Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 5:6

In this verse Yahweh gives the reason why he is making this covenant with Israel. This statement also explains why he has the right to require that the Israelites obey the commandments of verses 7-21, which are the terms of the covenant. This historical prologue is like those found in treaties of that time between rulers and leaders of states.

I am the LORD your God: this standard phrase may be translated “I, Yahweh, am your God.” Most translations, however, are the same as Revised Standard Version.

Who brought you out: that is, “who led you out” or “who rescued you from.”

The house of bondage means “the country where you were slaves.” New International Version has “the land of slavery,” and Revised English Bible “the land where you lived as slaves.” The Israelites were not slaves in the sense of being forced to work without pay, and being the property of someone, but rather they were forced by the Egyptians to do heavy construction work. But at the same time they were provided with food and allowed to live in their homes in Goshen. So in languages where a distinction must be made between “slaves” as owned by someone, and people forced to do hard work, we may translate “… from Egypt where you were forced to do hard labor.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 6:7

Teach … diligently: this translates a Hebrew word that seems to mean “repeat,” or “say again and again”; this meaning is reinforced by the following shall talk of them. New Revised Standard Version translates “Recite them … and talk about them”; Revised English Bible has “repeat them … and speak of them,” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh “tell them … and keep on telling them.” Any of these is a good model for the translator to follow.

When you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way: this means while at home or away from home, which includes, of course, the whole time. The following when you lie down and when you rise is also a way of including the whole day, either “when you are asleep and when you are awake” or Good News Translation “when you are resting and when you are working.” (These two constructions are a figure of speech called “merism,” in which the two opposites include the whole subject.) Provided that such repetition is good style in a language, the translator should certainly follow the Hebrew.

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 .

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 7:18

The people are told that they must recall what God had done to the king of Egypt and all the other Egyptians when he took the Israelites out of there.

The verb form of you shall remember is emphatic: “you must always remember and never forget.” Such remembrance will cause the Israelites to lose their fear of the peoples of Canaan, as they invade the land. Remember may also be expressed as “bring to mind,” “recall,” and so on.

Pharaoh: see 6.22.

All Egypt: this could mean the land, but more likely it means the people, “all the Egyptians.” So Good News Translation has “to the king of Egypt and all his people.” We may also say “to all the people of Egypt and their king.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 9:10 - 9:11

For the description of the scene in verse 10, see 5.22.

The LORD gave me … written with the finger of God: a literal translation might be understood to refer to two different divine beings. It may be best to combine the two names as follows: “The LORD your God gave me … on which he himself had inscribed….” For written see 5.22. With the finger pictures God as having a human hand; the important sense is that God himself, and not Moses, did the writing.

On them were all the words: these words are the ten commandments, which Yahweh had inscribed himself (“with his own hand”).

On the mountain out of the midst of the fire: see 5.22.

The day of the assembly: the gathering of the Israelites at Mount Sinai was the day they became a nation, a people belonging to Yahweh. Good News Translation has “on the day that you were gathered there at the mountain.” See also 5.22.

At the end: verse 11 is a summary conclusion of the events at Mount Sinai. See Good News Translation for a helpful model.

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 .

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 10:19

For an almost exact parallel to this verse, see Lev 19.34 (see also Exo 22.21; 23.9). Love here refers to showing concern and care for these foreigners. Thus the translation may be “So you should show care and concern for…,” or even “So you should care for….”

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 .

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 11:31 - 11:32

All the words and phrases in this verse have appeared several times before.

Pass over the Jordan: this means to cross over to the west side of the river.

For statutes and ordinances see 4.1.

Which I set before you this day: this refers to what follows (chapters 12–26).

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 .

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 13:5

A careless reading of this verse as it appears in Revised Standard Version could connect the verbal phrase to make you leave the way to the words immediately before it, the LORD your God … redeemed you out of the house of bondage. Actually it goes with the description of the person who has taught rebellion against the LORD your God. Good News Translation attempts to solve this problem by making the clause to make you leave the way part of a new sentence. However, another possibility is to place the clause who brought you out of the land … at the beginning of the verse, as follows:

• … be faithful to him. He rescued you from working like slaves in Egypt. So you must put to death any prophet or interpreter of dreams who tells you to rebel against the LORD.

Shall be put to death: such a person is a traitor and must be executed at once. In some languages the passive voice must be transformed to the active; for example, “But you must execute [or, kill] such a prophet or….”

He has taught rebellion against the LORD your God: in the religious realm this is called apostasy; in the political realm it is rebellion or sedition. Here taught rebellion means “urged you to rebel”; Revised English Bible has “preached rebellion”; or we may say “tells you to disobey the LORD.”

Who brought you out of the land of Egypt: see 5.6; 6.12.

Redeemed you out of the house of bondage: see 7.8.

To make you leave the way: the life of obedience to God is often pictured as a journey, a path a person must walk. In a number of languages this figurative language may be retained; for example, “to cause you to stop walking on the path on which the LORD your God commanded you to walk.”

You shall purge the evil: see 17.7, 12. The would-be leader of a rebellion against Yahweh is seen as an impurity or an uncleanness that must be gotten rid of in order to keep the people healthy and clean. Alternative translation models for this final sentence are “You shall put this person to death in order to get rid of this evil thing from among you”; or in languages where it will be difficult to talk about evil apart from the person who does it, “That person is evil, so you must put him to death.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 15:4

Notice that verses 4-5 are one sentence. However, there are better ways of rearranging the material than the one followed by Revised Standard Version (which is difficult to read aloud effectively); see Good News Translation. It is also possible to combine verses 4 and 5 (see the alternative translation model at the end of verse 6).

But there will be no poor among you: this initial statement is explained by two further comments. These are that (1) the LORD will bless the people, and (2) the people must obey the LORD’s commands (verse 3).

There will be no poor among you: in light of the contradictory statement in verse 11, the affirmation here is not absolute, but dependent on the people’s faithful obedience to Yahweh’s commands. Poor will be expressed in a number of languages as “a person with few possessions.”

The LORD will bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance to possess: this is frequently stressed, and these terms appear many times in this book. The verb will bless is in a compound form, which makes for an emphatic statement: “he will surely bless you.” For a comment on the translation of bless, see 1.11. For the LORD your God see 1.6. For the terms inheritance and possess, see 1.8, 35. This sentence may be placed at the end of verse 5 (see the alternative model at the end of the comments on 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 .