Her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife: this is the conclusion and the essential part of the whole regulation. Again, the Hebrew is quite redundant; the information who sent her away is not needed, although there is no harm in including it if it is not poor style. Both Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version have “her first husband.” We may also say “the first man who took her as his wife.”

After she has been defiled: this “defilement” is the result of her having married another man in addition to her first husband. So far as the first husband is concerned, she is defiled, that is, ritually impure. It is almost as if she had committed adultery. Good News Translation takes it that this is from the husband’s point of view; note also Revised English Bible “for him she has become unclean.” This is a possible model, but the absolute way of stating it as in Revised Standard Version and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh (“she has been defiled”) may be better.

An abomination before the LORD: or “the LORD hates this.” See 7.25.

You shall not bring guilt upon the land: instead of guilt a word like “sin” may be better (see Good News Translation). But it may be better to try to express the idea of the effect this sin would have on the land itself. The land, that is, the country of Israel, is seen as having a moral quality that can be polluted by sin. So something like “you will cause the land to be contaminated [or, be made impure] by sin” may be better (so Contemporary English Version “their marriage would pollute the land”).

The land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance: the standard reminder; see 4.21.

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 .