According to verses 16-18, if someone kills another person with a lethal weapon, this implies that the killing is intentional (so Rashi). In many languages it will be natural to begin a new paragraph at verse 16, one that runs through verse 21.

But if begins a series of hypothetical case-law scenarios. This type of legal discourse, the “formula of option” (Cole, page 552), may be marked in a special way in some languages, that is, by a particular conditional construction.

He struck him down with an instrument of iron, so that he died: The general Hebrew term for instrument may be rendered “weapon” (Good News Translation) in this context. NET Bible says “tool,” which is probably too specific. Iron was chiefly used for designed weapons. Using an instrument of iron is clear evidence of intent to kill, and hence a crime punishable by death.

He is a murderer means he is an intentional killer. Good News Translation says “you are guilty of murder” and New Living Translation has “it is murder,” but these two renderings are more appropriate to the context of an actual trial, so we do not recommend them here.

The murderer shall be put to death is literally “to die the killer shall be put to death.” The Hebrew verb for “die” is repeated here for emphasis, first as an infinitive absolute and then as a finite verb. NET Bible expresses this emphasis by saying “The murderer must surely be put to death.”

And if he struck him down with a stone in the hand, by which a man may die: A stone is a potential fatal weapon. NET Bible renders these clauses as “If he strikes him by throwing a stone large enough that he could die.” Adding the idea of a “large” stone is acceptable in this context, but the idea of “throwing” is not. Possible models for by which a man may die are “by which he [the victim] could die” (Herziene Statenvertaling) and “that could cause death” (New Revised Standard Version; similarly Reina-Valera revisida).

Or if he struck him down with a weapon of wood in the hand: A weapon of wood probably refers to an implement that is actually meant for another purpose but is used as a fatal weapon. The repeated phrase in the hand perhaps suggests the deliberate nature of this killing.

Good News Translation compresses verses 16-18 into one sentence (so also Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Bijbel in Gewone Taal). Although this contraction may be helpful, Good News Translation seems to omit the clause by which a man may die. This clause needs to be included since it stresses that the use of one of these weapons is an indication of the murderer’s intention to kill. The words for “killing” (the crime) and “death” (the punishment) are repeated in this passage for stylistic and thematic emphasis. While it may work to shorten the text for silent readers, doing this clearly blunts the impact of the text. Furthermore, such a translation strategy does not work for oral readings of this passage, at least not in many cultures of the world.

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 .