The first son whom she bears: even though the Septuagint has “the first child,” translators should make it clear that this is a male child.

Shall succeed to the name of his brother who is dead: here, of course, his brother is the father’s brother. The meaning is that the baby boy will be given his (dead) uncle’s name, not the name of his actual father. Contemporary English Version has “and their first son will be the legal son of the dead man.”

His name may not be blotted out: that is, the family line or name of the dead man will not cease to exist (so Good News Translation), but continue in a normal way.

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 .