Take hold of: this does not necessarily mean to conduct him as a prisoner to the place of judgment, but simply to take him there (Good News Translation “take him before”).

The elders of his city: see verse 6. As in other passages in Deuteronomy, city should be “town” (see 1.1, 28).

At the gate of the place where he lives: this refers to the open space in the town, near the gate in the town wall, where legal and commercial matters were settled (see 22.15; 25.7; Ruth 4.1-2, 15; Amos 5.10, 12, 15).

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 is the positive command that matches the negative commands in the previous verses. For buying and for selling, everyone should use the same set of accurate weights and measures, in conformity with the official standard.

Full and just: Revised English Bible has “true and correct,” Good News Translation “true and honest,” and Contemporary English Version “weigh and measure things honestly.”

That your days may be prolonged in the land: see 5.16; 22.6.

The land which the LORD your God gives you: see 7.1.

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 Levites: see 12.12. These are the men from the tribe of Levi who served in the tabernacle, not the whole tribe of Levi.

All the men of Israel: the Septuagint has “all Israel,” and New Revised Standard Version translates “all the Israelites.” Contemporary English Version has “all the rest of the people,” while Good News Translation omits the phrase altogether. To be consistent with verses 11 and 12, this should refer to all the people, not just to the males.

With a loud voice: because of the distances at that location, it would have to be a very loud voice! In some languages this will be made very clear with “will shout loudly.”

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 .

Your dead body: a collective expression; all the Israelites will have been killed. Therefore many translations have “your dead bodies [or, corpses]” or something similar.

Birds of the air … the beasts of the earth: scavenger birds such as vultures and buzzards, and meat-eating animals. Another way to express this is “the scavenger birds and the wild [or, forest] animals.”

No one to frighten them away: because everyone has been killed (see Jer 7.35; 34.20). This final sentence may be placed at the beginning of the verse as follows:

• There will be no one left to scare away [or, frighten] the scavenger birds and wild animals while they are eating your dead bodies.

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 .

Your life shall hang in doubt before you: the following statements clarify the meaning of this. Things will be so bad that there is no assurance of a return to normal conditions in the future. So Good News Translation has “Your life will always be in danger”; or we may say “You will always be in danger of people killing you.”

Night and day you shall be in dread: fear will be their constant companion. Other ways to express this are “All the time you will be terribly afraid,” or “… your hearts [or, liver] will fall completely.”

No assurance of your life: they will have absolute despair as they look to the future. This repeats the information in the first sentence. Good News Translation omits the repetition, and some translators will find that model helpful.

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 .

Return to the LORD your God: see 4.30.

You and your children: not only the next generation but all succeeding generations; in other words “your descendants” (Good News Translation).

Obey … with all your heart and with all your soul: see 4.29-30; 6.5.

Again this day (“today”) is emphasized.

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 .

Now therefore write this song: for this song see verse 30 and 32.1-43. In Hebrew write is the second person plural, meaning that Moses and Joshua are to write down the song; but the other two verbs are singular. This makes for an awkward sentence, and only Osty-Trinquet, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, and the le de Jérusalem follow the Hebrew. (In languages like English, that have no different endings to distinguish between the second person singular and the second person plural, a translation such as New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh “write” will be read as second person singular.) Bible en français courant uses an impersonal form: “And now, the words of this song that I am going to dictate to you are to be written down.” New International Version attempts to preserve the Hebrew by translating “write down for yourselves this song and teach it”—but this is not natural, and “teach” will read as a plural form also. Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje uses the singular “write,” with a footnote indicating that the Hebrew text has the plural; this is one way to handle the matter. Another possible alternative is “I want you and Joshua to write down this song. Then you, Moses, are to teach it to….”

Teach it to the people of Israel; put it in their mouths: these two commands say almost the same thing. A literal translation of the second command may sound funny in a number of languages. A possible alternative is “have them learn it by heart” or “… memorize it.”

That this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel: the song (32.1-43) is a recital of God’s dealings with the people of Israel, how he led them, provided for them, and protected them. So the song was a witness on God’s behalf whenever he would have to judge and punish the Israelites for forsaking him. See the same statement about the book of the law in verse 24. The Good News Translation translation “so that it will stand as evidence against them” may be difficult to translate in some languages. The longer version of Contemporary English Version may be a good alternative: “they will know what I warn them to do, and so they will have no excuse for not obeying me.”

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 .