This was the order of march of the people of Israel according to their hosts: This verse summarizes verses 13-27, referring back to the order in which the camps of the Israelites marched each time. Good News Translation makes this clear by saying “This, then, was the order of the march, company by company.” This was the order of march of the people of Israel is literally “This the marches/departures of the people of Israel.” The Hebrew does not refer to the past; it has no verb at this point. In some languages it may be possible and more natural to follow this Hebrew construction or to use a present tense construction. The Hebrew word rendered order of march is the same one translated “stages” in verse 12. As noted there, it refers to a series of regular marches. According to their host, which is literally “by their troops,” renders the same Hebrew expression translated “by their companies” in verse 14 (see the comments there). Good News Translation renders this expression more consistently by saying “company by company” both here and in verse 14.

When they set out: For set out, see verse 12. This clause refers to a repetitive action, so it may be rendered “whenever they journeyed further.”

New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh provides a helpful model for this verse, saying “Such was the order of march of the Israelites, as they marched troop by troop.” Another possible model is:

• These, then, are the marching arrangements for the people of Israel, as they moved camp troop by troop.

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 .