Then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you: For the Hebrew verb rendered drive out, see the comments on 21.32 and 32.29, where it is translated “dispossessed.” Good News Translation begins this clause with “you must drive out,” which expresses more clearly that this is a command. (The word shall is not a future tense marker here). The same applies to the verbs that follow in verses 52-54. Good News Translation omits the phrase from before you, since it is redundant in English.

And destroy all their figured stones: In some languages it may sound more natural to begin a new sentence here and group all the items listed for destruction together (so Good News Translation). In the Pentateuch the Hebrew term for figured stones occurs only here and in Lev 26.1. As A Handbook on Leviticus notes there, this word is related to the root meaning “to look.” So some commentators take it to refer to some sort of remarkable stone or mosaic at which people look with adoration. However, most translations take it to refer to an idol carved out of wood or stone. Chewa has “engraved stones,” and NET Bible says “carved images.” In some languages if the material is stone, the images or idols are not “carved” (which is used only for wood); rather, some other appropriate verb must be used to designate the artistic action involved, for example, “decorated” or “adorned.”

And destroy all their molten images: The Hebrew word for molten images refers to idols that were made by pouring molten metal into molds. Like the figured stones, these idols were symbolic images of gods. ESV renders molten images as “metal images,” New Revised Standard Version has “cast images,” and New International Version says “cast idols.” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible is slightly more explicit with “statues of melted/cast metal.” Bible en français courant combines all their figured stones and all their molten images by saying “all the statues of stone or of metal representing their gods.” New Living Translation is more concise with “all their carved and molten images,” and so is Good News Translation with “all their stone and metal idols.”

And demolish all their high places: The Hebrew expression rendered their high places refers to places where the Canaanites had built shrines and sanctuaries to false gods. These shrines were often called high places, because they were raised stone platforms where the people could offer sacrifices. Usually such a platform was on a small hill that was a little higher than the surrounding area. While the Hebrew word here can include the element of elevation, this is not its primary focus. More important is that they were sites where religious rites and sacrifices took place. So better renderings for high places are “cult places” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “sacrificial places” (De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling), and even “altars” (Contemporary English Version, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Chewa uses a term from ancient traditional religious practice which is literally “ancestral worship shrines.”

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 .