Open to you his good treasury the heavens: people thought of the heavens in physical terms as the place where the winds and the rains were stored (see Gen 7.11 and 8.2, the beginning and end of the Flood; see also Job 38.37; Psa 135.7). Translators are urged to keep the figurative language of treasury or “storehouse” if possible; for example, “He will send rain … from his rich storehouse in the sky” (Good News Translation), or “The LORD will open the storehouses in the sky, where he keeps the rain.”

The rain … in its season: that is, at the right time, when the crops needed it. It may be that this emphasis on Yahweh’s power to give rain reflects the belief among the Canaanites that their god Baal was the giver of rain. Contemporary English Version has a helpful model: “he will send rain on your land at just the right times.”

Bless all the work of your hands: see 2.7.

You shall lend … but you shall not borrow: this is not a command but a promise of prosperity. The Israelites will be prosperous enough to lend to other peoples, and never needy enough to have to borrow from them. For lend and borrow see 15.6.

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 .