Verses 21-22 should be translated with reference to 11.2-3 and 12.35-36, where the same idea is recorded. Similarities and differences should be noted in these three passages, as well as a different time setting for each—future, present, and past. The verb to ask is used in each setting, a word that can also mean to “borrow,” as indeed some translations render it (so the King James Version [King James Version] and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). If this were the intended meaning, however, the act of “borrowing” would have to be understood as deceitful, since there was really no intention to return after worshiping the LORD. Thus it is better to render it as “ask.”

It seems clear that each woman means “Every Israelite woman” (Good News Translation), and her neighbor means “her Egyptian” neighbor (Good News Translation). The next phrase, however, is ambiguous. A person who sojourns would normally have been a resident alien (as in 2.22), but an Egyptian temporarily removed from his own village for various reasons could possibly be considered a sojourner, or “lodger” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Furthermore, the word for the one who sojourns in this case is feminine.

Accordingly there are four possible interpretations of her who sojourns in her house: a) “any Egyptian woman living in [an Egyptian neighbor’s] house”; b) “any [non-Egyptian] woman living in [an Israelite woman’s] house”; c) “any Egyptian woman living in [an Israelite woman’s] house”; or d) “any [non-Egyptian] woman living in [an Egyptian neighbor’s] house.”

Good News Translation rules out b) and d) by identifying the first her as an “Egyptian woman.” This is suggested by the context, since the idea was to despoil the Egyptians. Good News Translation also rules out a) by pluralizing “neighbors,” which could then no longer be the antecedent of the second her, which is singular. But it is doubtful that an Egyptian “sojourner” would be living in the home of an Israelite, since the Israelites were the oppressed people. The best choice therefore is a), “any Egyptian woman living in the Egyptian neighbor’s house.” The translator may choose to follow this solution or avoid the problem by preserving the ambiguity, but this is not always possible nor advisable. And yet this is preferable to omitting the phrase entirely, as Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch seems to have done. An alternative translation model for the first part of this verse is “Each Israelite woman will go to the Egyptian women living nearby and to any Egyptian woman living in that house and will ask for….”

The main point of the verse, of course, is that Israelite women were to secure from Egyptian women jewelry of silver and of gold, and clothing. The word for jewelry, however, is a general term that can also mean “objects” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “articles” (New American Bible). So one may translate as “ask for precious [or, special] objects made of silver or gold.” The idea of “jewelry” or “ornaments” (Jerusalem Bible) is suggested by clothing, a word for a mantle or outer garment, perhaps here referring to “fine clothes” (Translator’s Old Testament) or even “festive clothes” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). But the instruction to put them on may simply mean having the sons and … daughters carry them. (New English Bible has “Load your sons and daughters with them.”) You shall put them on is addressed to Moses and all the Israelites. Good News Translation changes you to “the Israelites” to clarify this. So it is more likely that the phrase put them on means to actually place the jewelry and clothing on their children, as Good News Translation translates. Durham translates “You shall dress your sons and daughters in them.” Translators are urged to follow this interpretation. Some languages will use figurative expressions such as “beautify [or, decorate] the bodies of their children,” meaning “to dress them with the clothes and ornaments.”

Thus you shall despoil the Egyptians suggests the act of taking spoils from a defeated army after a battle. Thus New English Bible (and others) uses “plunder,” and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh even uses “stripping.” Good News Translation tends to neutralize this idea with “carry away the wealth of the Egyptians.” “Confiscate” is another possible alternative in this context. It should be recognized that the choice of a more descriptive word describing a sneaky or sly action here may strengthen the implication of a deceitful maneuver in preparation for a secret escape. (This underlying theme is discussed at 14.5.) An alternative translation model for this final clause is “And in this way they [the Israelites] will slyly carry away the possessions of the Egyptians.”

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 .