This verse makes clear that the Israelites strictly obeyed Yahweh’s commands and did not invade any region or attack any town unless Yahweh told them to. The translator should notice that the language switches from the first person plural of the previous verses to the second person plural; if such a change will cause difficulty for the readers, the first person plural forms should be maintained (so Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version).

The sons of Ammon: that is, the Ammonites, or “people of Ammon,” or even “the descendants of Ammon” (see verse 19).

All the banks of the river Jabbok: for part of its way the river ran north to south, thus forming the western boundary of the Ammonite territory (see map, page xii). The Israelites did not invade Ammon. Contemporary English Version interprets this to mean “We stayed away from all the Ammonite towns both in the hill country and near the Jabbok river.”

And wherever the LORD our God forbade us: New Revised Standard Version translates “just as the LORD our God had charged,” with a textual note indicating that this follows the Septuagint and the (Jerusalem) Targum; the Hebrew text has “and all,” instead of “just as.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project prefers the Hebrew and gives the following translation: “and, generally, whatsoever the LORD our God commanded you.” A translator who wishes to follow the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project decision may take Traduction œcuménique de la Bible as a model: “and all the places the LORD our God had forbidden us,” or we may say “or to any other place where the LORD our God had commanded us not to go.”

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 .