He looked this way and that (Good News Translation “looked all around”) is literally “he faced here and there,” suggesting that Moses’ violent reaction was intentional. Seeing no one is literally “there was no one,” but it is unlikely that no other people were nearby. Verse 11 clearly states that Moses went out to his “brothers” (plural). So Good News Translation interprets this to mean that “no one was watching,” and this is the recommended interpretation.

He killed the Egyptian is clearly implied from the fact that he hid him in the sand. As mentioned at 2.11, the basic meaning of the Hebrew verb is “to beat or strike.” But the context here, unlike that of verse 11, supports the meaning of “beat to death.” We may therefore assume that the Egyptian was dead before Moses “hid his body in the sand” (Good News Translation). Sand is loose, and the fact that it is mentioned suggests that Moses had to bury the body in haste, probably using his bare hands. In cultures where sand is uncommon, one may say something like “and quickly dug a hole to hide the body” or “and quickly hid the corpse in the dirt [or, ground].”

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 .