You shall not sleep in his pledge: as the context makes clear (verse 13), the object given in pledge is the poor man’s cloak, that is, the long outer garment with which he covered himself as he slept. Without it he would be cold. The lender, therefore, is not to keep the man’s garment after sundown, but is to return it to its owner. Contemporary English Version makes it clear that the man is so poor that the long outer garment (cloak, or coat) is the only thing he can give as a guarantee: “Suppose someone is so poor that a coat is the only thing that can be offered as a guarantee on a loan.”

The literal translation of Revised Standard Version does not make it immediately clear that, in this context, the object given in pledge is the man’s garment. It is better to supply that information immediately in verse 10, as Good News Translation does: “the garment he is going to give you as security.” New Revised Standard Version translates verse 12 as follows: “you shall not sleep in the garment given you as* the pledge,” with the following footnote: “Heb lacks the garment given you as.”

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 have declared this day concerning the LORD: this is a formal statement; some think it may be a technical term used in ratifying a covenant. It is balanced by the parallel in the next verse, “the LORD has declared this day concerning you.” Unlike Good News Translation, the verbal parallel should be maintained in translation, if possible.

You will walk in his ways: this is the life of obedience to God’s laws (see 9.6; 10.12; 11.22). In a number of languages figurative expressions similar to walk in his ways will be used; for example, “walk along his paths,” or “follow his paths.”

His statutes and his commandments: see 4.1, 2.

Obey his voice: as in verse 14.

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 .

When you come in … when you go out: this means “in all your activities [or, ventures],” “at home and at work,” or even “through the whole of life” (see this idiom in verse 19; 31.2; Psa 121.8; Isa 37.28). So Contemporary English Version says “The LORD will make you successful in everything you do.”

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 .

In Revised Standard Version verses 49-51 are one sentence, which must be broken into several smaller units.

A nation … from afar, from the end of the earth: this is a normal way of speaking of a country a great distance from Israel.

As swift as the eagle flies: it does not appear that the swiftness is the main point of comparison, but rather the manner in which an eagle swoops down on its prey. Good News Translation has “will swoop down on you like an eagle,” and New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Revised English Bible, and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh have the same kind of statement. See a similar use of the figure in Jer 48.40; Hos 8.1. In cultures where eagles are unknown, we may use a similar bird if that is available, or say something like “just like a large bird of prey swoops down.”

A nation whose language you do not understand: this is natural, since these people would come from a far off land, and the Israelites would never have had any dealings with them. Contemporary English Version has a helpful model: “foreigners who speak a strange language.”

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 .

Their detestable things: that is, their idols. The pronoun their very likely refers back to both Egypt and the nations in verse 16, so it is possible to combine the two verses as Contemporary English Version does (and see also the alternative model below). The Hebrew word translated detestable carries a sense of thoroughly disgusting, completely revolting. New Revised Standard Version has “their … detestable things, the filthy idols,” somewhat like Good News Translation “their disgusting idols.”

Idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold: see a similar statement in 4.28. For a comment on idols see 4.16.

Which were among them: this will be repetitive in many languages and may be deleted, as Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version have done.

An alternative translation model combining verses 16 and 17 is the following:

• You know that when we lived in Egypt, you saw the Egyptians worship disgusting idols made of wood, stone, silver and gold. Then as you traveled through the lands of other nations, you saw those people worship other disgusting idols.

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 .

A hundred and twenty years old: the text states that Moses is 120 years old; it is not saying that this is his 120th birthday. In the book itself this is the day when Moses was giving this speech to the Israelites in the plains of Moab. Moses began the first of his addresses on the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year after the Israelites left Egypt (1.3, 5).

I am no longer able to go out and come in: that is, “to lead an active life” or “to get about” (New Revised Standard Version). Some, like Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version, take it in the more restricted sense of “to lead,” but the broader sense seems preferable (see 28.6, 19).

You shall not go over this Jordan: this Jordan is natural style in Hebrew, but in many other languages translators will prefer something like “the Jordan River” or even “the Jordan River here in front of you.” This decision by the LORD is referred to in 1.37; 3.27; 4.21-22; and see Num 20.12 for the occasion when the LORD took this decision.

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 alone did lead him: here the figure changes from the LORD carrying his people on his wings to leading them on their way; him refers to the people of Israel. So we may translate “The LORD alone led his people” (Good News Translation), or “Israel, the LORD led you” (Contemporary English Version).

There was no foreign god with him: this verse emphasizes that Yahweh did this alone, without help from any pagan god—thereby proving that Israel belongs to him alone (see 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 .

It is no trifle for you, but it is your life: see 30.20. This emphasizes the seriousness of the matter; what Moses has taught the people is not something insignificant that they can take or leave. Their very existence as a people depends on their obedience to the Law. Contemporary English Version has a helpful model: “The Law isn’t empty words. It can give you long life….”

Thereby you shall live long in the land: see 30.20. Thereby means “by means of it” and refers to obeying the Law, and Good News Translation has “Obey them [the teachings] and you will live….”

Possess: see 1.8. For parallels see 4.26, 40.

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 .