And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him: In some languages it may be necessary to express that a change in location was involved when Moses took the rod, so Good News Translation says “Moses went and got the stick.” From before the LORD means from its place before the Covenant Box in the Tent of Meeting (see the previous verse). Good News Translation omits this phrase here since it is added in the previous verse. However, Good News Translation‘s model may give the wrong suggestion that Moses was familiar with the place where the staff was and was just picking it up quickly. If so, it is better to keep this phrase by saying “from the LORD’s presence,” “from the Tent of Meeting,” or “from its place before the Covenant Box.”

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 .