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 .

Verses 26-27 are a turning point in the song; from his threats to destroy the people, the LORD turns to a promise to forgive and restore them.

Here Yahweh quotes himself, and this is in a song that Moses is reciting. In verse 20 Moses starts quoting Yahweh—a quotation that goes to the end of verse 42. Here in verse 26 it may be awkward and most unnatural to try to imitate the Hebrew structure, and the translator may choose to bypass the quotation, as Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version do; see also New Revised Standard Version. So verse 26 can begin, with Yahweh as speaker, “I thought I would scatter them…, 27 but I feared provocation….” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “I might have….” Contemporary English Version has “I wanted to scatter you.”

I would have said: as the context shows, the consequence of his possible declaration keeps Yahweh from saying this; so the meaning is, “I could have said … but I didn’t, because….” See in 9.25-29, where Moses makes the same kind of plea to God. In some languages it will be necessary to state clearly that Yahweh is speaking; for example: Yahweh says, “I might have said, ‘I will scatter…,’ ” or “Yahweh says, ‘I might have scattered….’ ”

I will scatter them afar: there is some doubt about the form of the Hebrew text, but the sense of dispersion is what the Septuagint has (see the same verb in 4.27), and this is what most translations say. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “reduced them to naught,” New Jerusalem Bible has “crush them to dust,” and Good News Translation “destroyed them completely,” the sense of which more closely parallels the next line. It is recommended that translators follow this model.

I will make the remembrance of them cease from among men: see the similar statement in 25.19; see also Num 14.12. God would have destroyed them so completely that in the future people would not even remember that they had existed.

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 .

Bless … his substance: the noun substance can be used of skill or strength (Good News Translation, and also New International Version “all his skills”); most often it means wealth or property (see 8.18), which is the meaning here. So we may also translate “LORD give the people of this tribe the power to become rich,” or “I pray that the LORD will give you the power to….”

Accept the work of his hands: this does not seem to refer to a single thing, but to everything the Levites do (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version).

Crush the loins of his adversaries: it may be that in some languages the equivalent of loins (the sexual organs of a man) in this context is still part of current speech; it certainly is not in English. It is better to use a verb like “defeat” or “destroy,” with the direct object “his [or their, or your] enemies.”

That they rise not again: the enemies are to be defeated and remain powerless forever, never a threat to the people of Israel again. Another way to express this is “so that they [the enemies] will never be able to fight you again.”

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 .

Verses 10-12 are one sentence in Hebrew, long but not complex. Good News Translation restructures so as to avoid the long time clause at the beginning of verse 10 (And when the LORD …), before the main verb in verse 12 (“then take heed…”). Another way to restructure the passage is as follows:

• The LORD your God promised your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he would give you the land into which he is taking you. This land has large and prosperous towns that you did not build; it has houses full of good things that you did not put in them; and it has wells that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant. When the LORD takes you into this land, and you have all the food you want, be sure that you do not forget the LORD, who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves.

With the beginning of this new section, Moses may again be introduced as the speaker.

And when the LORD your God brings you: the point of view here (brings) is from within the land itself; since in this story Moses and the Israelites are not yet in the land, it is better in English to translate “takes.” So Contemporary English Version has “Now he will take you there.”

Which he swore to your fathers …: for the promise that God made, “with an oath,” to give them the land, and for your fathers, see 1.8.

Great and goodly cities: Moses is talking about the “large and prosperous” towns in Canaan.

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 .

With the beginning of a new section, Moses should be reintroduced as the speaker.

One kind of homicide and another: see Exo 21.12-14. In many languages it will be necessary to define the two types: “kill someone on purpose [murder],” or “kill someone accidentally” (similar to Contemporary English Version).

One kind of legal right and another: in the broadest sense of the term, “lawsuits” (New International Version).

One kind of assault and another: this may be bodily assault, or else damage to property.

Most modern translations reduce the wordiness considerably; see New International Version, for example, “bloodshed, lawsuits, or assaults.” However, some translators will need to expand; for example, “certain cases of property rights or bodily injury” (Good News Translation), or “whether injury or property damage was done by accident or on purpose” (Contemporary English Version).

Any case within your towns which is too difficult for you: this includes the different cases cited and any others that may arise. Too difficult for you means too difficult for the local magistrates to settle; consequently Good News Translation has “the local judges,” and Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje “the judge in that town.” It will be helpful to place this clause at the beginning of the verse; for example, Good News Translation “It may be that some cases will be too difficult for the local judges to decide.” Contemporary English Version repeats the phrase too difficult: “It may be difficult to find out the truth in some legal cases in your town…. If the case is too difficult, take it to….”

Arise and go up: this means simply “go”; the verb arise functions as an auxiliary. The up may be significant if the writer had Jerusalem in mind; for example, “go up to the….”

The place which the LORD your God will choose: the central sanctuary (see 16.16).

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 .