And all the people refers to all the Israelites, not just to the elders in verse 7. We may either assume that the elders had relayed Yahweh’s words in verses 4-6a to their own respective tribes, or that the elders are responding as representatives of all the people. Answered together does not necessarily mean that they all “responded in unison” (Living Bible). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “answered as one,” and New Jerusalem Bible has “replied with one accord.” The Hebrew word for together may also suggest simply that they were all in agreement with what Moses told them, and together they promised to obey the LORD So one may say “All the people agreed to this [or, to what Moses told them] and answered, ‘….’ ”

All that the LORD has spoken we will do are probably the exact words of a formula that was used in making treaties. They are repeated again in 24.7, and with some variation in 24.3. The problem here is that no specific commands have as yet been given, so the formula appears to be out of place. Possibly these words at one time followed some of the laws given in chapters 20–23.

Most translations do not deal with this problem. Even Good News Translation has “We will do everything that the LORD has said.” Revised English Bible makes some adjustment here by changing “everything” to “Whatever”: “Whatever the LORD has said we shall do.” This suggests that the people were agreeing to any additional commands that Moses may not yet have reported to them. But An American Translation has “Whatever the LORD says we will do,” changing has spoken to the present tense, which in English can apply to future commands of Yahweh. This retains the basic form of the formula and fits the present context of chapter 19. Such a change is certainly possible, since the Hebrew verb does not designate tense. So one may say “We will do whatever the LORD [or, Yahweh] commands us to do.” (See the similar comments on tense at 15.14.)

And Moses reported the words is literally “and Moses caused the words to return.” The words of the people refers to what they have just said. To the LORD implies, of course, that Moses had to climb the mountain again to speak to Yahweh. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “And Moses brought back the people’s words to the LORD.” (Similar are New American Bible and New International Version.) Another way to express this is “Moses returned and told the LORD what the people had said.” Revised English Bible even connects this sentence with the following verse: “When Moses brought this answer back to the LORD, the LORD said to him….” This, however, prevents a paragraph break at this point, but see the comment on the next section.

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 .