Thus did your fathers: Moses is referring to the failure of the previous generation to take possession of the land of Canaan (chapters 13–14) as a negative example. It is implied that if the Gadites and Reubenites do as their fathers did they will suffer the same fate (so Sherwood, page 184). The phrase your fathers highlights this parallel conveyed by the Hebrew particle rendered Thus even more. NET Bible renders this clause well with “Your fathers did the same thing” (similarly New Living Translation). Compare verse 14.

When I sent them from Kadesh-barnea refers to the time when Moses sent spies to explore Canaan (see chapter 13). Kadesh-barnea is called “Kadesh” in 13.26 (see the comments there). This fuller name is more common in Deuteronomy (see, for example, Deut 1.19; 2.14; 9.23).

To see the land: In this context the verb see should be rendered more precisely as “explore” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation, Bible en français courant) or “survey” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).

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 .