Why have you brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle?: This question is rhetorical. The Israelites criticize Moses and Aaron for bringing them to the desert, where they and their animals will die. The Hebrew term for assembly is qahal, not ʿedah. For the difference between these two words, see 10.7. As a general rule, if the target language allows for a distinction between them, ʿedah may be rendered as “community,” and qahal as “assembly,” “gathering,” or “congregation.” In this section, however, the words ʿedah (verses 1-2, 8, 11) and qahal (verses 4, 6, 10, 12) refer to the same group of people, so Good News Translation renders the assembly of the LORD simply as “us,” which may be more natural in other languages also. The Hebrew word for cattle (beʿir) is a collective noun, referring to all kinds of domestic animals, including cattle, sheep and goats, so it is better rendered “livestock” (New Revised Standard Version). With this question the people may imply that they are being treated no better than their animals. Contemporary English Version renders this rhetorical question as a strong statement as follows:

• You brought us into this desert, and now we and our livestock are going to die!

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 .