And command the people may be also expressed as “He told me to give you the following instructions:…” (Good News Translation), or “And give the people these orders:…” (Contemporary English Version).

You are about to pass through the territory of your brethren the sons of Esau: the Israelites, proceeding north, would go through Edom, where the descendants of Esau lived. These sons of Esau were a kindred race; in English “kindred” (New Revised Standard Version) or “distant relatives” (Good News Translation) is the best way to express the meaning. Seir is Edom (1.2). An alternative translation model for this sentence may be “You will very soon walk [or, travel] through the hill country of Edom. It is the land that belongs to your distant relatives, the descendants of Esau.” For “descendants” see 1.8.

They will be afraid of you: the relation between this statement and what follows is not clear. If the Edomites were afraid of the Israelites, why should the Israelites be careful not to fight them? Revised English Bible provides a good answer by translating “Although they are afraid of you, be very careful not to quarrel with them…” (also New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). And the adversative “but” used in Good News Translation, “… but you must not start a war with” (also Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje), is another way to handle the matter. Either one makes for a good translation.

So take good heed: this means to be careful, to not act rashly, and goes with what follows: “so be careful not to attack them.” New Revised Standard Version has “be very careful not to engage in battle with them.”

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 .

All these were cities: for the sixty fortified towns, see 2.36.

The Hebrew word translated gates appears in its dual form, which explains New Revised Standard Version “double gates,” and the footnote in New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh “double-leaf doors.” This is quite possible, because the metal bars (usually bronze) were normally laid across the inside of a pair of double gates to keep them from being pushed open by enemies. Most translations, though, have simply “gates.” The phrase gates and bars means “gates with bars,” “barred gates” (Revised English Bible), and may be also rendered as “gates with metal bars across them on the inside,” or even “double gates locked with bars.”

Many unwalled villages: these were small farming villages not big enough or wealthy enough to have walls or strong fences around them. In case of war the villagers would go to the nearest fortified town. The Hebrew word translated unwalled villages appears in the Septuagint as a proper name, “the Perizzites,” which is what New Jerusalem Bible has. Other translations have “villages without walls” or the like; Revised English Bible has “open settlements.” This Handbook prefers the Hebrew text.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• They had protected these towns with high walls [or, fences] and double gates locked with bronze bars. There were also many villages with no walls [or, fences].

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 people heard the sound of Yahweh’s voice, as he spoke to them out of the midst of the fire that blazed on top of Mount Sinai. The verse stresses the fact that there was no visible manifestation of Yahweh; only the sound of his voice was heard.

Good News Translation essentially combines this clause and the final one with “there was only a voice”; but this is not emphatic enough. The text avoids saying “You did not see Yahweh”; it says “you saw no form.” (It is interesting to notice that in Num 12.8 Yahweh says that Moses does see “the form” of Yahweh when Yahweh talks to him.) The Hebrew noun (also verse 15) means here the “visible form” of a living being; in other contexts it means an artifact, the representation in wood or metal of a god (see 4.16, 23, 25; 5.8).

If in a given language there is no word to express the notion of “visible form,” a translation may say “You saw nothing”; “You didn’t see a thing [or, anyone].”

There was only a voice: “you only heard a voice”; “you only heard someone speaking.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• Tell them how the LORD spoke to you from the fire. You heard him speaking, but you didn’t see anyone. All you heard was someone speaking.

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 .

Not with our fathers … but with us: for not with Good News Translation has “not only with,” and Contemporary English Version translates “that agreement wasn’t only for.” It is not clear who “our ancestors” (our fathers) are in this context. They could be the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (see 1.8; 4.31), but it seems more probable that they are the fathers and mothers of these people, who had gathered at Mount Sinai, where the covenant was made (4.10-14), forty years earlier, and who had subsequently died (1.35; 2.14-16). So we may translate “parents” or “mothers and fathers” here. This view is even more likely in light of what follows: who are all of us here alive this day (see 4.4), which contrasts with those who had died since the revelation at Mount Sinai. Israel is regarded as a corporate unity at all times, regardless of the generations of which it is made up.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• Yahweh made this agreement [or, covenant] not only with our parents, but also with us who are here today.

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 .

Moses continues addressing Israel in the second singular, except for you may multiply greatly, which is plural.

Hear therefore, O Israel: Hear is an attention-getter: “Listen to me, people of Israel!”; “Pay attention, Israelites!” This vocative addresses all the people as one individual. “Listen to them” (Good News Translation) departs needlessly from the meaning of the Hebrew text.

Be careful to do them: this is a way of saying “Do your best to obey them” (see 5.1).

That it may go well with you: obedience will bring blessings of prosperity and peace (see the same language in 5.29).

That you may multiply greatly: this means to have many descendants. Both Good News Translation “a mighty nation” and Contemporary English Version “a successful and powerful nation” emphasize the consequence of being a nation with a large population; it is better to stay close to the immediate meaning of the Hebrew text (see 1.10).

The God of your fathers: fathers refers to their ancestors, especially Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (see 1.8 and 6.10).

A land flowing with milk and honey: this is traditional language (see Exo 3.8), meaning “a rich and fertile land” (11.9; 26.9, 15; 27.3; 31.20). Many modern translations still keep the biblical figure (New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible). The meaning is that the land is a good one for large herds and flocks (milk), and for crops and fruit trees (honey is probably the thick syrup produced from dates, not wild honey made by bees). In some languages this phrase has been deeply established in the Christian vocabulary and may need to be retained, but in many other languages a literal translation will be meaningless. In such a case “rich and fertile land” (Good News Translation) will be a suitable alternative model. We may also say something like “a land full of cattle and many crops (or, much fruit).”

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 .

Take away from you all sickness: this does not only mean that God will heal them from their illnesses, but that he will not allow them to get sick. Revised English Bible “will keep you free from all sickness” or Good News Translation “will protect you from all sicknesses” are better than Revised Standard Version.

None of the evil diseases of Egypt: this is the negative counterpart of the blessings: “he will not inflict on you any of the evil diseases of Egypt.” These diseases are probably the plagues (so New Jerusalem Bible “evil plagues”); most translations use the more general “dreadful diseases” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Good News Translation) or “terrible diseases” (New International Version). Some of the most common diseases in Egypt included skin diseases, boils, eye infections, bowel dysfunctions. God will keep his people free from such diseases and will inflict them (lay them) upon their enemies.

Which you knew: this does not mean that the Israelites themselves had experienced these diseases (as Good News Translation translates), but that they knew about them (“about which you know,” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). The Septuagint has “which you saw and knew.”

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 .

Verse 6 summarizes what is said in verse 4-5, and adds the final comment: you are a stubborn people. The Hebrew phrase rendered stubborn is “stiff-necked,” used always of people (see 9.13; 10.16; 31.27; also Acts 7.51). It indicates their unwillingness to obey God’s commands. In some languages this will be rendered with figurative expressions; for example, “hard-necked,” “hard-hearted,” or “bone-hearted.”

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 .

Circumcise … the foreskin of your heart: this figure of speech reflects the rite of circumcision, by which a Jewish male became a member of the chosen race, bound to God by the covenant which God had made with Abraham, of which circumcision was the sign (Gen 17.1-14). To “circumcise … the … heart” is to make your disposition and desire obedient to the terms of the covenant, that is, to obey God’s laws (Jer 4.3-4). The meaning is clarified by what follows, and be no longer stubborn (see 9.6, 13).

In very few languages will this figure of speech mean very much; in fact in some languages such figurative language will be vulgar and offensive. Some translations provide a footnote explaining the figure. It is better to abandon the figure altogether and give the meaning in a straightforward manner, as Good News Translation does with “be obedient to the LORD.” See Bible en français courant “be completely consecrated to the LORD your God.” But Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “Put in your heart the sign of the covenant” (similarly BÍBLIA para todos Edição Comum) is not very clear.

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 .