Every place on which the sole of your foot treads: this is a literal translation of the Hebrew text and means simply “everywhere you go,” “all the territory you walk over,” or “all the ground that you march over” (Good News Translation).

The wilderness: the desert in the south.

And Lebanon: that is, as far as the Lebanon Mountains, in the north (see Good News Translation), since at that time there was no country known as Lebanon.

From the River, the river Euphrates: the eastern border. See 1.7.

The western Sea: that is, the Mediterranean, the western border.

The directions here are: south, north, east, and west. In some languages there is a fixed order, such as north, south, east, and west in English. Translators should feel free to follow the normal order used in their own languages.

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 .

Here directions are given for the burnt offerings (see also verse 6).

Offer the flesh and blood upon the altar: the whole animal is to be burned on the altar.

The blood of your sacrifices: in Revised Standard Version sacrifices appears to refer to the same burnt offerings. Actually this is another kind of sacrifice, mentioned in 27.7 and elsewhere, and which in Hebrew is there called an “offering of shalom” (Good News Translation “fellowship offerings,” Revised Standard Version “peace offerings,” and New Revised Standard Version “offerings of well-being”; see also Lev 3; 7.11-36). These were offerings to affirm shalom or “fellowship” with a fellow Israelite and with God. This should be made clear in translation. So Bible en français courant has “If they are complete sacrifices…; if they are fellowship sacrifices….” Another way to express sacrifices here is “Offerings to restore fellowship with people.” For the different types of sacrifice, see verse 6.

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 .

Then you shall turn it into money: this simply means “Sell your crop [or, produce],” that is, sell the one tenth of the crops that is to be taken to the sanctuary. The it refers back to the tithe in verse 24. Contemporary English Version has “then sell this part.”

Bind up the money in your hand: New Revised Standard Version is better in English, “With the money secure in hand.” But the simpler and more natural “take your money with you” (New International Version, Good News Translation) is better again. What is indicated is that the silver pieces would be tied securely in a cloth, or napkin, for easy and safe carrying. Money here does not refer to coins but to pieces of silver, of varying sizes.

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 keep the feast of weeks to the LORD your God: to keep means to celebrate. A translator is free to translate literally the feast of weeks but may prefer the more meaningful “Harvest Festival” (Good News Translation). To the LORD your God means “in honor of the LORD your God,” or “to honor the LORD your God.”

With the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand: in this rather unwieldy clause the Hebrew word translated the tribute occurs only here in the Old Testament, and its precise form and meaning are in doubt. The rendering of New Revised Standard Version is supported by other translations and commentaries and should be followed: “contributing a freewill offering in proportion to the blessing that you have received from the LORD your God”; so New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “offering your freewill contribution according as the LORD your God has blessed you,” and New International Version “giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessing the LORD your God has given you” (and see Good News Translation). Some translators will wish to make the meaning of as … blesses you clear; for example, “Bring him [Yahweh] a freewill offering [or, offering from the heart], depending upon how much grain he has given 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 .

The provision: the same noun is used at the beginning of 15.2. It indicates what is to be done. So we may translate “This is what you must do [or, This is the rule] in the case of someone who….”

The manslayer, who by fleeing there may save his life: this is rather complex. New International Version has “This is the rule concerning the man who kills another and flees there to save his life,” and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh “Here is an example of how someone may save his life by fleeing to them.” Another possibility is “This is the rule about a person who kills another person and flees to one of these towns in order to save his [or her] life.” What follows deals with the case of the person who is legally allowed to flee to one of these towns and thus avoid being killed.

If any one kills his neighbor unintentionally: here neighbor means simply “another person” (New Revised Standard Version), or, more precisely, a fellow-Israelite; it does not indicate someone who lives next door. The Hebrew verb is literally “to strike” or “to hit,” here meaning to kill.

Unintentionally: that is, accidentally, without meaning to.

Without having been at enmity with him in the past: this is stated in order to further remove the possibility of murder.

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 .

For a fuller statement of this law, see Num 15.37-41. A tassel is an ornament made of threads or cords bound at one end.

The cloak was the long outer garment.

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 .

And if she goes and becomes another man’s wife: the text does not say how this happened. It only states that it has happened: “and gets married again.” In certain languages this will be stated as “If some other man takes her as his wife.”

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 .