Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation …: This verse begins with the Hebrew waw conjunction (literally “And”), which introduces the next event here. Some languages use a connecting clause to express it, for example, “When they [the soldiers] were returning from the war.” It may or may not be necessary to specify here that Eleazar was the priest. Good News Translation omits this qualification (also in verse 12), perhaps since it was already mentioned in verse 6. However, it may be helpful to keep it in this context where Israel’s leaders are mentioned. The Hebrew word for leaders is nasiʾ, as in 1.16 (see the comments there). It is better rendered “chiefs” (Revised English Bible) or “chieftains” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). The Hebrew word for congregation (ʿedah) is better translated “community” (Good News Translation), as in 1.2 (see the comments there).

Went forth to meet them outside the camp: Moses, Eleazar, and the other Israelite leaders met the returning soldiers outside the camp. These soldiers could not enter the camp yet, where the sacred Tent of Meeting was located, since they had been in contact with the dead bodies of the Midianites who were killed in the battle (so Rashbam). They still had to undergo the ritual of purification. If the referent for the pronoun them has to be specified, it is more accurate to say “the soldiers” rather than “the army” (Good News Translation), since the entire fighting force of Israel was not engaged in this campaign.

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 .