Here Moses refers back to what happened at Mount Sinai (see 5.23-31).

Horeb: Mount Sinai (see 1.2).

The day of the assembly: see 9.10. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh uses a capital letter, “the Assembly,” a way of emphasizing its importance in the life of Israel. But in many languages it will be simpler to follow Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version with “you were gathered at Mount Sinai.”

Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God: as usual the first person singular is used of the people as a whole. So it is possible to express this as “… and said to the LORD, ‘Please don’t let us hear your voice.’ ” However, instead of the direct quotation of what they said at that time, it may be better in some languages to use indirect speech, as Good News Translation does: “you begged not to hear the LORD speak again.”

See the great fire any more: this refers to the fire that burned on top of Mount Sinai, indicating the presence of Yahweh. Contemporary English Version has “this terrible fire again.”

Lest I die: continued exposure to God’s fiery presence would kill them all. Another way to express this is “If we do [see the fire] we will die.”

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 .