Therefore is the conjunction waw, which others translate as “So.” The people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments is literally “the sons of Israel rid themselves of their ornaments.” This means, of course, that they removed their ornaments, but the verb has a much stronger meaning. So one may say “the people of Israel no longer wore jewelry” (Good News Translation), or even “the people of Israel stopped wearing fancy jewelry” (similar to Contemporary English Version). In 3.22 and 12.36, a different form of the same word is translated as “despoiled.”

From Mount Horeb onward is literally “from Mount Horeb.” Horeb, of course, is another name for “Sinai” (Good News Translation). (See the comment at 3.1.) New International Version interprets this to mean “at Mount Horeb,” and Translator’s Old Testament has “on Mount Horeb.” But the preposition clearly means from in the sense of “from then on.” Good News Translation may be easier, “after they left Mount Sinai,” but it should include even the time remaining until they left. So one may say “from that time on and after they left Mount Sinai.”

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 .