To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance: New Revised Standard Version and a number of other translations have this same rendering or a similar one. However, the Hebrew says literally “To the large/many you shall increase its inheritance, and to the small/few you shall decrease its inheritance.” So other valid renderings here are “with larger groups increase the share, with smaller groups reduce the share” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one” (New International Version; similarly Revised English Bible), “To the one who has a large number, you will give a large area, the one who has a small number, you will give a small area” (La Bible de Jérusalem Nouvelle), and “To those who are large in number you will allocate a greater inheritance, to those who are small in number you will allocate a smaller inheritance” (La Nouvelle Bible Segond). In some languages it may be better to render you shall give as an imperative verb (so Good News Translation), since the LORD is giving instructions to Moses here. For inheritance see the previous verse.

Every tribe shall be given its inheritance according to its numbers is literally “each will be given its inheritance to the mouth of its enrolled men.” Numbers renders the Hebrew verb paqad (see the comments on verse 7), so according to its numbers is more accurately rendered “according to its enrollment” (New Revised Standard Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “in proportion to its size as shown in the census” (Revised English Bible). For languages that do not use passive verbs, this clause may be rendered “each is to receive its inheritance according to the number of those listed” (New International Version) or “give each one its inheritance according to the number of those enrolled.”

But the land shall be divided by lot: The Hebrew particle rendered But (ʾak) emphasizes that it is only by drawing lots that the Promised Land is to be divided. The Hebrew term for lot (goral) refers to stones or pieces of wood or bone that were thrown in order to discern the will of God, since the people believed that God directed how the objects fell. By means of this procedure, Moses must decide how to divide the land. It may be helpful to make the procedure more explicit by rendering by lot as “by drawing lots” (Good News Translation). The most generic expression for divining by lots in the language may be used. Translators should probably avoid expressions common to traditional (pagan) religious practices.

According to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit: In many languages this literal translation will not communicate very much. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh provides a better model with “and the allotment shall be made according to the listings of their ancestral tribes.” For tribes see the comments on 1.4.

Their inheritance shall be divided according to lot between the larger and the smaller explains what the previous clause implies. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “Each portion shall be assigned by lot, whether for larger or smaller groups,” and Die Bibel: Einheitsübersetzung der Heiligen Schrift has “The inheritance is to be divided by lot between the large and the small tribes.”

Good News Translation‘s model for verses 54-56 may be easy to understand, but it leaves out a number of nuances. New Living Translation provides a better model, which is:

• 54 Give the larger tribes more land and the smaller tribes less land, each group receiving a grant in proportion to the size of its population. 55 But you must assign the land by lot, and give land to each ancestral tribe according to the number of names on the list. 56 Each grant of land must be assigned by lot among the larger and smaller tribal groups.

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 .