Verses 16-17 are a summary statement about these three major festivals (see Exo 23.17; 34.23), making it clear that all Jewish males (twenty years and older) had to be present at the central sanctuary.

Appear before the LORD your God: be present at the place of worship.

At the place which he will choose: the central sanctuary. For this first sentence Good News Translation has “All the men of your nation are to come to worship the LORD three times a year at the one place of worship.” As indicated at the beginning of this chapter, “your” may be also rendered as “our [inclusive].” However, another possibility is “all Israelite men.” So Contemporary English Version has “Each year there are three festivals when all Israelite men must go to the place where the LORD chooses to be worshiped.”

They shall not appear … empty-handed: see 15.13. This can be stated in a positive form: “Everyone shall take something to offer to the LORD.”

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 .

The first part of this verse repeats verse 15.

I will put my words in his mouth: the literal equivalent in many languages will be natural and vivid; in English it is better to say something like “I will give him the message he is to deliver,” or “I will tell him what to say” (Good News Translation).

He shall speak to them: them is the people of Israel. So we may say “He will tell the people of Israel everything that I command” (similarly Good News Translation).

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 .

If the people accept the Israelites’ offer, there will be no fighting and no bloodshed; but they will become the Israelites’ slaves.

If its answer to you is peace: that is, “if the people of that town agree to what you demand.”

It opens to you: this seems to mean that the people open the gates of the town so that the Israelites can enter and occupy the town. Or it may mean, as New Revised Standard Version translates, “surrenders to you.” In some languages it will be necessary to place this clause at the beginning; for example, “If the people of that town open the gates and surrender.”

All the people who are found in it: a way of saying “all the inhabitants of the town,” “all the people who live there.”

Shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you: this is simply one statement, expressed by two verbs that have the same meaning. For the use of forced labor, see Judges 1.27-36. Good News Translation has “they are all to become your slaves and do forced labor for you.” Another way to express this is “… and you will force them to work for 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 .

This verse gives the reason for the instructions in the previous two verses: the uncovered excrement would defile the camp, which was a holy place because of the presence of Yahweh.

The LORD your God walks in the midst of the camp: if possible this vivid language should be retained in translation. If this is not possible we may say “the LORD your God is with you” (Good News Translation) or “the LORD is always present” (Contemporary English Version).

To save you: that is, from the enemy; Good News Translation “protect” is better in this context.

To give up your enemies before you: this means to give the Israelites victory over their enemies (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version).

Your camp must be holy: Good News Translation has “ritually clean,” but in this case it seems advisable to retain a word for holy, whose primary meaning is “completely dedicated to the service of God.” In some instances an explanatory footnote to the word may be helpful.

Anything indecent: the same word is used in 24.1. Here it means “offensive to God” (Revised English Bible); New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh “unseemly” and Bible en français courant “repugnant” are not quite as good. Contemporary English Version has “filthy and disgusting things.”

And turn away from you means “turn around and leave you,” “turn his back on you” (Good News Translation), or even “abandon 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 .

You shall make response: a compound verbal phrase is used, “you will declare and say”; see 21.7. This is a formal statement. Another way to render this is “you will recite these words.”

Before the LORD your God: see 1.6.

A wandering Aramean: here Aramean means a native of Aram, modern Syria. Most take it to mean Jacob, but some others think it is Abraham. Jacob, however, seems to be more likely. This is the only place in the Old Testament where the noun Aramean appears. Instead of wandering (so most translations), some take the Hebrew to mean “ailing” or “perishing.” It seems better to take the sense as wandering, which means not having a fixed place to live, or “moving from place to place.” “Homeless” (Contemporary English Version) is misleading, since that means “not having a house or place to live in”; but Jacob lived in a tent, which was considered to be his home.

My father: “my ancestor,” that is, Jacob. But Jacob’s name should not appear in the text. For father or “ancestor” see 1.8.

He went down into Egypt: from Canaan, or possibly from Haran if the reference is to Abraham. The phrase went down is the conventional way of speaking in Hebrew about going from Canaan to Egypt; it does not mean descending from the mountains to the plains (although it is true that Egypt was lower in altitude than Canaan). An alternative model for this clause and the previous one is “My ancestor was an Aramean who moved from place to place. Eventually he and his family went to Egypt to live.”

Sojourned: that is, he lived in Egypt as a foreigner, a resident alien (see 1.16).

Few in number: that is, he and his family were few. In Gen 46.8-27 it is recorded that Jacob and his family numbered seventy in all when they went to Egypt. The Revised Standard Version translation and he went down into Egypt … few in number does not clearly state that Jacob had his family with him. Contemporary English Version keeps the same clause order but is somewhat clearer, with “who went to live in Egypt. There were only a few in his family then….” Good News Translation has a better model, “who took his family to Egypt to live. They were few in number….”

He became a nation: that is, he and his family, who were few at first, eventually became a large ethnic community in Egypt (see Exo 1.7).

Great, mighty, and populous: these are very similar in meaning, and it is not necessary to find three different adjectives in order to represent faithfully the meaning of the text. Great and mighty may be combined in a number of languages; they refer to the corporate strength of a large group of people rather than the physical strength of an individual. Instead of populous something like “numerous” (so Revised English Bible), or even “a large number of people,” is better.

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 .

Sister: as the following words suggest, this can include both full- and half-sisters. No matter that the woman is only the man’s half-sister (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version), either by his father or by his mother, such behavior is prohibited. See Lev 18.9; 20.17.

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 .

The LORD will smite you: see verse 27.

Grievous boils: see verse 27.

From the sole of your foot to the crown of your head: that is, “all over you.” The boils will spread from knees and legs to the whole body, “from head to foot” (Good News Translation; similarly Contemporary English Version).

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 .