This is now the third time this same incident is mentioned in Exodus. (See also 3.21-22 and 11.2-3.) On the basis of 11.2, Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation assume that the Israelites had already asked for jewelry and clothing from the Egyptians and were already prepared to leave. The Hebrew verb form, however, does not indicate the pluperfect (“had done” and “had asked” in Good News Translation), which can only be interpreted from the context. (A similar pluperfect was noted in the comment at 11.1.) However, since 11.2 is still part of Yahweh’s instructions to Moses, the reference here may also be understood as the actual carrying out of that command by the people. So New International Version is correct in using the simple past tense: “The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked….” Also is not in the Hebrew, so it is best to remove it, as New Revised Standard Version has done.

As Moses told them refers to 11.2 and may also be expressed as “what Moses had told them to do.” The Hebrew word for asked can also mean “borrowed” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, King James Version), but if they had only “borrowed,” they would have been deceitful, as explained at 3.21. So asked is the preferred rendering. The jewelry may have been “ornaments” (Jerusalem Bible), “objects” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), or “articles” (New American Bible). (See the comment on jewelry at 3.22.) Clothing is also mentioned in 3.22 but not in 11.2. The same word is translated “mantles” in verse 34, but it is a general word for “clothing.”

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 .