You shall not oppress a stranger is literally “And an alien you [singular] shall not press.” Stranger is used three times in this verse. It is better rendered as “resident alien” (New Revised Standard Version) or “foreigner” (Good News Translation). This is the same word that Revised Standard Version translates as “sojourner” in 2.22 and 12.19. (See the comment there.) The word for oppress has the root meaning of crowding or pushing someone against his will. It may be understood here as “mistreat” (Good News Translation).

You know the heart of a stranger is literally “you [plural], you know the soul of the alien.” The emphatic you is used here in the plural to include all Israelites. New International Version has “you yourselves,” which brings out both the emphasis and the plural in English. The word for heart is nefesh, usually translated as “soul” in King James Version. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh here translates it as “feelings,” and others, including Good News Translation, have “you know how it feels.” Contemporary English Version has “you know what it is like” (similarly also New American Bible, Revised English Bible, and New International Version).

For you were strangers in the land of Egypt, literally “for aliens you [plural] were,” places the word strangers before the verb for emphasis. If Egypt is clearly understood as a country, then it is not necessary to retain the land of.

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 .