This verse continues the picture of military victory begun in the previous verse. The contrast between the number of victors and the number of defeated enemies may be heightened by translating “It will only take five of you to defeat a hundred of the enemy, and only a hundred of you will be triumphant over a thousand enemies in battle.” Here the word chase means “be victorious over” (as in verse 7a), and the words fall before you by the sword again indicate “be defeated in battle” (see verse 7b).

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .