God will bless the people so that they will prosper and thrive and dominate other nations. Israel will become a major economic power in the region, and thus able to exert influence over other nations (see also 28.12-13, 44).

Lend … borrow: these are financial terms, and the unstated object is “money.” Good News Translation has “You will lend money to many nations, but you will not have to borrow from any.” It is also possible to say “You will let the people from other countries borrow money from you, but you will not have to borrow money from them.”

Rule … not rule: this kind of rule seems to be economic supremacy, not necessarily domination achieved through force of arms. But a general word for “control” or “domination” will do.

An alternative translation model for verses 4-6 is as follows:

• No one in Israel will ever be poor, if you obey the LORD your God and carefully observe all his commands that I am giving you today. The LORD your God is giving you this land, and he has promised to make you successful in all that you do. He will do what he has promised. You will lend money to the people of other nations, but you will not have to borrow money from any of them. You will have control over other nations, but no nation will have control over you.

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 .