And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out: This first half of the verse summarizes verses 5-14. Good News Translation starts with “When it is time to break camp,” which could wrongly suggest that breaking the camp is a new subject. But breaking the camp is already the subject since verse 5 and verses 5-14 show preparations for doing it. Perhaps it is better to begin with a conjunction such as “Whenever.” Sanctuary renders the Hebrew word qodesh (see 3.28). The same term occurs in verse 12, where it refers to the Holy Place, that is, the Tent of Meeting. But here qodesh probably means “what is holy”; it does not refer to the sanctuary itself but to all the sacred objects inside the sanctuary which were mentioned in verses 5-14. As Rashi puts it, it refers to “the ark and the altar.” So the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary is better translated “the sacred objects and all the equipment of the sacred objects” (similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Contemporary English Version says “the sacred objects and the furnishings of the sacred tent,” and New International Version has “the holy furnishings and all the holy articles.” For as the camp sets out, see the comments on verse 5.
After that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, but they must not touch the holy things, lest they die: It was only after Aaron and his sons had finished the task of covering the holy things that the other Kohathites could come and carry them. In this way the Kohathites avoided directly touching what was holy. Good News Translation begins these clauses with “only after” (similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) to express the connection here clearly. Contemporary English Version changes the order of the clauses in the first half of this verse and may express this connection more clearly as follows: “When the camp is ready to be moved, the Kohathites will be responsible for carrying the sacred objects and the furnishings of the sacred tent. But Aaron and his sons must have already covered those things so the Kohathites won’t touch them and die” (similarly Bible en français courant).
Good News Translation renders the sons of Kohath as “the clan of Kohath,” which is misleading since there were four clans of Kohath (see 3.27). This phrase is better translated “the clans of Kohath,” “the descendants of Kohath” (Bible en français courant), or even simply “the Kohathites” (Contemporary English Version).
They must not touch the holy things may be rendered “they must not directly touch any sacred object” (similarly Bible en français courant). Chewa says “they must not touch with their hands the holy things.” Of the Kohathites, only Aaron and his sons were allowed to be in direct touch with what was holy to the LORD. Holy things renders the Hebrew word qodesh again.
These are the things of the tent of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry: This sentence refers back to what precedes and really serves to summarize this whole section about the Kohathites’ task. Probably for this reason Good News Translation treats this sentence as a separate paragraph. Other ways to indicate that it is summary is to begin with “So these are the things…” or “Those, then, are the things….” For the tent of meeting, see 1.1. Are to carry renders the Hebrew word massaʾ (literally “burden/load”) better than “responsibilities” (Good News Translation) in this context.
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 .