And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his rod twice: Good News Translation says “Then Moses raised the stick and struck the rock twice with it,” which is more natural in English. This sentence emphasizes that Moses struck the rock with the staff, instead of only speaking to it. So some scholars conclude that this striking of the rock is the cause for the punishment of Moses and Aaron.

And water came forth abundantly: There may be a more natural or even an idiomatic way of expressing this clause; for example, New Living Translation says “and water gushed out” (similarly Good News Translation).

And the congregation drank, and their cattle: All the people as well as their livestock got to drink their fill in accordance with their initial complaint (verse 4) and the LORD’s subsequent promise (verse 8). Congregation renders the Hebrew word ʿedah again (see the comments on verses 1 and 4). For the Hebrew word rendered cattle (beʿir), see verse 4.

1 Cor 10.4 refers to this rock as a symbol of Christ and its water as a symbol of spiritual life.

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 .