And when you eat of the food of the land: The food of the land is literally “the bread of the land” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh; similarly Revised English Bible, VW). This figurative expression may be rendered “the yield of the fields” (De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling), “the crops that grow there” (New Living Translation), or “any food produced there” (Good News Translation).

You shall present an offering to the LORD is literally “you [plural] will raise up something that is raised up to the LORD.” The Hebrew verb for present and the noun for offering come from the same root. Offering renders the Hebrew word terumah, which has the wide, general meaning of “contribution” (Good News Translation), “gift,” or “donation” in verses 19-21 (see 5.9). In this context crops rather than animals seem to be in view, which may make a difference in the translation. Possible models for this clause are “set aside a special offering to the LORD” and “set aside a contribution for the LORD.” Some languages may prefer to refer to the LORD in the first person since he is speaking; for example, Contemporary English Version has “remember to set aside some of it as an offering to me.”

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 .