And he looked, and lo is a typical Hebrew expression to show Moses’ surprise at what he saw. Something of this surprise is lost in some translations such as Good News Translation, “Moses saw that the bush was on fire, but….” The word lo, as in 2.6, seems archaic in English, but New American Bible has caught the meaning well: “As he looked on, he was surprised to see that….” In many languages the Revised Standard Version model will be a natural and vivid way to describe this scene. In certain languages an ideophone or some other particle may be used; for example, “Moses looked, and hey, the bush….” (See the comment on ideophones at 2.6.).

The difference between burning and not consumed may be expressed as “on fire” and “not being burned up,” or as “all aflame” and “not consumed” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Literally the Hebrew says “burning with flame” and “without being eaten.”

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 .