This verse provides the evidence for the preceding acclamation of God. He proved his kingship among the Israelites by means of their great Exodus experience.
God brings them out of Egypt is literally “God [is] the one who causes them to go out of Egypt.” The Hebrew verb here is a participle. Such a verb form is typical in hymns. However, if translators need to make a choice concerning time here, it will be best to use a past tense (so Good News Bible), not the present.
They have as it were the horns of the wild ox: The pronoun they refers to the Israelites (so also New International Version). But New Revised Standard Version remains closer to the Hebrew by rendering this verse as “God, who brings them out of Egypt, is like the horns of a wild ox for them” (similarly Good News Bible and most other translations). In Hebrew the simile as it were the horns of the wild ox is connected to God, not the Israelites. The point of comparison here is power and strength. In many languages this needs to be made clear; for example, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible renders this line as “he has the strength of a buffalo,” and Good News Bible says “he fights for them [with strength] like a wild ox.” Good News Bible provides a helpful translation model for this verse. Good News Bible connects the image of the horns with God and makes the point of the image explicit. Also, Good News Bible has two separate lines (as in the Hebrew poetry) instead of one long sentence (as in New Revised Standard Version). The meaning of the Hebrew word rendered horns (toʿafot) is uncertain, but this rendering is plausible. This word should probably be connected with the Arabic root yafaʿa (“to tower high”) or ʿatafa (“to bend”). It is also uncertain what animal is in view with the Hebrew word rendered wild ox (reʾem). Most English translations render it in the same way as Revised Standard Version (so New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Revised English Bible). Many German and Dutch translations have “wild bull” (Luther, NBV), while French versions frequently have “buffalo” (Bible en français courant, PV, La Bible de Jérusalem: Nouvelle édition revue et corrigée, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible).
Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .