The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him: the witnesses, whose testimony led to the person’s condemnation, were to be the first to throw stones at the condemned person.

Afterward the hand of all the people: for both groups, normal English usage is “The witnesses will be the first to throw stones at the condemned person, and after that all the other people are to do the same” (see also Good News Translation).

For the rest of the verse, see 13.5.

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 .