Verse 4 in Hebrew continues without a break from verse 3, but in many languages it is better to make a break, as Good News Translation does (also New Revised Standard Version). “This was after…,” or we may say “He spoke to the people after….”

He had defeated: the Hebrew text is ambiguous, since the pronominal suffix “he” can mean either Moses or Yahweh. Revised English Bible keeps the ambiguity by using the passive construction “after the defeat of…”; this, however, is not recommended. Good News Translation has “the LORD,” while Contemporary English Version, Bible en français courant, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, and Spanish common language version (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy) have “Moses,” which is the preferred interpretation and recommended for translators. This does not mean that Moses single-handedly defeated Sihon; it means that the Israelites, commanded by Moses, defeated the Amorites commanded by Sihon. It is a fairly common thing to credit victory (and defeat) to the commander of the fighting troops.

For the defeat of Sihon the king of the Amorites, see Num 21.21-32. These Amorites were the people living in the hill country east of the Jordan (see Num 13.29). Amorites will be expressed in some languages as “people of Amor.” King in certain languages will be rendered as “high [or, great] chief” or just “the great one.” So Sihon the king of the Amorites may also be expressed as “Sihon, the great chief in the town of Heshbon, who ruled over the people of Amor.”

Heshbon was a town some fifteen kilometers (nine miles) east of the northern tip of the Dead Sea. Bashan was the region to the northeast of Lake Galilee. For the location of the towns of Ashtaroth and Edrei, see map, page xii.

Who lived … who lived: since the verbs have a king as subject, in both cases the verb may be rendered “who ruled” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible; New Revised Standard Version “reigned”). The Hebrew text says that Og had “lived [or, ruled] in Ashtaroth in Edrei”; the Greek translation, the Septuagint, has “in Ashtaroth and in Edrei.” Taking its clue from the account in Num 21.33-35 (see also Deut 3.1), which reports the defeat of Og in Edrei (verse 33), Revised English Bible, Bible en français courant, and others connect “in Edrei” with the verb “he defeated” and translate “defeated Og … (who lived in Ashtaroth) in Edrei.” This is possible, but most, like Good News Translation, New Revised Standard Version, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New Jerusalem Bible, translate “lived [or, ruled] in Ashtaroth and Edrei” (see Josh 12.4; 13.12, 31). Biblia Dios Habla Hoy takes Ashtaroth to be a town and Edrei a region, but this does not seem very likely. It is recommended that the translation say “who ruled in the towns of Ashtaroth and Edrei” or “who ruled over the people in the towns of…,” and the first part of the verse may be alternatively expressed as “He [Moses] spoke to the people after he had defeated Sihon, who….”

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 .

Beyond the Jordan: see verse 1.

Moses undertook to explain this law: the Hebrew verb translated undertook can be taken to mean “decided,” “resolved” (Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible), or “began” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version [New International Version], Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje). The verb translated explain is found elsewhere in the Bible only in Deut 27.8 and Hab 2.2, in both of which passages it means “write.” But no translation referred to in this Handbook has that meaning here. It is usually rendered “explain” or “make plain.” This law seems to refer to what follows, perhaps what is found in chapters 5–26 (Mayes). It seems probable that the reader would understand this law to mean the Torah, as given in the three speeches of Moses. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “the law of the LORD,” and Bible en français courant “the law of God.” This may be a good model to follow if the word law carries the idea of legal enactments, in the modern sense of the word.

It is regrettable that the Hebrew torah is uniformly translated in English Bibles by “law” or “Law,” which is due to the translation of the Hebrew word into nomos (“law”) by the Greek of the Septuagint, and the use of the same Greek word in the New Testament to refer to the Old Testament torah. The Hebrew word means rather what would be called “instruction” or “teaching” (as New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has it, “this Teaching”). Translators may consider the possibility of using something other than “law” or its equivalents and say something like “teaching” or “instruction” throughout the Bible. Notice that Good News Translation translates as “God’s laws and teachings,” in an effort to include all the material that Moses talks about in his speeches.

Saying: this comes at the end of the verse and is the link to what follows. But since a new section will begin with the next verse (as was suggested in the introduction to this chapter), it is recommended that the translation of this word be placed at the beginning of verse 6, “Moses said” or its equivalent. However, if translators follow Contemporary English Version and begin a new section at 1.5, the translation of saying may be placed at the end of this verse as in Revised Standard Version; for example, “Moses began explaining those laws [or, instructions] by saying….”

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 describes the extent of the territory that God tells the Israelites they are to conquer and possess. It includes practically all of modern day Israel, Lebanon, and Syria (see God’s promise to Abraham in Gen 15.18).

Turn and take your journey, and go: New Revised Standard Version is clearer in English, with “Resume your journey, and go” (see also Good News Translation); New International Version has “Break camp, and advance into.” It is not necessary to have three verbs, as though every verb carries a distinct, separate meaning. The first two verbs “turn and start out” go together: “start marching again,” “resume your journey.”

The hill country of the Amorites: here the phrase may have the broader meaning of all the land of Canaan (as in verse 19), and not just a particular region, even though in verse 4 “the Amorites” are people living on the east side of the Jordan. (See also that verse for a comment on Amorites.)

Instead of following Revised Standard Version all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country…, it is better to imitate Good News Translation, “and to all the surrounding regions—to the…” (also New Revised Standard Version “as well as into the neighboring regions—the Arabah…”). Another possible model for the first part of this verse is “Break camp [or, Pack up your tents] and resume your journey. Go into the land that belongs to the Amorites and their neighbors. This includes:….”

The Arabah: see verse 1.

The hill country and … the lowland: or “the hill country and the Shephelah” (New Revised Standard Version; also Revised English Bible). The Shefelah was the low hill country between the mountains of Judah and the plain of Philistia. Another way to express hill country is “an area with many hills.”

The Negeb was the wilderness between the southern hill country and the desert to the south. For a comment on the translation of wilderness, see verse 1.

And by the seacoast: New Revised Standard Version is more natural in English, “and the seacoast”; also Good News Translation, “the Mediterranean coast.” This was the plain along the coast. So we may express by the seacoast as “the flat area along the edge of the Mediterranean Sea.”

The land of the Canaanites: or in more natural English, “the land of Canaan.” This phrase may mean the whole country, in which case this is a summary statement, as Revised English Bible translates: “… and on the coast; in short, all Canaan and the Lebanon….” But the phrase may also be used in a more restricted sense to mean Phoenicia, on the coast (as in the New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh footnote). It seems better, however, to take it to mean the whole land of Canaan.

Lebanon: or “the Lebanon Mountains,” since at that time there was no country known as Lebanon.

The great river, the river Euphrates: the Euphrates is sometimes called simply “the River” (Josh 24.3, 14-15). Great here means “large” or “wide.” In some languages this phrase will be expressed as “the great [or, wide] river named Euphrates.”

It may help to give the directions for the Lebanon Mountains and the Euphrates, as follows: “as far north as the Lebanon Mountains, and as far east as the great Euphrates River” (see Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje).

The whole verse may be translated as follows:

• Get moving again, and advance into the land of the Amorites and all the nearby regions: the Jordan Valley, the hill country and the lowlands, the Negeb [or, the southern wilderness], and the Mediterranean coast. That is, move into the whole land of Canaan and the Lebanon Mountains, and advance as far as the mighty Euphrates River.

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 .

Behold: in Hebrew the verb (literally, “See”) is the second person singular; the people are addressed as a single being. The verb functions as an attention getter and may be translated “See,” “Look,” or even “Listen,” “Pay attention.” In certain African languages an ideophone will be a good attention getter here.

I have set the land before you: the Hebrew verb means “to present,” “to offer,” “to deliver” (see 2.31), and before you means that the Israelites will possess it, conquer it. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates “I place this land at your disposal”; Bible en français courant “I offer you this land”; Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje “Here is the land that I am giving you,” or we can say “I give this land to you.”

Go in and take possession of the land: the verb translated “take possession of” does not say anything about whether force will have to be used to possess the land. In the context, however, the readers of the book knew that it was only by the use of force that the Israelites became the masters of the land of Canaan. If in a language there is a term for take possession that has the sense of using force, that term should be employed here.

Which the LORD swore to your fathers … to give to them: this may also be translated “that the LORD promised to give to your fathers [or, ancestors].” Since an important promise was always accompanied by a sacred vow, “to swear” means “to make a solemn promise,” and in certain languages this will be expressed as “I, Yahweh, made a strong promise to your ancestors.” In the case of Yahweh making a promise, he would “swear” by his own name that he would do what he promised to do. In many languages it will be better to use the term “ancestors” instead of fathers. Moses mentions the three great patriarchs of Hebrew history, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Other ways of expressing fathers or “ancestors” are “those who lived long ago,” “grandfathers in ancient times,” “big [or, famous] grandfathers,” and so on. In many languages translators will find it more natural style to place the clause which the LORD swore … immediately after the first sentence, I have set this land before you, as in Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, and others.

Instead of “the LORD,” New Revised Standard Version, following the Samaritan Pentateuch text and the Septuagint, has “I.” On translational grounds, however, in order to avoid the rather unnatural situation of Yahweh referring to himself in the third person, it is possible to translate “I, the LORD” (Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje), or “I, Yahweh.”

Your fathers: your includes Moses, of course, as Yahweh is speaking.

To give translates the same Hebrew verb translated “present” in the first part of the verse.

Their descendants after them: it is not necessary to represent the redundant “after them,” since descendants always come after their ancestors. Descendants may be variously expressed as “grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” or even “the people who follow after them [or, come down from 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 .

The LORD your God has multiplied you: in some languages “your God” will mistakenly mean that the LORD is not the God of Moses, but only of the people he is addressing. Of course this is not what the text is implying. Rather your God emphasizes that Yahweh is the God of the Hebrews, and they must always be aware of that central fact of their existence as a people. So your God or its equivalent should be used whenever possible. This will occur frequently in this book. In some cases we may have to say, for example, “the LORD our God” (Contemporary English Version) or “Yahweh, the God [whom] we worship.” The verb “multiply” means, of course, to increase in numbers by making them a fertile people who had many children (descendants). New Jerusalem Bible has “increased your numbers.” In certain languages we may express this as “The LORD, the God whom you [plural] worship, has caused you to have so many children and grandchildren that there are as many of you as….”

Behold: this translates a different Hebrew word from the one used in verse 8, but the meaning is the same. In some languages an attention-getting marker will be appropriate here (see the discussion at 1.8), but in most languages this word will not need to be translated, as it will sound unnatural (compare Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). Or we may say “… and so you are now as numerous….”

As the stars of heaven for multitude: New Revised Standard Version is more natural in English, “as numerous as the stars of heaven.” Where there are two words, as in English, for “heaven” and “sky,” here the word to be used should be “sky.” If it should happen that the phrase “stars in the sky” sounds ridiculous (where else are there stars?), “in the sky” may be omitted.

The whole statement may be translated:

• The LORD our God [or, The God whom we worship] has given you so many children [or, descendants], that now there are as many of you as there are stars [in the sky].

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 is in the form of a wish, or a prayer. New Jerusalem Bible takes it to be a statement, but this seems quite unlikely. Bible en français courant translates “I hope that….” We may also say “I pray that….”

The LORD, the God of your fathers: again, if your excludes Moses, the translation must be “the God of our fathers”—that is, “of our ancestors.” The possessive “your [or, our]” must not be understood to mean that God belonged to the ancestors; therefore it may be necessary to translate “the God that your [or, our] ancestors worshiped.” For a comment on fathers or “ancestors,” see verse 8.

Make you a thousand times as many as you are: for languages that have a name for the quantity “one thousand,” there is no great problem involved in translating this: “make you a thousand times more than you are now.” But languages not having a numerical system that reaches to one thousand must be content to say the equivalent of “many, many more,” and we may translate “cause you to have many, many more children and grandchildren.” The figure is not meant literally; it is a typical hyperbole (exaggeration) expressing the desire that the Israelites become a very numerous people.

And bless you, as he has promised you: the verb “to bless” means “to do good things to,” “to give good things to”; Good News Translation “make prosperous.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• I pray that Yahweh, who is the God we worship, will cause you to have many, many more children and grandchildren, and also give lots of good things to you as he has promised.

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 .