You shall not be in dread of them: the same verb is used in 1.29 (see the comment there). Them refers to the peoples of Canaan, the enemies of the Israelites.

In the midst of you: see 6.15.

A great and terrible God: great can mean many things, depending on the context. In this verse it means that God is all powerful, and no other god can compare with him. In cultures where kings or high chiefs still rule, there will be natural expressions meaning “majestic,” “above the heads of all,” and so on. These will fit this context very well. However, in other languages it will often be necessary to use two or more terms; for example, “God is all-powerful and above every other god.” The word terrible means here “awesome” (New Revised Standard Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New International Version); it is derived from the Hebrew verb “to fear,” and the meaning of this passive form is “one who is to be feared” or “one whom you should fear [or, be afraid of].”

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 .

Will clear away these nations before you: God will drive them out as the Israelites advance (see verse 1).

Little by little: this means God will do this gradually, not all at once. The reason for this strategy is given in the following statement.

You may not make an end of them at once: that is, “… not finish them off immediately.” This would upset the balance of nature (the ecological balance). Exo 23.29-30 has a fuller statement of the matter. If all the native peoples of Canaan were killed, there would be an unusual increase in the number of wild animals, which would be a danger for the Israelites. Instead of at once here, Exo 23.30 has “in one year.”

Wild beasts may be expressed as “forest [or, jungle] animals” in many languages, or “nondomestic animals” in others.

Good News Translation is a helpful translation model for this verse, as is Contemporary English Version:

• As you attack these nations, the LORD will force them out little by little. He won’t let you get rid of them all at once—if he did, there wouldn’t be enough people living in the land to keep down the number of wild animals.

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 repeats the essence of verses 21-22.

Give them over to you: see verse 2.

Throw them into great confusion: exactly what God will do is not stated; whatever it is, it will cause the enemies to be afraid. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “throw them into utter panic,” New Revised Standard Version “great panic.” See verse 20 and similar expressions in Exo 14.24; 23.27.

Until they are destroyed: see verse 7.

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 .

Give … into your hand means the same as “give over to you” in verses 2, 16. For kings see 1.4.

Make their name perish from under heaven: once the people are killed they will not have any descendants to carry on the family name. Or else the meaning of this statement may be that they will be completely forgotten; no one will remember them or their deeds. Good News Translation has “and they will be forgotten,” and Contemporary English Version has “No one will remember they ever lived.” From under heaven means simply “on earth.”

Stand against you: that is, “resist you successfully” or “stop you” (Good News Translation).

Destroyed: the same verb that is used in verse 23.

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 objects of worship of pagan gods are to be destroyed, to avoid the possibility of the Israelites being drawn to worship them.

Graven images: these are idols of wood and metal (see 4.16; 5.8).

Burn with fire: see a similar phrase at 7.5.

Covet the silver or the gold: for covet see 5.21. Even the silver and the gold that was on the idols must be destroyed. These were wooden idols overlaid with silver or gold; the Israelites were to melt the metal off them and throw it away.

Lest you be ensnared by it: see the same idea (but not the same Hebrew word) in verse 16. Contemporary English Version has “Don’t get trapped into wanting the silver or gold on an idol.” Another way to express this is “Don’t let your hearts lead you into wanting the silver….”

An abomination: this is something so hateful, so terrible, that it produces the strongest dislike. It may be expressed as “detestable” (New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version) or “abhorrent” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New Revised Standard Version). BÍBLIA para todos Edição Comum has “is horrified with these things”; Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje “to worship idols is a disgusting thing”; Good News Translation “because the LORD hates idolatry”; Contemporary English Version “is disgusting to the LORD.” We may also say “makes the LORD’s insides turn over.”

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 .

An abominable thing: this is the same word as “abomination” in verse 25. Here it has the particular meaning of a pagan idol. Good News Translation has “Do not bring any of these idols into your homes”; but it is also possible to express this as “Do not bring any of these disgusting things into….”

Become accursed like it: the verb here is the same one used in 2.34, and means to come under God’s “curse,” that is, God’s condemnation and punishment. A person who comes into contact with an object devoted to destruction will suffer the same punishment (see Josh 6.18; 7.12). In languages that do not use the passive voice, we may say, for example, “Because God will destroy you as he destroyed….”

Utterly detest and abhor: these terms have the same meaning; the structure of the Hebrew is very emphatic, using each verb twice in two different forms. Revised Standard Version tries to represent this by using the adverb utterly. The verb for abhor is the same verb root used for the noun abomination (verse 25). Good News Translation has “You must hate and despise these idols.”

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 .

With the beginning of a new chapter and a new section, translators may need to indicate that Moses is still speaking to the people of Israel. The second person singular of address is used in the Hebrew text, but many translators will prefer to use the plural form.

All the commandment: see 6.25. This includes all the laws. For commandment see 4.2.

Be careful to do: that is, “Do your best to obey,” “Obey faithfully” (Good News Translation), or “Be sure that you obey” (Contemporary English Version).

Live and multiply: this means to continue living in the land and to increase in number (see 7.13).

Swore to give to your fathers: see 1.8.

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 shall remember all the way … in the wilderness: the forty years they have spent traveling through the wilderness is not something they will soon forget. The command remember is for them to recall and ponder the meaning of their forty years’ experience. In some languages the negative “Don’t forget” will be more natural style. For wilderness see 1.1.

That he might humble you: the structure of the Hebrew expresses the purpose of God through a conjunction and a sequence of three verbs, “in order to humble … testing … to know” (New Revised Standard Version). This can also be expressed as “because he wanted to humble you…” or “because he wanted to make you submissive to him.” Humble is not in the sense of “humiliate” but means to make the people submissive and teachable, to get rid of their proud sense of self-sufficiency by making them endure all sorts of hardships.

Testing you: they endured trying experiences because God wanted to learn their motives and their loyalty to him. “Test” here does not mean “tempt.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh joins the two verbs “humble” and “test” into one phrase, “test you by hardships” (similarly Good News Translation). An alternative model may be “causing you to endure hardships to test you.”

To know what was in your heart: the purpose of the hardships was to reveal their disposition and will (Good News Translation “what you intended”), especially to find out whether or not they would obey God’s commandments (see 4.2). Contemporary English Version “He wanted to find out…” may be a useful model for some translators.

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 .