Now there was no water for the congregation: The shift in topic from the death of Miriam in verse 1 to the lack of water here is rather abrupt. Revised Standard Version uses the adverb Now for this transition, but some languages may require a transitional expression such as “There at that place.” The purpose for the water may need to be specified by saying “water to drink.” For the Hebrew word rendered congregation (ʿedah), see the previous verse.

And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron: The conjunction and may be rendered “so” (Good News Translation), since it introduces a result here. For the Hebrew expression rendered assembled themselves together against, see 16.3.

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 .