And when we cried to the LORD is literally “and we cried to the LORD.” The Hebrew verb for cried implies that the Israelites cried for help from the LORD (see the comments on 11.2).

He heard our voice may be rendered “he answered our prayer for help.”

And sent an angel: The Hebrew word for angel is literally “messenger,” referring either to an angel (so Levine, page 491; see Exo 14.19; 23.20; 33.2) or to Moses (so Rashi). The literal Hebrew should probably be kept here, with an optional footnote referring to Moses.

And brought us forth out of Egypt: The implied subject for this clause is either the messenger (that is, an angel [so Good News Translation] or Moses, depending on the interpretation for the previous clause) or the LORD himself (so Contemporary English Version). Since either subject is possible in Hebrew here, translators should try to keep the ambiguity if possible. Bible en français courant and Parole de Vie do it by rendering this clause as “in order to let us come out of Egypt.”

And here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory is literally “and behold [hinneh in Hebrew] we [are] in Kadesh, a city of the border of your [singular] territory.” The Hebrew word hinneh emphasizes the immediacy and urgency of Moses’ message to the king of Edom. The Hebrew pronoun for your is singular, referring to the king of Edom. However, in some languages it may be necessary to use a plural pronoun for politeness in this formal situation.

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 .