You shall invest him with some of your authority is literally “And you shall put some your majesty/power upon him.” The Hebrew word for authority (hod) is typically associated with kings or God (see, for example, Psa 96.6, where it is rendered “Honor”). This word occurs only here in the Pentateuch. It implies that the leader has charisma in order to have the loyalty of those he leads. Some of your authority implies that Moses will keep some of his power. The problem in some languages will be how to express giving only a portion of an abstract personal concept like authority, which is normally understood as a whole. NET renders this clause as “Then you must delegate some of your authority to him.” A more concrete model is “Then you must delegate some of your authority and responsibilities to him.”

That all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey may be rendered “so that the whole community of Israel will obey him” (Good News Bible).

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 .