Revised Standard Version begins a new sentence that is not a true sentence but a series of noun phrases. In most languages it is better to begin a new sentence with a subject and verb: “He fed them with,” “He sustained them with,” or “He provided them with.”

Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock: the first expression refers to sour milk, or curds (something like cottage cheese) or yogurt from cows’ milk (see Gen 18.5), and the second expression refers to goats’ milk. An alternative model for these first lines is:

• He [Yahweh] fed them [or, you] with curds [or, yogurt] from their [or, your] cows, and milk from their [or, your] goats.

Fat of lambs and rams, herds of Bashan and goats: rams are male sheep, and herds of Bashan are cows and bulls. The word fat here means, in a general way, well-fed, fat animals.

Besides herds and flocks of animals, the Israelites had good crops (the finest of the wheat), and fine wine from their vineyards (of the blood of the grape you drank wine). Notice the shift to the second person you; it is better to stay with the third person and not change, if a translator has been using the third person throughout; but some translators will have been using the second person pronoun since verse 10. So we may translate “He gave you the finest wheat and the best wine.”

At the end of this verse, the Samaritan text and the Septuagint add “Jacob ate and was well fed.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project supports this ({C} rating) and recommends that it be included. Among major modern translations, Revised English Bible and New Jerusalem Bible do so. If a translator decides to include it, he or she can say something like the following: “They [or, You] had all they [or, you] needed, and grew prosperous.”

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 .