When Moses commanded us a law: Moses is still speaking, and in many languages it will be helpful to indicate this by saying, for example, “I gave you God’s law.” For the verb commanded see 2.37. It is better to start a new sentence here, as New Revised Standard Version does: “Moses charged us with the law.” It is possible to join verse 4 to verse 3, as Revised Standard Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and New International Version do; however, this Handbook recommends that a new sentence begin here and that verse 4 be joined to verse 5. If this is done it is possible to begin by including information from verse 5b and c with 4a as follows: “ When all the tribes of Israel gathered together, I gave you God’s Law….”

A possession for the assembly of Jacob: the assembly of Jacob (see 9.10) is the people of Israel. For possession see the verb in 1.8; Good News Translation has “our nation’s most treasured possession”; or we may say “the most precious thing that our nation has.”

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 .