The plague has begun: The Hebrew word for plague refers to some type of destructive blow, but it is not clear what it is here, so translators should use a general term to render it (see 8.19; compare also 14.37), for example, “disaster” or “affliction.” The Hebrew term here is the same used in Exo 12.13, where it refers more literally to the “striking” of all the firstborn sons in Egypt.

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 .