And he sent young men sounds as though Moses sent them some distance away. This is the same word used in Moses’ demand to “let my people go” (see 5.1). It is possible that the altar was some distance away from the people, and that Moses sent these young men over to where the altar was. More likely he sent them to where the animals were kept, to select the ones to be slaughtered for the sacrifice. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates “he designated some young men,” which avoids the question of where he sent them.

Young men is one word that means an unmarried young man, who may also be a servant or an apprentice. Young men of the people of Israel simply means “young Israelite men” (New International Version), but since all the people there were Israelites, Good News Translation simply has “young men” (similarly also Translator’s Old Testament and Contemporary English Version). Who offered burnt offerings is literally “and they caused to go up what goes up.” The word for burnt offerings and the word for offered come from the same root that means to go up, as smoke from the sacrifice goes up.

And sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD is literally “and they sacrificed sacrifices of peace [or, well-being] to Yahweh, young bulls.” The word for oxen comes at the end of the sentence and may be understood to apply to the burnt offerings as well as to the peace offerings. So Translator’s Old Testament has “to sacrifice bulls to the LORD as whole-offerings and shared-offerings.” But most translations relate the oxen only to the peace offerings. (See the discussion on these offerings at 18.12 and 20.24.)

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• Then he sent young Israelite men to slaughter some animals and burn them completely on the altar. They also sacrificed some cattle as an offering to restore fellowship.

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .