Bratcher, Robert and Hatton, Howard. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. New York: UBS, 2000.
Beat: this would be done with a stick, to knock down the olives.
You shall not go over the boughs again: they were not to go back and knock down the olives that did not fall off the first time.
At the end of this verse the Septuagint adds the command that is given in verse 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 .
Pass over the Jordan: that is, cross the river from the east side to the west side.
The land which the LORD your God gives you: a recurring statement (see 26.1).
Set up large stones: the text does not say how many stones; since all the words of this law (verse 3) were to be written on them, many would be required. Good News Translation has “some large stones.”
Plaster them with plaster: this would make it possible to write the laws on the stones, instead of having to carve them. Some suggest that this plaster was more in the nature of what is now called “whitewash” (New International Version). Whitewashing seems to have been practiced in Egypt. Contemporary English Version has “white plaster.” Other ways to express plaster them with plaster are “take lime and daub [or, cover] it over the stones,” or in cultures where lime or plaster are unknown, we may say “cover them with a white substance.”
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 the peoples of the earth: Contemporary English Version renders this as “everyone on earth.” This exaggerated language should be preserved in translation.
You are called by the name of the LORD: in essence this means that Yahweh has chosen the Israelites to be his own people; it indicates ownership. In 12.5 the place of worship is where Yahweh will “put his name” and live there—it will be his house, his home, with his people (also Jer 7.10-11). And Jer 14.9 has the same use of the idiom: the people of Israel are called by Yahweh’s name, meaning they are Yahweh’s people, they belong to him. Here Revised English Bible has “the LORD has named you as his very own,” and Good News Translation “that the LORD has chosen you to be his own people.” See also Num 6.27: “They [the priests] shall put my name on the people of Israel.” In 1 Kgs 8.43 Solomon says, in his prayer dedicating the Temple to Yahweh, “this house which I have built is called by thy name.” The Contemporary English Version translation “that you belong to the LORD” is a good model.
They will be afraid: for afraid see 1.29.
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 .
This is a grim description of siege conditions, with emphasis on cannibalism (see Lev 26.29; 2 Kgs 6.28-29; Jer 19.9; Lam 2.24; 4.10; Ezek 5.10).
You shall eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and daughters: the emphatic form should be reproduced in translation if possible. But if it sounds unnatural in a translator’s language, we may say, for example, “you will even eat the children” (Good News Translation).
Whom the LORD your God has given you: for this reason they are all the more precious.
In the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you: this describes the general situation, and it is better to place it at the beginning of the verse (see Good News Translation). This full statement is repeated, with slight variations, in verses 55 and 57. More natural ways of stating this should be used: “the desperate straits to which your enemies will reduce you during the siege,” or “while your [plural] enemies are surrounding your towns, you will become so desperate that you will even eat….” “Desperate” may be also expressed as “without hope,” “hopeless,” “feel that there is nothing else to do,” “feel there is no way out,” “feel that there is no other path to follow.”
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 .
Single him out from all the tribes of Israel: the LORD will concentrate all his punishments on that one person. Good News Translation has “The LORD will make an example of him before all….”
Calamity: from what follows, this is total and irreversible destruction. So we may say “and will destroy him [or, that person] completely.”
In accordance with all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the law: in Hebrew the passive participle written modifies the covenant; the Septuagint has “all the curses of the covenant that are written….” See a similar expression in verse 20. For law see 1.5.
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 .
This verse contains three pairs of terms that mean the same thing, making for an effective and attractive style in Hebrew. If they are natural and effective, a translation should try to match them.
Be strong and of good courage: see 3.28. This is expressed in New Revised Standard Version as “Be strong and bold”; New Jerusalem Bible has “Be strong, stand firm,” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh “Be strong and resolute,” Good News Translation “Be determined and confident”; or we may say something like “Keep your heart strong and don’t let it waver.”
Do not fear or be in dread: fear and dread mean exactly the same thing, and there may be difficulty in finding two words that will fit naturally. See 1.21, 29. A different way of saying this may be useful in some languages: “Don’t let them frighten you or terrify you.”
It is the LORD your God who goes with you: the idea is not simply to accompany the Israelites, but to provide them leadership and help; God is on their side. So Contemporary English Version has “will always be at your side.” However, in languages where translators are using direct speech, we may say, for example, “I, Yahweh your God, will always be at your side.”
He will not fail you or forsake you: see a similar promise in 4.31. To fail someone is to not keep a promise, not to do what you have promised to do. In this context Yahweh would not fail the Israelites by not helping them, as he said he would, or by deserting (forsake) them. Another way to express this sentence is “I will always help you and will never abandon 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 .
Stirred him to jealousy: see 4.24. God is spoken of in very human terms, as though he were a husband made jealous by the adulterous (extramarital) affairs of his wife.
Strange gods: the Hebrew is simply “strangers”; the meaning here is “pagan gods,” “gods of other nations.” Another way to express this is “They [or, You] caused Yahweh to be jealous when you worshiped foreign gods.”
Abominable practices: the poetic form places this Hebrew term in parallel with the idols of the first line; therefore this term refers, not the rites of worship of pagan gods as such, but to the idols themselves, as in verse 21 (see 7.25). So New Revised Standard Version has “abhorrent things,” and Contemporary English Version “disgusting idols.”
Provoked him to anger: see 4.25; 31.17.
Contemporary English Version restructures the verse in a helpful way:
• You made God jealous and angry
by worshiping disgusting idols
and foreign gods.
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 .
This is the blessing with which Moses … blessed: Good News Translation “that Moses … pronounced” is the normal way in English of referring to the act of speaking a blessing (also Revised English Bible, New International Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). A blessing is a gift from God (see 1.11). Moses prays for, or invokes, God’s blessings on the people. Good News Translation has the plural “the blessings,” but it is better to keep the singular form if this is natural in the language of the translation.
The man of God: see also Josh 14.6. In English the meaning of man of God is in the expression as a whole rather than in its individual words. It is used of Samuel in 1 Kgs 9.6, of the prophet Shemaiah in 1 Kgs 12.22, of Elijah in 2 Kgs 1.9-13, of Elisha in 2 Kgs 5.8, of the prophet Igdaliah in Jer 35.4, and of unnamed prophets in 1 Sam 2.27 and 1 Kgs 13.1. If the phrase “the man who belonged to God” or “the man who obeyed God” is much too general, the best solution will probably be “the prophet of God,” or “the man who spoke for God”; and the first part of the verse may also be expressed as “Moses spoke for God, and before he died, he asked God to do good things for the people of Israel, saying, ‘….’ ”
The children of Israel: as elsewhere, “the Israelites.”
Before his death: or “before he died.”
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 .