This verse introduces what other nations will say if the LORD kills his people.

Now if thou dost kill this people as one man: Now if renders the Hebrew waw conjunction (literally “And”). However, Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and most other translations render it as a conditional connector here for naturalness. For this people, see verse 11. Good News Translation renders as one man as “all” in the phrase “all your people,” but this rendering misses the sense in the Hebrew here. New Revised Standard Version expresses it better with “all at one time,” and so does Bible en français courant with has “in one hit.” Rashi explained it as meaning “suddenly.” Many Bantu languages will have an ideophone that can express this idea dramatically.

Then the nations who have heard thy fame will say: Instead of the nations, Contemporary English Version has “the Canaanites,” which is too specific (see 13.29; 14.25). The Hebrew word for fame (shemaʿ) can mean “what is heard,” “news,” or “report.” In this context it should be understood as something positive, which some translations make explicit by rendering thy fame as “your renown” (Levine), “your reputation” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Nije Fryske Bibeloersetting), or “all your great deeds” (Parole de Vie). The Septuagint reads “your name,” which presumably has a positive meaning as well. Moses says the other nations had already heard about the LORD’s great reputation, but now if he kills his people, they will hear that the LORD is not able to live up to this reputation. In his pleading with the LORD, Moses focuses on the LORD’s own reputation with the nations, a reputation of supreme power. If he now destroys the Israelites, this reputation will be damaged and the nations will question whether the god of the Israelites has any real power. In the rest of the Old Testament the Hebrew word shemaʿ usually refers to a strong reputation of power, which inspires fear in others. However, New International Version gives a negative meaning to your fame by saying “this report [in verse 12] about you.” Similar renderings are “these reports about you” (Revised English Bible) and “such a rumor about you” (Luther). If shemaʿ is understood in this way, the clause here loses its point somewhat and does not focus on a change in the LORD’s reputation: what the other nations have heard is simply that the LORD has destroyed his people. This sense may even give the wrong suggestion that there will be nations who have heard the report (in verse 12), and other nations who have not heard about it. La Nouvelle Bible Segond does not choose a positive or negative meaning here by rendering this whole clause as “the nations who have heard [what is] spoken about you will say,” which is an acceptable model.

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 .