First may be expressed as “The first thing Moses did.”
Proclaimed: a word suggesting speaking, such as “told,” “declared” (Revised Standard Version), or “recited” (New English Bible), is better than a word suggesting reading, as in Bijbel in Gewone Taal and Knox. There is nothing to suggest that the author sees any importance in the exact order in which the ceremonies were performed. However, the probable order of events implied in Exodus 24 is: (a) the Law is told to the people; (b) the Law is written down (verse 4); (c) oxen are sacrificed (verse 5); (d) half the blood is thrown on the altar (verse 6); (e) Book of the Covenant is read out (verse 7); (f) half the blood is thrown on the people (verse 8).
The people is strictly “all the people,” “the whole people,” in the first half of the verse as well as the second. Good News Translation omits “all” (Revised Standard Version) to avoid repetition. The writer combines references to Exodus 24.3, 6-8; Leviticus 14.4; and Numbers 19.6. Throughout this passage the Greek word for “all” is repeated three times in verse 19 and once each in verses 21 and 22.
All the commandments as set forth in the Law may be expressed as “all that God had commanded, as written down in the laws,” as in a number of languages it is impossible to use a singular form, “the Law,” since “Law” cannot be used as a collective term for a series of commandments or rules.
Bulls and goats: there is a minor textual problem. Many good manuscripts add “and goats” after bulls. These words are included in square brackets in the third edition of the UBS Greek New Testament, and are included in the fourth edition of Good News Translation, but not in Bible en français courant, New English Bible, and Translator’s New Testament. It is more likely that the author wrote the words translated “and goats,” but that copyists omitted these words because goats are not mentioned in Exodus 24.5.
Though in English it is easy to speak of the blood of bulls and goats, in some languages it is necessary to use a plural, since the substances are different; for example, “the bloods of bulls and goats” or “the blood of bulls and the blood of goats.” It may also be necessary in rendering took to indicate the way in which the blood was taken or carried. If a plural is used in referring to the blood, it is usually necessary to make the appropriate modifications in the pronominal references of it.
The book of the Law may have to be expressed as “the book which contained the laws.” It may even be preferable to use “the scroll” rather than “the book.”
It may be necessary to distinguish the different senses in which the book and the people are sprinkled with blood and water, hyssop and red wool. The situation is complicated by the fact that “hyssop” is not known in many areas, and no one can be sure exactly which plant is meant here or in Numbers 19.6. Small branches of the “hyssop” plant were probably tied together with “scarlet wool,” dipped into the mixture of “blood” and “water,” and used as a “sprinkler.” FRCL’s glossary note reads: “Small plant whose branches were used to scatter blood in certain ceremonies of Jewish worship.” A different plant may be mentioned in John 19.29. Good News Translation fourth edition makes the meaning clear: and before some red wool implies “tied with.” For red, earlier editions of Good News Bible had “scarlet,” and Bijbel in Gewone Taal has “deep red.”
The final phrase expressing means, namely, using a sprig of hyssop and some red wool, may be best expressed as a separate sentence; for example, “He did this by means of a sprig of hyssop and some red wool.” The relation between the small sprig or branch of hyssop and the red wool may be expressed as “He used a small twig of hyssop to which some red wool had been tied” or “… tied with some red wool.”
Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .