Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that hill country came down: Here the text says the Amalekites and the Canaanites lived in that hill country, but verse 25 says they lived “in the valleys,” and 13.29 says they lived “in the Negeb” and “by the sea, and along the Jordan” respectively. According to 13.29, other ethnic groups lived in the hill country. A plausible explanation for this difference is that these were roving tribes who moved from place to place in Canaan. In many languages it may be better to say that Israel’s enemies “attacked” (Good News Translation) rather than came down.

And defeated them and pursued them is literally “and they struck them and they crushed [or, scattered] them.” TNIV says “and attacked them and beat them down,” and Good News Translation has “and attacked and defeated them.” The Hebrew verbs for defeated (wayyakkum) and pursued (wayyaktum) form a wordplay. The pronoun them refers to the Israelites.

Even to Hormah: Good News Translation says “and pursued them as far as Hormah.” The town of Hormah was probably between Beersheba and the modern-day city of Arad, near the Dead Sea in the south (so Levine, page 371; Noth, page 111). In any case, this place was in the opposite direction (southeast) from where the Israelite army intended to go (northwest).

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 .