complete verse (Numbers 10:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 10:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “When both horns are being blown, all people should gather by the entrance/gate at the courtyard of my Tent.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “When two trumpets are blown, the whole community must assemble before you at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “When both of these two trumpets are now sounded/blown at-the-same-time, the whole community are-to-gather at the entrance of the Meeting-Together-Place Tent.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “If both trumpets are blown, it means that everyone must gather together at the entrance of the Sacred Tent.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Numbers 10:3

And when both are blown is literally “And they will blow on them [that is, the trumpets].” The Hebrew does not specify the referent for the pronoun “they,” so Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation use passive verbs here. According to verse 8, the priests were to blow the trumpets. The Hebrew verb here does not specify what type of blowing is in view. Good News Translation says it involved “long blasts,” which is only speculative, so this translation should not be followed as a model. Bible en français courant provides a good model here, saying “When they [indefinite] sound the two trumpets simultaneously.”

All the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the entrance of the tent of meeting: For congregation see verse 2. The Hebrew pronoun for you is singular, referring to Moses. For the Hebrew phrase rendered the entrance of the tent of meeting, see 6.10, where it is translated “the door of the tent of meeting.” TNIV provide a good model for this clause, saying “the whole community is to assemble before you at the entrance to the tent of meeting.”

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 .