Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 32:41

If I whet my glittering sword: this makes for an awkward statement. It is better to say, as New Revised Standard Version does, “When I whet…,” or to follow New International Version, “When I sharpen my flashing sword.” Or it is possible to make this a statement, as Bible en français courant does: “I sharpen and polish my sword.” In cultures where swords are unknown, but other kinds of knives are used, there are many ways to express sword; for example, “a large long knife,” “a large knife like a machete,” or “a weapon called a ‘sword.’”

My hand takes hold on judgment: this can mean “when I get ready to judge [or, punish],” or else “When I seize the instrument of judgment,” that is, my … sword.

Everything considered, it seems best to take this verse as the very oath, or vow, that God makes:

• I will sharpen [and polish] my sword,
I will grasp [or, seize] it to enforce justice.
I will take revenge on my enemies,
I will repay those who hate me.

For vengeance see verse 35.

Requite: in this context the verb means to pay back, to punish the enemies as they deserve.

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 33:25

Your bars shall be iron and bronze: this is quite unintelligible. It speaks of a strong defense. A “bar” is a long and strong piece of wood or iron that is used to keep a door or a gate closed against anyone who wants to enter to do harm. New International Version has “The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze.” Bible en français courant offers a better model: “He is secure behind his doors with bars of iron and bronze.”

As your days, so shall your strength be: in the context strength is security, not might. So New Jerusalem Bible has “and your security [be] as lasting as your days,” that is, “may you be secure all your life,” and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh “and [may] your security last all your days.” See also Good News Translation. As commentators point out, the Hebrew word translated strength is otherwise unknown in Hebrew; but the context seems clear enough, and the Septuagint translates “your strength.”

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 19:1

This is the beginning of a new chapter, so translators should begin with something like “Moses said to the Israelites:….”

Verses 1-2 are a single long sentence, and it is possible to divide it into two or more sentences by making verse 1 a complete sentence:

• The LORD your God will destroy … and you will live in their towns and houses. After this [has happened], you must….

Cuts off: here this means to “destroy” (New International Version, Good News Translation), “exterminate” (Revised English Bible), “wipe from the earth,” or whatever other verb suits the context.

Whose land the LORD your God gives you: again the point is made that the land of Canaan is God’s gift to the people of Israel.

Dispossess them: this means to drive them out of their towns and homes. For further comments, see 12.1.

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 .

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 32:45-46

Had finished speaking all these words to all Israel: see 31.36; 32.44.

Lay to heart: that is, “cherish,” “memorize,” “remember,” “meditate on.” Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje has “Think seriously,” and Contemporary English Version has “Always remember.”

All the words which I enjoin upon you this day: it is difficult to say whether all the words here means the words of the song that Moses has just recited, or some or all of the earlier part of the book of Deuteronomy. To enjoin means to direct, order, command; it is more than to advise or recommend.

In keeping with the parallel passages 4.26; 30.19; 31.28, New Revised Standard Version translates “Take to heart all the words that I am giving in witness against you this day” (see Revised English Bible “all the warnings”). It is recommended that translators follow this interpretation of the text; otherwise they should feel free to follow the Good News Translation translation, “Be sure to obey all these commands that I have given you today.”

You may command them to your children: see 4.9.

That they may be careful to do all the words of this law: this means all the teachings in the book of Deuteronomy (see this law in 1.5); so Contemporary English Version has “everything written in The Book of God’s Law.”

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 1:15

So I took the heads of your tribes: the text does not say that the people picked these men out; this may be understood from the narrative, but there is no account of it. It would not do for the translation to go beyond the Hebrew text and say that the people picked out the leaders. By the verb took, the text means that Moses summoned them to come to him.

Wise and experienced men: using two of the three terms in verse 13. We assume that in verse 13 “men” refers to males, and here in verse 15 they are also males. The “leaders” (Good News Translation) of tribes would always have been men.

And set them as heads over you: this seems to suggest an installation ceremony.

Commanders: since this is primarily a military position, the equivalent of “captains” or “chiefs” may be used. In descending order of authority these men were placed in charge of groups of one thousand men, one hundred men, fifty men, and ten men. Languages lacking terms for these quantities will have to use other means to display the difference in the number of men in each of the four groups referred to.

Officers: it is difficult to determine what was the precise responsibility of these men; they appear with the elders (Num 11.16) and with judges (Deut 16.18; Josh 8.33), and also in military contexts (Deut 20.5, 8, 9; Josh 1.10; 3.2). Dhorme translates “scribes,” but this does not seem appropriate here. The English word “officers” will be understood by most readers in a military sense; New Revised Standard Version is better with “officials.” It seems better to choose some more general term; Bible en français courant has “the task of overseeing.” An alternative translation model for this sentence is “I also appointed other officials as overseers of your people.”

Throughout your tribes: this modifies all the actions in the earlier part of the verse. Again, the translator must be aware of the possible misunderstanding of the possessive “your.” Contemporary English Version avoids this problem with “your official leaders,” also leaving tribes implicit.

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 2:12

Horites: New Revised Standard Version has “Horim,” which is closer to the Hebrew form. The name probably means “cave dwellers,” but this cannot be proved; it does not mean “people of Hor” or “descendants of Hor.” The name should be transliterated: “the people called Horites….”

Seir is Edom. The sons of Esau are Esau’s descendants, that is, the Edomites (see verses 4-5).

Dispossessed them: that is, “drove them out of their country.”

Destroyed them from before them, and settled in their stead: this means that the Edomites completely defeated and killed the Horites and took possession of their territory, making it their own country.

As Israel did to the land of their possession: the Edomites did what the Israelites were to do later in their conquest of Canaan. Even though the Israelites, like the Edomites, conquered the country by force, the point is always made that it was Yahweh who gave them the land for them to possess.

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 3:14

Jair the Manassite: this translates the Hebrew “Jair son of Manasseh,” and that is how it is translated by New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible, Bible en français courant, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible. But Jair does not appear to have been the son of Manasseh; 1 Chr 2.21-22 says that Segub, the son of Machir’s daughter, was Jair’s father (making Machir his great-grandfather and Manasseh his great-great-grandfather). So it is better to translate “Jair a descendant of Manasseh” (Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, New International Version) or “Jair, from the tribe of Manasseh” (Good News Translation).

The border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites: it is better to translate “the border of Geshur and Maacah,” or “the territories of Geshur and Maacah” (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). They were small Aramean states south of Mount Hermon. An alternative translation model for the first part of this verse is “Jair, from the tribe of Manasseh, conquered the entire region of the Argob, which was also called Bashan. This region goes as far as the territories of Geshur and Maacah.”

Called the villages after his own name, Havvoth-jair: the Hebrew name means “villages [or, settlements] of Jair.”

As it is to this day: that is, at the time this account was written (see 2.22).

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 4:21

Furthermore: this is misleading, not justified by the text or context. It is better to start a new paragraph with this verse, as does New Revised Standard Version. The restructuring of Good News Translation can be imitated, “Because of you the LORD was angry with me,” or that of Contemporary English Version, “The LORD was angry with me because of what you said.”

Angry with me: no attempt should be made to soften the vivid language used in the Bible of God’s feelings. For angry or “angered” see 1.34, 37.

On your account: see 1.37; 3.26. In Num 20.12 and Deut 32.48-52 the fault is said to lie with Moses and Aaron.

He swore: see 1.8.

I should not cross the Jordan and I should not enter: this is essentially one action, not two: “I would not cross the Jordan River to enter…” (Good News Translation), or “that he would not let me cross the River Jordan into the….”

That good land: rich, fertile; New Jerusalem Bible “the fine country.” See also 1.25.

Gives you for an inheritance: this is the first occurrence of the noun (see the verb “inherit” in 1.38). The meaning is that the land of Canaan is a gift from God. Since inheritance usually assumes the death of the original owner, it is better not to use it; so Good News Translation “he is giving you” (also Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, Contemporary English Version); see also verse 38.

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 .