After the plague is literally “And it happened after the plague” (similarly King James Version). In editions of the Hebrew text and in a number of translations, this phrase is at the end of the previous chapter and is numbered as 25.19. However, the Hebrew construction here indicates clearly that it introduces the following sentence, so most translations include it in 26.1 (so Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New Living Translation, King James Version, Revised English Bible). We advise translators to do the same. For the Hebrew word rendered plague, see 14.37 and 25.8. Contemporary English Version renders this whole phrase as “After the LORD had stopped the deadly disease from killing the Israelites.”

The LORD said to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron, the priest: Quote frames that introduce the LORD as the speaker are an important opening discourse marker in the book of Numbers as a whole (see the comments on 1.1). Eleazar had taken over as High Priest after the death of his father (see 20.28). Here the priest describes him, not Aaron, as the High Priest (see the comments on 3.6). Good News Translation omits the priest, but translators should keep this phrase.

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 .