And Moses went up to God is literally “And Moses ascended unto ʾelohim.” This means, of course, as Good News Translation expresses it, that “Moses went up the mountain to meet with God.” The Hebrew does not include “the mountain,” as Hebrew Old Testament Text Project points out. But a footnote is not necessary, since this is clearly implied. (See New English Bible, New American Bible, and Translator’s Old Testament.)

And the LORD called to him suddenly shifts from ʾelohim to Yahweh, but this is probably due to a literary seam. (The comment at 3.4 discusses this kind of shift.) There is no suggestion that Yahweh was not God. Good News Translation resolves this problem by starting a new paragraph here. Contemporary English Version combines the name and title, as in 18.1, “Moses went up the mountain to meet with the LORD God.” Out of the mountain is literally “from the mountain” (Good News Translation), meaning from the top of the mountain. Saying simply introduces what Yahweh said to Moses.

Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob introduces a quote within a quote, which begins in verse 4. House of Jacob means the same as the people of Israel in the next clause, since “the Israelites” were “Jacob’s descendants” (Good News Translation). Repeating the same idea in different words adds a poetic effect to verses 3-6, which scholars believe reflect a special style used in worship. Translators should try to do this if it is natural style. In many languages the direct speech in the Hebrew will be kept; for example:

• Yahweh called to him from the top of the mountain, saying, “You must tell the Israelites, the descendants of Jacob, the following words, ‘….’ ”

However, in languages where apposition is not used, one may simply employ one term to include both phrases, since Israel was simply another name for Jacob.

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 .