The waters returned seems to repeat “the sea returned” in verse 27, but it adds emphasis to the story. New American Bible has “As the water flowed back,” and Revised English Bible has “As the water came back.” And covered the chariots and the horsemen uses a word that means to cover over or conceal, so Good News Translation has “the water returned and covered….” New Jerusalem Bible has “washed right over.”

The chariots and the horsemen are clear enough, but there is a problem with and all the host of Pharaoh. This is following the Septuagint, as the Revised Standard Version footnote indicates, but the Hebrew says “to all the army of Pharaoh.” Host is better translated as “army” (see verse 9). So the problem is whether this is speaking of the “army” as separate from the cavalry, or whether the “army” includes the cavalry. Even though Good News Translation agrees with Revised Standard Version, it is better to follow the Hebrew here, as New Revised Standard Version has done: “the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh.” New Jerusalem Bible has “the chariots and horsemen of Pharaoh’s entire army,” and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh is even more explicit: “the chariots and the horsemen—Pharaoh’s entire army.” (So also New International Version.) In a number of languages this will be expressed as “the chariots, the soldiers riding on horses—all of the king’s soldiers,” or even “and covered all of the king’s soldiers, whether in the chariots or riding horses.”

That had followed them into the sea, literally “the ones who entered after them into the sea,” is a bit ambiguous. Were there some of the “army” who did not go in? The rest of the verse suggests that all the forces of the Pharaoh, and the Pharaoh himself, are included. Not so much as one of them remained means that all the Egyptians were drowned. New English Bible has “not one man was left alive,” and New International Version has “Not one of them survived.”

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 .