And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites: The Hebrew does not specify at this point that Balak was the king of Moab. But in many languages it will be helpful or even necessary to add this information here (so Good News Bible with “the king of Moab, Balak”), although it might reduce the suspense built up in the narrative. The Hebrew text first calls him “the king of Moab” in verse 4. The name Balak may be a royal praise name. It can be taken to mean “devastator.” The Hebrew root for this name is balaq, which means “to lay waste” or “to crush.” Nothing is known about Zippor, who may have been the actual father of Balak, or a more famous ancestor. The Hebrew verb for saw expresses that a person has come to know something of significance, whether he found out by actually seeing it or not. In English this idea is often expressed with the verb “hear,” so Good News Bible and Contemporary English Version say “heard.” In some languages it may be more natural to translate “learned” (PV) or “discovered” (Bible en français courant). For the Amorites, see 13.29.

And Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were many: For Moab see 21.11. In this context Moab refers to the people of Moab, not the land. In some languages Moab would give the impression that this is a different subject, having nothing to do with Balak, so Good News Bible says “he and all his people,” which is a helpful model. If Balak is specified as the king of Moab in verse 2 (so Good News Bible), this sentence may be rendered “he and his people were terrified because there were so many Israelites” (similarly NIRV).

Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel: This sentence repeats the idea of the previous one for emphasis. The Hebrew verb here refers to extreme fear (compare Exo 1.12, where the same verb is used). Many languages will have an idiom to express this extreme emotion; for example, Chewa says “they fell down with fear….”

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 .