complete verse (Numbers 26:62)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 26:62:

  • Kupsabiny: “All the men of the clan of Levi from one month going up were 23,000. The clan of Levi was not counted to be added to the people of Israel because there was no land that were to be distributed to them when the land was distributed to the people of Israel.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The number of Levites one month [of age] or above was 23,000 men. They were not counted with the other Israelites, because they were not given any inheritance among the Israelites.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The number of male descendants of Levi who were one month of-age above was 23,000. They were- not -included in the total number of the Israelinhon for they were- not -given-a-portion of the land which the Israelinhon had-inherited.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The leaders counted 23,000 men from the descendants of Levi who were at least one month old. But these men were not counted when the rest of the Israeli people were counted, because they were not given any land.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

large numbers in Angguruk Yali

Many languages use a “body part tally system” where body parts function as numerals (see body part tally systems with a description). One such language is Angguruk Yali which uses a system that ends at the number 27. To circumvent this limitation, the Angguruk Yali translators adopted a strategy where a large number is first indicated with an approximation via the traditional system, followed by the exact number according to Arabic numerals. For example, where in 2 Samuel 6:1 it says “thirty thousand” in the English translation, the Angguruk Yali says teng-teng angge 30.000 or “so many rounds [following the body part tally system] 30,000,” likewise, in Acts 27:37 where the number “two hundred seventy-six” is used, the Angguruk Yali translation says teng-teng angge 276 or “so many rounds 276,” or in John 6:10 teng-teng angge 5.000 for “five thousand.”

This strategy is used in all the verses referenced here.

Source: Lourens de Vries in The Bible Translator 1998, p. 409ff.

See also numbers in Ngalum and numbers in Kombai.

Translation commentary on Numbers 26:62

And those numbered of them were twenty-three thousand is literally “And their enrolled [males] were 23,000.” Numbered renders the Hebrew verb paqad again (see verse 7), so a better model for this clause is “The number of those enrolled was…” (New Revised Standard Version). Compare 3.39 for the total number of Levite males in the first census.

Every male from a month old and upward: See 3.15, 39.

For they were not numbered among the people of Israel: The Hebrew particle ki rendered for is probably an emphatic marker here, so it is better translated “Indeed.” Numbered is better rendered “enrolled” (New Revised Standard Version) again. After verses 57-58, which are about the enrollment of the Levite clans, this clause may seem odd. In some languages it will be necessary to avoid misunderstanding by saying “They had not been enrolled with the other Israelites” (Bible en français courant, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). In some languages it will be helpful to go even further by using a positive statement here, such as “They were listed separately from the rest of the Israelites” (Good News Bible; similarly Revised English Bible, NBV). It is important to avoid the suggestion that the Levites were not Israelites.

Because there was no inheritance given to them among the people of Israel: See 18.23. For the Hebrew word rendered inheritance (nachalah), see verse 53.

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 .