Driving out before you nations …: this can be a reference to the conquest of territories east of the Jordan ruled by King Sihon of Heshbon (2.26-37), and by King Og of Bashan (3.1-7). The tribes of Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh settled in these regions. Versions like Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and New Jerusalem Bible (“dispossessing…”) put this conquest in the past, and therefore must refer in this context to the territories east of Jordan. But it is also possible that Moses is speaking of the conquest of the land of Canaan (see 7.1; 9.1; 11.23). New International Version “to drive out” and Revised English Bible “so that he might drive out” are versions that allow the conquest to be still in the future. Since the discourse context is Moses speaking to the Israelites before they enter Canaan to conquer it, translators who choose this option will need to express it as action that is still to happen.
Nations greater and mightier than yourselves: the translation of nations may be a problem. These were large, organized racial and tribal groups, with laws and some form of political structure, but not nation-states in the modern sense of the word, with territorial boundaries strictly defined. A word such as “tribes” should be avoided if possible. But if it must be used, we may say, for example, “large tribes” or “big groups of people.” By definition these were pagan peoples; traditionally there were seven of them in Canaan (see 7.1). Greater and mightier means “larger in number and more powerful [militarily].”
To bring you in: in some languages care must be taken about the point of view of the person who is speaking; here Moses and his audience are outside Canaan, so “take you in” fits better than “bring you in.”
To give you their land for an inheritance: very rarely will the noun “inheritance” or the verb “inherit” be suitable in a text like this (see verse 21 also), since the words mean (at least in English) receiving something as the result of the death of the former owner. What is meant is “to possess,” “to own,” “to make it [permanently] yours.”
As at this day: this clearly reflects the writer’s point of view (see 2.22; 4.20). Good News Translation has “the land which still belongs to you.”
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .