And went after the man of Israel into the inner room: The Hebrew word rendered inner room (qubbah) only occurs here in the Old Testament, so its meaning is uncertain. In some languages related to Hebrew, it refers to a vaulted or domed room. The Peshitta has “chamber room.” La Bible de Jérusalem Nouvelle, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible and SPCL are similar with “alcove,” and so is New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh with “chamber.” The text does not specify where this room was. However, what is clearly implied is that this room is private, so possible models for the inner room are “his/the sleeping chamber” (De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling, Willibrordvertaling), “the inner space of the tent” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch; similarly NET Bible footnote), and “his private chamber.” Translators may also say simply “his tent” (Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation). It has also been suggested that pagan worship took place at this qubbah: a qubbe was a small, sacred tent used by various Arab tribes, in which stone objects venerated by the tribe, were deposited (so Levine, page 288; Ashley, page 520; Cole, pages 441-442).

And pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman, through her body: With one strike of the spear Phinehas clearly pierced both the man and the woman in whatever act they were engaged. The rare Hebrew word for body is qebah, which forms a wordplay with qubbah. Here this word is a euphemism for the female genitalia. It may well be possible to keep the wordplay here by rendering qubbah as “[his] private chamber” and qebah as “[her] private parts” (Fox, Plaut).

Thus the plague was stayed from the people of Israel: The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered Thus introduces a result or consequence, so it may also be translated “In this way” (Good News Translation) or “So” (New Living Translation, NET Bible). For the Hebrew word rendered plague, see 14.37. Only now does the text indicate that a plague had resulted from the LORD’s fierce anger (verses 3-4). It may also refer to the killing of those who had taken part in the idolatry (verses 4-5). Good News Translation provides a helpful model for this clause, saying “In this way the epidemic that was destroying Israel was stopped.”

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 .