It is a continual burnt offering: See verse 3. Good News Translation provides a helpful model for this clause, saying “This is the daily offering that is completely burned.”

Which was ordained at Mount Sinai is literally “which was done on Mount Sinai,” so Alter says “like the one done on Mount Sinai” (see Exo 29.38-42). Ibn Ezra, the Jewish medieval commentator, deduced from this verse that the sacrifices, first established and performed at Mount Sinai, were not done during the forty years of wandering in the wilderness (cited by Alter, page 832). Indeed, many translations (particularly in English) seem to take the view that this daily offering was instituted for the time that the Israelites would live in the land of Canaan, and was not yet performed during their journey through the desert. These translations render the Hebrew verb here as “ordained” (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, ESV) or “instituted” (New International Version, New Living Translation, NET Bible, Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Herziene Statenvertaling, Bijbel: Vertaling in opdracht van het Nederlandsch Bijbelgenootschap, De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling). Levine (page 374) supports this sense of the verb by allowing for a rare meaning “cause to be done.” Other translations, however, follow the plain sense of this verb by saying “offered” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, La Nouvelle Bible Segond, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Zürcher Bibel, Luther, Bijbel in Gewone Taal, Vulgate), “executed” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Willibrordvertaling), “presented” (Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie), or “prepared” (Buber). The reference here gives the current law the full authority of the legislation made at Mount Sinai (so Ashley, page 564). For Mount Sinai, see 3.1.

For a pleasing odor, an offering by fire to the LORD: See verse 2.

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 .