Then represents the conjunction waw. Good News Translation omits this, but some transitional marker may be needed at the beginning of a new section. However, since this is the beginning of a new chapter, many readers will assume that the narrative has a more important division here than, for example, between 8.19 and 8.20; this is not true. Therefore it will be helpful to link this text with the previous chapter; for example, “When the flies had gone, the LORD said, ….”
Go in to Pharaoh uses a verb that means “to enter,” suggesting that the meeting with the king was to be inside the palace. This same expression is used for the second plague (8.1) and the eighth plague (10.1), as Revised Standard Version and New English Bible indicate. Another way of expressing this is “Go into the palace and tell the king.” In each case the singular imperative form is used, indicating that the command is spoken only to Moses, with no mention of Aaron. And say to him introduces a quote (second level) within a quote (first level). Note that Good News Translation changes this to indirect speech, to avoid using more than two embedded quotes. Contemporary English Version eliminates the quote before Go in to Pharaoh and translates “The LORD sent Moses with this message:….” According to the six-part pattern, this adjustment makes part (a) implicit and part (b) explicit, which is just the reverse of the Hebrew text. Even so, this is another possible model for those translators who can use indirect speech.
Thus says the LORD is the messenger formula discussed at 4.22. It introduces yet another quote, Let my people go. This becomes a quote (third level) within a quote (second level) within a quote (first level). If the direct speech is retained in translation, it must be clear that these are the exact words of the LORD that Moses is to announce to the Pharaoh. This is the demand formula discussed at 4.22-23a. (The problem of where this third level quote ends is discussed below at 9.2-3.)
The God of the Hebrews is an addition to the messenger formula, to emphasize who the LORD, Yahweh, really is. He is God (ʾelohim) of the Hebrews. The Yahwist tradition (“J”) uses the word Hebrews (see also 9.13 and 10.3), while the Elohist tradition (“E”) uses “Israel” (see 5.1 and 32.27). In this case there is no difference in meaning between Hebrews and “Israel,” for the same God is intended. In languages that do not favor apposition, the LORD, the God … may be expressed as “Yahweh, who is God….” That they may serve me gives the reason for the demand. It means “so that they may worship me” (Good News Translation). (See the discussion on “serve” at 4.23a.) This is the usual form of the demand formula, and it is found again in 7.16; 8.1, 20; 9.13; and 10.3.
An alternative translation model for this verse, using a colon instead of quotation marks, is:
• Then the LORD sent Moses with the following message for the king of Egypt: Yahweh, who is the God of the Hebrews, commands you to let his people go so that they can worship him.
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 .