Revised Standard Version‘s footnote on verse 36 indicates that this verse is numbered 17.1 in the Hebrew Bible. 16.36–17.13 is numbered 17.1-28 in the Hebrew text.

Then the LORD said to Moses: See 1.1. Presumably, this speech began immediately after the event of verse 35. This may make a difference in languages (like Chewa) that have several words for “then,” depending on the length of time separating the events in view.

Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to take up the censers out of the blaze …: The reason why God chooses Eleazar for the task here, rather than Aaron, is probably that the High Priest himself must have no contact of any kind with the dead (see Lev 21.11; so Budd, page 195). Eleazar’s task also falls within his assignment in 4.16. His qualification for this important task is revealed by the seemingly incidental phrase the son of Aaron the priest (see 3.6). To take up is literally “and let him take up.” The Hebrew employs indirect speech for the instructions to Eleazar. In some languages it will be more natural to use direct speech for these instructions by beginning God’s speech as follows: “Say to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the High Priest: ‘Remove….’ ” For censers see verse 6. Good News Translation renders censers as “bronze fire pans,” since the Hebrew text of verse 39 refers to them as “bronze censers.” According to Exo 27.3, the fire pans used in the Tabernacle had to be made of bronze. The Hebrew word for blaze is serefah, which is a general term for the debris left by a fire. Good News Translation renders the blaze as “the remains of those who have been burned,” which may be overly explicit. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “the charred remains,” and Revised English Bible says “the burnt remains.”

Then scatter the fire far and wide: The fire refers to the live coals, as in verse 7 (see the comments there). Good News Translation says “the coals from the fire pans.” Good News Translation renders far and wide as “somewhere else,” which does not seem to be explicit enough. A better translation is “far away [from the camp].” Not only does God want Eleazar to retrieve the bronze censers, he also wants him to scatter the potentially polluting burning coals (and bodily remains) far away.

For they are holy gives the reason why God wants Eleazar to retrieve the censers from the charred remains. The pronoun they refers to the censers. For holy, which means “set apart for God,” see 6.5. Bijbel in Gewone Taal renders this clause as “Those firepans now belong to me.” The censers were holy because they were used in a sacrifice in the Tabernacle, even though the sacrifice was illegitimate (so Noth, pages 129-130; Levine, pages 418-419).

The censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives …: In the Hebrew text this whole phrase is marked as a direct object. Revised Standard Version combines this semantically complex phrase with the preceding words for they are holy in one sentence. But it would be closer to the Hebrew sentence structure to combine this phrase with what follows by saying “The censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar.” Revised English Bible follows the Hebrew sentence structure, which highlights these censers, saying “The censers of these men who sinned at the cost of their lives you shall make into beaten plates to overlay the altar.” Good News Translation is similar with “So take the fire pans of these men who were put to death for their sin, beat them into thin plates, and make a covering for the altar.”

So let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar is literally “and they [people] will make them [the censers] into hammered plates as plating for the altar.” The Hebrew expression for hammered plates refers to pieces of metal that have been beaten flat with hammers to serve as plating for some other object. Good News Translation renders let them be made into hammered plates as “beat them into thin plates,” which will be a natural model in many languages. In some languages a literal word for “covering” in the phrase as a covering for the altar may imply something temporary that can be easily removed again. However, that is not what is in view here. The Hebrew term for covering (“plating” in New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) comes from same root as the verb meaning “to overlay [with a metal].” In some languages it will be more precise to render this phrase as “to overlay the altar” (Revised English Bible) or “to fasten them on to the altar.”

For they offered them before the LORD: The conjunction for introduces why the censers had to be made into plating for the altar. The pronoun they refers to the 250 chieftains. For offered, which renders the Hebrew verb hiqrib, see the comments on 9.7. In this context the phrase before the LORD probably means “at the altar” (see verse 7 and 5.16). This clause may be rendered “For they presented them at my altar” (similarly Good News Translation), since the LORD is speaking.

Therefore they are holy: New Revised Standard Version says “and they became holy,” which is a more accurate rendering of the type of Hebrew verb here. Good News Translation reverses the order of this clause and the previous one, saying “They became holy when they were presented at the LORD’s altar.” This rendering makes it clear that the censers became holy at the time of their initial consecration as vessels for use in worship.

Thus they shall be a sign to the people of Israel: The Hebrew verb here is more accurately rendered as a command; for example, New International Version has “Let them be a sign…,” and New Living Translation says “Let them serve as a warning….” In this context the Hebrew word for sign may be rendered “reminder,” “warning” (Good News Translation), or even “sign of warning.” The pronoun they refers to the censers. Good News Translation changes this pronoun to “It,” which refers to the metal overlay for the altar, and this may be more natural in some languages.

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 .