Verses 10-13 are one sentence, with some repetition: you are entering to take possession of it (verse 10) and you are going over to possess (verse 11), as in verse 8. In some languages the use of this kind of repetition may have a negative effect, leaving the reader bored with the narrative. A translator should use the style that will include all the information of the biblical text and at the same time keep the reader’s interest.

Not like the land of Egypt: the main difference is the source of water needed to grow crops. In Canaan the seasonal rains supplied the water; in Egypt the water was made to flow in irrigation canals by a series of water wheels, turned by foot. This seems to be the most reasonable explanation of the expression and watered it with your feet; some believe it is simply a way of saying “by means of hard work” (Good News Translation “work hard to irrigate the fields”). Some have suggested this means urinating, but this does not seem very likely. Alternative translation models are “you had to work hard to water your fields,” or “you had to struggle just to water your crops” (Contemporary English Version).

A land … which drinks water by the rain from heaven: in some languages there may be a problem in talking about the land “drinking” rain water; in such cases something like the following can be said: “a land with hills and valleys, which is watered by the rain” (or “which gets its water from the rains”); see verse 14 for more statements about the rains.

See Good News Translation for a good alternative model for verse 11.

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 .