Tell is second person plural, meaning “You [plural] must tell.” All the congregation of Israel uses the word ʿedah, meaning “gathering” or “assembly,” so one may say “the whole community” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible) or “all the people of Israel.” (See the comment at verse 6.) The word for that literally means “saying,” and it may introduce either direct or indirect speech. Revised Standard Version uses indirect speech, since the Israelites are referred to in the third person, they. But Good News Translation and others use direct speech, changing to second person plural, since all of the following verses up to 12.27 are Yahweh’s instructions to be given to the Israelites. So the opening words in Good News Translation are “Give these instructions to the whole community of Israel,” and what follow are the exact words of Yahweh addressed to the people.
On the tenth day of this month assumes that Yahweh is speaking to Moses and Aaron on the first day. They shall take every man means “each man is to take” (New International Version). If direct speech is used, the they will become “you” plural. But since every man refers to the head of the family, New American Bible has “every one of your families,” or one may say “the head of each family” (Contemporary English Version). Shall take may be expressed as “must choose” (Good News Translation) or “must procure” (New American Bible), for they were to select a lamb for the sacrifice.
The word for lamb is used for young goats as well as young lambs, so Good News Translation has “a lamb or a young goat” (so also Revised English Bible and Contemporary English Version). This is made clear in verse 5, so New Jerusalem Bible uses the more generic term “animal.” Others, however, place a footnote here explaining that the Hebrew word may mean either lamb or young goat (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New International Version, New American Standard Bible, and Translator’s Old Testament). Making this clear in the text is preferable to adding a footnote. (See the comment on “sheep” and “goats” at 2.16.)
According to their fathers’ houses, literally “for a house of fathers,” is better expressed as “for each family” (New Revised Standard Version). A lamb for a household (literally, “for a house”) seems to repeat the same idea, but it defines more exactly what is meant. There may be more than one family in one household. Good News Translation therefore combines the two, using the more exact clarification “for his household.” The next verse shows that the animal is for eating. So it is possible to translate this final clause as “for his household [or, family] to eat.” An alternative translation model for this final sentence is “that on the tenth day of this month, the head of each family must choose a lamb or a young goat for his family to eat.”
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 .