And they shall take away the ashes from the altar: For the connector And, see the comments on the previous verse. The altar refers to the altar of sacrifice in front of the entrance to the Tabernacle (see 3.26). Contemporary English Version and New International Version call it “the bronze altar” (see Exo 27.1-8; 38.1-7), De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling has “the altar for burnt offerings,” and Bible en français courant says “the other altar.” Translators should make it clear that this altar is not the same as “the golden altar” mentioned in verse 11. Good News Translation specifies that the ashes around the altar were “greasy,” but this information can probably be left implied.

And spread a purple cloth over it: The Hebrew word for purple refers to a reddish-purple color.

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 .