And this shall be the priests’ due: in verses 3-4 Moses says what the priests, the Levites, are to receive (their due) from the other Israelites.

From the people, from those offering a sacrifice: the second phrase defines more precisely the first one.

Ox or sheep: this is more accurately “cattle or sheep” (Good News Translation). The Hebrew term does not mean only a castrated bull, as ox often does in English; it means any member of the bovine (cattle) family. The first part of the verse may thus be expressed as “Whenever you sacrifice a cow or sheep, you must give the priests….”

The shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach: the parts mentioned are fairly clear. The two cheeks are the jowls (or, more simply, Good News Translation “the jaw”); the stomach is more generally “the inner parts” (New International Version), that is, the internal organs.

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 is almost exactly the same as 17.13; see also 13.1.

Never again commit any such evil: here the standard Hebrew word for “crime” or “wrongdoing” is used. So we may say “and no one will ever again commit this crime.”

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 .

She shall put off her captive’s garb: or “discard the clothes she had when she was captured” (Revised English Bible). Again, instead of “captured,” “taken prisoner [of war]” is better. So we may translate “She shall take off [or, get rid of] the clothes she was wearing when they took her captive.”

Shall remain in your house and bewail her father and her mother a full month: this indicates that she is unmarried. Bewail here may be understood as a ritual mourning or weeping over the death or loss of her parents.

After that you may go in to her, and be her husband, and she shall be your wife: this is a very wordy way of saying, “After the month is up, you are free to marry her.” Revised English Bible “you may have intercourse with her” is actually closer to the Hebrew text, but since the act of intercourse, in this context, assumes marriage, it is better to use the verb “to marry.” The initiative is his, and the woman’s feelings are not relevant. The Hebrew for “be her husband” is “be her baal,” which, depending on the context, can mean either “lord” or “husband” (in Hebrew society the husband was 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 .

Fifty shekels of silver: see verse 19.

Violated: see 21.14.

May not put her away all his days: see verse 19.

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 .

Verses 7-10 describe the procedure to be followed if the dead man’s brother does not wish to fulfil his duty as a brother-in-law.

Go up to the gate to the elders: see similar language in 21.19. For elders see 5.23.

Does not wish to take his brother’s wife: or “refuses to marry the widow” (Contemporary English Version).

Refuses to perpetuate his brother’s name: perpetuate is the same Hebrew verb “make stand” that is used in verse 6 (“succeed to”). Good News Translation has “he refuses to give his brother a descendant among the people of Israel.”

Not perform the duty of a husband’s brother: the same language as used in verse 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 .

Deut 25.8

Then the elders of his city shall call him: in this way the actions of the man and their consequences for the family are made public.

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 is a repetition of the first part of verse 3, with very plainly added. In order to avoid the appearance of unnecessary repetition, translators may use the following model:

• Don’t forget to write out a copy of these laws on the stones that you are going to set up. Make sure that the writing is easy to read.

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 .

So that you shall be driven mad by the sight which your eyes shall see: the cruel actions of their enemies will make them go crazy. New Jerusalem Bible has “you will be driven mad by the sights you see,” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “when you see these things you will go crazy”; or we may say “when you [plural] see all these terrible things, you will go insane [or, lose your minds].”

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 .

I have led you: this could be Moses speaking, but this is unlikely when we consider the clause “that I am the LORD your God” at the end of the following verse. Contemporary English Version solves this problem by saying “He has even told you, ‘For forty years, I, the LORD led you through the desert.’ ”

For wilderness see 1.1.

Clothes have not worn out upon you: this means that, after the forty years that had elapsed since leaving Egypt, they were still wearing the same clothes. The same applies to their sandals, which have not worn off your feet. In Hebrew the same verb “grow old” or “wear out” is used both for the clothes and the sandals; the Septuagint uses two different verbs, and in some languages two verbs will be necessary. However, in many modern translations we find only one verb; for example, “your clothes and sandals never wore out” (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 .