Numbers 10:31

New English Translation

³¹Moses^[a] said, “Do not leave us,^[b] because you know places for us to camp in the wilderness, and you could be our guide.^[c]

Numbers 10:31 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Numbers 10:31 tn The form with אַל־נָא (ʾal naʾ) is a jussive; negated it stresses a more immediate request, as if Hobab is starting to leave, or at least determined to leave.
Numbers 10:31 tn In the Hebrew text the expression is more graphic: “you will be for us for eyes.” Hobab was familiar with the entire Sinai region, and he could certainly direct the people where they were to go. The text does not record Hobab’s response. But the fact that Kenites were in Canaan as allies of Judah (Judg 1:16) would indicate that he gave in and came with Moses. The first refusal may simply be the polite Semitic practice of declining first so that the appeal might be made more urgently.

New English Translation (NET)