In verses 16-19 the Gadites and Reubenites respond to Moses’ main objection. They do not plan to rebel but propose a compromise. In many languages it will be helpful to begin a new paragraph here (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation).

Then they came near to him, and said: The pronoun they refers to the Gadites and Reubenites. It may be helpful to make this explicit in some languages (so Contemporary English Version, New Century Version). As here, the Hebrew verb rendered came near is often used to refer to a lesser party coming into the presence of a greater one (see, for example, Gen 43.19; 2 Kgs 5.13; so Ashley, page 611). The leaders of the two tribes now enter into formal negotiations with Moses, the leader of Israel, with regard to their standing request.

We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks, and cities for our little ones: They mention building sheepfolds first and cities last. Perhaps they do this because they consider that the sheepfolds will sound less permanent and therefore less objectionable to Moses than the cities; in any case, this statement continues to highlight the preeminence of their animals in their planning (see verse 4). Verses 3-4 seem to imply that the cities had been destroyed, so it may be better to render build as “rebuild.” Alternatively, translators may say they will “fortify” the cities that they had occupied.

As A Handbook on The First and Second Books of Samuel mentions at 1 Sam 24.3, the Hebrew expression for sheepfolds refers to a fence-like enclosure made of stones, so Good News Translation says “stone enclosures.” Some sheepfolds were permanent, consisting of stone walls and a roof; others were temporary constructions. As mentioned at 11.22, the Hebrew word for sheep (tsʾon) refers to sheep and goats. But in this verse it is used metonymically to refer to all types of livestock (so Cole, page 509). The Hebrew word for flocks (miqneh) is a generic term for livestock (see verse 1, where it is rendered “cattle”). New Living Translation provides a helpful model for sheepfolds … for our flocks, saying “pens for our livestock.”

The Hebrew word for cities is the regular term ʿir. Good News Translation has “fortified towns.” At first glance, “towns” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) would have been sufficient. But the rendering “fortified towns” may help to indicate more clearly to the reader that these towns and the “fortified cities” in verse 17 are the same (so Rashi). This rendering also agrees with the suggestion above that their proposal may refer to “fortifying” towns rather than “rebuilding” them, which would have required considerably more time.

The Hebrew term for little ones is the same one used in 14.3, where it refers to children. Here it may be rendered “dependents” (Good News Translation) or “families” (NET Bible, Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie, La Nouvelle Bible Segond, SPCL). Some translations say “women and children” (New International Version) or “wives and children” (Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation, Nueva Traducción Viviente), but the Hebrew does not mention women here.

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 .