And he was there with the LORD means, of course, that “Moses stayed there” (Good News Translation) with Yahweh. Forty days and forty nights is the same expression as in 24.18. In the present context of the book of Exodus, it is clear that Moses spent two periods of “forty days and nights” (Good News Translation) on the mountain. (See Deut 10.10.) He neither ate bread nor drank water is literally “bread he did not eat and water he did not drink.” This means that, for the entire forty-day period, he was “without food or drink” (Revised English Bible). In the Bible, of course, forty is a symbolic number that indicates both a long time and a time of testing. But this is an interpretation that should not be included in the translation.

And he wrote upon the tables is ambiguous. On the basis of verses 27-28 alone, it is clear that he refers to Moses. But in the wider context the he seems to refer to Yahweh. (See 34.1.) Since this problem cannot be resolved, it may be best simply to translate the pronoun as in Good News Translation, “He wrote on the tablets” (similarly Contemporary English Version). In some languages it may be necessary to be explicit, in which case the he should be identified as Moses. A footnote may then be added to explain that the Hebrew has only the pronoun “he.”

The words of the covenant, the ten commandments is literally “words of the covenant, the ten words.” The Hebrew devarim is used in both instances, showing a close connection with verse 27. This is the only place in Exodus where the phrase “the ten words” appears, but it is found in Deut 4.13 and 10.4. Regardless of the problems of the preceding verses, it is still best to consider this as a reference to the decalogue, or “the Ten Commandments.”

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 .