דַּבְּר֗וּ אֶֽל־כׇּל־עֲדַ֤ת יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר בֶּעָשֹׂ֖ר לַחֹ֣דֶשׁ הַזֶּ֑ה וְיִקְח֣וּ לָהֶ֗ם אִ֛ישׁ שֶׂ֥ה לְבֵית־אָבֹ֖ת שֶׂ֥ה לַבָּֽיִת׃
Speak to the whole community of Israel* and say that on the tenth of this month each of them shall take a lamb to a family, a lamb to a household.
*whole community of Israel Or the leadership, on everyone’s behalf; cf. v. 21.
(The above rendering and its footnote come from the RJPS translation, an adaptation of the NJPS translation.)
Here the expression כׇּל־עֲדַת יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ is used as a metonym, a conventional linguistic device that works on more than one level at a time. (See the section “Gender and Figurative Language” in this introduction, pp. 3–4.) God is speaking about the elders—while labeling them in terms of their occasional role as representatives of the whole community. Presumably they also have the social authority to ensure that God’s instructions are carried out.
Construing metonyms literally is a common mistake made by readers of translated texts, whenever the source text presupposes a different convention from those of the translation’s language. The result can be that the translation appears to be less coherent (and less plausible) than the original text is, particularly with regard to the gender of those in view.
Such is the likelihood here. A footnote therefore points out the convention that is in play, so that it can be properly understood and appreciated.