And if you go with us, whatever good the LORD will do to us, the same will we do to you is literally “And it will be if you go with us, the good that the LORD will do good to us, and we will do good to you.” For the Hebrew noun rendered good and the Hebrew verb meaning “do good,” which occurs twice in this verse, see the comments on verse 29. TNIV renders this verse as “If you come with us, we will share with you whatever good things the LORD gives us.”

The Hebrew text does not give Hobab’s response to Moses’ second invitation here. In the following verses the text only points out that the LORD, not a human guide, led the Israelites on their journey.

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 .