You shall not add … nor take from: the Law is regarded as a complete and perfect whole, and the Israelites are not to add any more rules to it nor take any out. So Good News Translation has “Do not add anything to what I command you, and do not take anything away.”

The Law is here called the word (which I command you). But the Hebrew word for word can have the more general sense of “matter,” “subject,” or even “thing,” and that is how New Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New International Version, and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy take it here: “You shall not add anything to what I am commanding you….”

Which I command you: see “which I teach you” in verse 1.

Commandments translates the word most commonly used for the laws of Israel; it appears forty-three times in this book.

The LORD your God: see 1.10.

It is possible to reorder the clauses of this verse as follows:

• I have told you everything that Yahweh your [or, our] God has commanded you to do. Don’t add anything or take anything away.

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 eyes have seen: this can be said more simply, “You have seen” or, more emphatically, “With your very own eyes you saw.” New Revised Standard Version “You have seen for yourselves” is good.

What the LORD did at Baal-peor: this refers to what is reported in Num 25.1-9. Baal, the Canaanite god of fertility, had a sanctuary at Mount Peor, in Moab, which may be the same as the town Bethpeor (3.29; see map, page xii). The Good News Translation model is a good one: “You yourselves saw what the LORD did at Mount Peor.”

Destroyed all the men who followed the Baal of Peor: here the verb “destroy” means “to kill,” and “follow” means “to worship,” “to become a devotee of.” The Baal of Peor may also be expressed as “The god Baal at Mount Peor.” For “god” see 3.4.

It is possible to rearrange the clauses of this verse as follows:

• You yourselves saw how he killed everyone among you who worshiped the god Baal at Mount Peor.

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 .

You who held fast to: the verb means “to be loyal,” “to be faithful.” New Revised Standard Version translates “who remained faithful to.”

Are all alive this day: the lesson is clear. If the Israelites remain faithful to Yahweh, they will indeed live; if they reject Yahweh, they will die as did the 24,000 at Mount Peor.

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 constituent parts of this verse appear in 4.1, where they have been dealt with. Here Moses says he has already taught the Israelites the statutes and ordinances they are to obey.

As the LORD my God commanded me: the first singular pronoun my should be retained in translation, unless it means for readers that Moses’ God is not the God of the people he is addressing. Some languages will express this as “As the LORD [or, Yahweh] whom I worship told me to do.”

Do them: that is, “obey,” “put into practice,” “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 .

Keep them and do them: that is, “Obey them faithfully” (Good News Translation, and similarly Contemporary English Version), “Practice them carefully.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “Observe them faithfully”; New International Version and Revised English Bible “Observe them carefully,” and New Revised Standard Version “Observe them diligently.”

That will be your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the peoples: by carefully obeying God’s laws, the Israelites will be regarded by their neighbors as a wise and intelligent people, as a people full of wisdom and good sense. Alternative ways of saying this are “Obey them faithfully, and this will show the people of other nations how wise you are” (Good News Translation), or “If you faithfully obey the things that I have taught you to do, you will show the people of other nations that you are very wise.”

When they hear all these statutes: this probably means “when they learn of” or “when they know about” (Revised English Bible). New Jerusalem Bible has “Once they know what all the laws are.” It does not mean that all the laws would be read to the other nations. Contemporary English Version has a good model: “In fact, everyone who hears about your laws will say….”

Upon learning of these laws, the neighboring peoples will exclaim, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people”—using the same two adjectives to describe them. Other ways to render this are “The people of this great nation must be very wise” or “The people of this large and powerful nation must be….” Great here means both large in number and politically powerful.

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 .

After the direct quotation in verse 6 of what people of other nations will say about the Israelites, in verse 7 Moses resumes his address to the people. To ensure that those who hear the text being read aloud understand this, it may be helpful to make verse 7 a separate paragraph and begin it with “And Moses continued….”

Moses’ words in verses 7-8 are in the form of two rhetorical questions, and in some languages it will be useful to render them as direct statements, as Good News Translation does. The point of Moses’ rhetorical questions is that Israel’s God, Yahweh, always answers promptly and decisively whenever the people pray for his help.

A god: the Hebrew word is plural in form, but in most instances it is singular in meaning; here, however, some translations translate it as plural, “gods” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible en français courant, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New International Version). It seems preferable, however, to take it as singular. For god see 3.24.

So near to it as the LORD our God is to us: if the figure of physical nearness raises difficulties for the readers, it may be better to say “so quick [or, ready] to help it as the LORD our God is ready to help us.” For another instance of this figure, see Psa 145.18; and see the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal in 1 Kgs 18.20-40.

Whenever we call upon him: “every time we pray for him to help us.”

In some languages it will be helpful to use at least three sentences for translating this verse:

• No other nation, no matter whether it is great or small, has a god like ours. The LORD our God [or, The God whom we worship] is quick to help us. He answers us whenever we call for him to help.

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 another rhetorical question, whose answer is “None.” It may be a good idea to translate it as an emphatic statement of fact: “And there is surely no other great nation….”

Statutes and ordinances: see 4.1.

Righteous: applied to laws, “fair, right, just.”

All this law: or “this entire Law.” The Hebrew noun torah is related to the verb “to teach”; but the translation of the noun in the Septuagint by the Greek noun “law” has been carried over into the LatinVulgate and major European languages, including English. Most standard translations still use “law,” but Biblia Dios Habla Hoy here has “teaching,” and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates “as perfect as all this Teaching.” Revised English Bible has “code of laws,” and New International Version “this body of laws.” Translators must determine whether the use of “law” is so deep-seated that another word such as “teaching” is not practical, and also whether the use of “law” gives the correct sense for readers in their language. Whatever the initial use and meaning of the Hebrew noun torah, at the time Deuteronomy was written the Torah was, in fact, Israel’s code of laws. A translation like “has rules and regulations as fair as all this law” maintains the repetition of the Hebrew (see Revised Standard Version) but will be too wordy in many languages. Good News Translation reduces the repetition with “No other nation … has laws so just as those that I have taught you today,” while Contemporary English Version has “… has laws that are as fair as the ones I have given you.” If their languages do not have a number of different terms for “rules and regulations” like the Hebrew, translators are advised to follow Good News Translation or Contemporary English Version.

Which I set before you this day: Moses is doing this orally, of course, not in writing, so the translation can be “this law [or, these laws] that I am giving you today” (so Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje; also New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible, New Revised Standard Version).

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 .

It is a good idea to begin a new paragraph here, as Revised Standard Version does. The word translated Only marks a transition, calling attention to what follows. It may be alternatively translated as “But this one thing,” “Just be sure that,” and so on.

Take heed and keep your soul diligently: literally “guard yourself and guard your soul earnestly.” Israel is addressed in the second person singular, but in many languages it will be more natural style to use the second person plural here (see verse 14). New Revised Standard Version provides a good model: “But take care and watch yourselves closely”; also New International Version “Be careful and…” or Contemporary English Version “be very careful.”

Lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen: lest you forget means “so that you will not forget” or “in order not to forget” (New Revised Standard Version). This clause should be bound closely with what comes before it: “… and make sure that you do not forget what you saw”—referring to God’s appearance to the people at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19–20). An alternative translation model for the first part of this verse is “So you must be careful not to forget the things you have seen God do.”

And lest they depart from your heart may also be expressed as “Keep on remembering them,” “Keep on reminding yourselves” (Contemporary English Version), or idiomatically as “Keep them always in your heart.”

All the days of your life may be rendered as “as long as you live” (Good News Translation). The whole sentence may be expressed as “For as long as you live, keep on reminding yourselves about them.”

Make them known: “teach them.” This theme recurs frequently in the book; see 6.7, 20; 11.19; 31.13; 32.46.

Your children and your children’s children: “your children and grandchildren.” No doubt great-grandchildren would be included also, should an Israelite live long enough to have 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 .