Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time: Instead of a longer time (literally “days”), Good News Translation has “a year, or longer,” which does more justice to the idiomatic Hebrew expression here. This whole phrase marks progression from a short time to a long time. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh expresses this rhetorical progression very clearly, saying “Whether it was two days or a month or a year.”

That the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there is literally “when the cloud was long over the Tabernacle to dwell over it.” A possible model for this clause and the previous phrase is “Whether it was two days or a month or a year—however long the cloud stayed over the Tabernacle” (similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).

The people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out: See verse 17.

But when it was taken up they set out: See verse 17.

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 .