On the first day there shall be a holy convocation: See Exo 12.16 and Lev 23.7. The first day refers to the fifteen day of the first month, that is, the beginning of the week-long Festival of Unleavened Bread. The Hebrew expression for holy convocation refers to a religious gathering. It is holy since it is set apart by the LORD as a special day of the festival for the people to worship him (so Noordtzij, page 262). Good News Translation renders this expression as “you are to gather for worship.” Another possible model is “you are to come together to worship the LORD.”

You shall do no laborious work: See Lev 23.7. The Hebrew expression for laborious work (literally “work of service”) may refer to especially difficult work (so New Jerusalem Bible with “heavy work” and Moffatt with “field-work”) or to ordinary work (so Revised English Bible with “daily work” and New International Version with “regular work”). The latter sense is more likely here, so this clause may be rendered “You shall not work at your occupations” (New Revised Standard Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “You shall not do the work that you usually do every day.” What is not prohibited here, for example, is the necessary preparation of daily food (so Plaut, page 1083). This ban on regular work differs from the ban on the Sabbath Day and the Day of Atonement when no work at all was allowed. Good News Translation omits the nuance of “regular” work here by saying simply “and no work is to be done.” As a result, Good News Translation loses the difference between this verse and 29.7.

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 .