Now translates the common Hebrew conjunction waw, but here it marks the important transition from chapter 1 to the story of Moses’ birth. It is rendered “During this time” in Good News Translation in order to show this transition more clearly. Before these chapter divisions were added to the text, it was easy for people reading the scripture or listening to it being read in a public gathering to see this transition. But with these chapter divisions many modern listeners as well as readers will need some transitional information. So in some languages it will be helpful to translate something like “While these events were going on, a man…” or “While the Israelites were laboring for the Egyptians, a man….”

The house of Levi refers to “the tribe of Levi” in this context, since Levi was a distant ancestor, one of the twelve sons of Jacob. Both the man and the daughter of Levi are to be understood as his descendants and therefore members of the same tribe. The expression went and took to wife simply means “married.” A “tribe” is a group of people who are descended from the same ancestor. Often, as in the case of the Hebrews, it is further subdivided into smaller groups called “clans.” In many receptor cultures there will be similar divisions. (See the comment at 6.14.) But in the case of a culture that does not make such distinctions, a possible translation of “a man from the tribe of Levi” is “a man who was descended from the ancestor [or, great-grandfather] Levi.”

The Hebrew has “the daughter” rather than a daughter, but this may be understood as a reference to 6.20, where the names of both the man and the woman are given. But since this is the first mention of the woman, most translations use the indefinite article.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• During this time, a man who was descended from the ancestor Levi married [or, took as his wife] a woman who was also a descendant of Levi.

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 .