Take Aaron and his son Eleazar, and bring them up to Mount Hor …: The commands in verses 25-26 might present a problem since the LORD is still addressing Moses and Aaron (verse 23). So who then is to carry out these instructions? The Hebrew verbs for Take, bring, strip and put are singular, so probably just Moses is meant. Some languages may need to specify this by beginning these verses with “You Moses, take Aaron and his son Eleazar up Mount Hor….” If it is natural to use a passive construction here, another possible model is “Let Aaron and his son Eleazar be taken/brought up Mount Hor….”

And strip Aaron of his garments: Aaron must remove his priestly garments before he dies. He had to die as a common man, an ordinary Israelite. His garments refers to his sacred clothing (see Exo 28.2). Good News Translation says “his priestly robes,” which is a helpful model since it avoids the possible misunderstanding of Aaron being left completely naked in shame before his son and Moses. A respectful verb for strip may needed as well, for example, “remove” (Good News Translation).

And put them upon Eleazar his son: By doing this the office and authority of High Priest passes to Aaron’s oldest living son.

And Aaron shall be gathered to his people: See verse 24. This clause occurs before the clause and shall die there, which suggests that these expressions are not synonymous. In some languages it may be necessary to reverse the order of these clauses, depending on how they are rendered. It is only at the end of the verse 26 that Aaron’s death on Mount Hor is referred to explicitly. The preceding clauses in verses 25-26 prepare Moses step by step for the loss of his brother (so Alter, page 786). This feature of discourse heightening is worth preserving in translation.

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 .