Numbers 14:44

New English Translation

⁴⁴But they dared^[a] to go up to the crest of the hill, although^[b] neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed from the camp.

Numbers 14:44 tn N. H. Snaith compares Arabic ʿafala (“to swell”) and gafala (“reckless, headstrong”; Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 248). The word עֹפֶל (ʿofel) means a “rounded hill” or a “tumor.” The idea behind the verb may be that of “swelling,” and so “act presumptuously.”
Numbers 14:44 tn The disjunctive vav (ו) here introduces a circumstantial clause; the most appropriate one here would be the concessive “although.”

New English Translation (NET)