They shall eat the flesh, that is, the Israelites are to eat the “meat” of the slaughtered animal. That night, literally “in that night,” does not specify the hour. Presumably it could be eaten at any time “during that night” (Durham), although it was to be eaten in haste (verse 11). Roasted is literally “roasted of fire.” This refers to cooking the meat over the fire, not in an oven. In languages that do not use the passive voice, this first sentence may be rendered as “That night they shall roast the animals and eat them.”

Unleavened bread (Hebrew matsah) refers to flat, round cakes made without any yeast-like substance to make it rise. (See the comment on verse 15.) The plural matsoth is used here, so Durham has “unleavened bread cakes.” In cultures where yeast is unknown, one may say, for example, “thin bread baked without anything to make it rise,” or “to make it soft and easy to chew.” And if bread is unknown, translators should borrow a word from a national or trade language. The bitter herbs, literally “bitter [things],” are not identified, but Jewish tradition permitted the use of five different plants: lettuce, chicory, pepperwort, snakeroot, and dandelion. However, translators should not mention any particular herb or spice by name. Hyatt suggests that these were originally wild desert plants that were picked to season the meat.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• That night they shall roast the animals and eat them, together with thin bread baked without yeast [or, anything to make it rise], and bitter herbs.

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 .