And from the people of Israel’s half …: Having dealt with the soldiers, the LORD now turns to the share of war booty owed by the rest of the Israelites.

You shall take one drawn out of every fifty: The Israelites had to give 1/50 of their booty for the service of the LORD. The Hebrew verb for drawn means “withheld” in this context. TNIV renders this clause “select one out of every fifty.”

Of the persons, of the oxen, of the asses, and of the flocks, of all the cattle: See the comments on verse 28. Here the text adds of all the cattle. The Hebrew word for cattle (behemah) is a generic term for domestic animals (see verse 9), so this phrase summarizes of the oxen, of the asses, and of the flocks. New Revised Standard Version makes this clear by saying “whether persons, oxen, donkeys, sheep, or goats—all the animals” (similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). It is also possible that of all the cattle means “and the other animals” (Parole de Vie).

And give them to the Levites: The pronoun them refers to 1/50 of the Israelites’ captured Midianite virgins and domestic animals. It seems implied that the virgins are for the Levites, and the animals are to be sacrificed. The Levites are given a larger proportion of war booty than the priests (verses 28-29), since they were more numerous than the priests.

Who have charge of the tabernacle of the LORD: For the Hebrew expression rendered have charge (shamar mishmeret), which is literally “guard the guarding,” see the comments on 1.53, where it is translated “keep charge.” For the Hebrew word rendered tabernacle (mishkan), which is literally “dwelling-place,” see 1.50. Helpful models for this clause are “who are in charge of maintaining the LORD’s Tabernacle” (New Living Translation) and “who are responsible for the care of the LORD’s tabernacle” (NET Bible). Since the LORD is speaking, New International Readers Version says “They are accountable for taking care of my holy tent.”

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 .