Your fathers went down to Egypt: this refers to the time when Jacob and his whole family went from the land of Canaan to Egypt, to join Joseph there (see Gen 46.26-27; Exo 1.5). Contemporary English Version has a good model: “When your ancestors went to live in Egypt, there were only seventy of them.”

The stars in heaven for multitude: see the same expression in 1.10.

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 .