Let me alone: God is telling Moses to stand back or step aside, not to get in his way; “Don’t try to stop me…” (Good News Translation). Apparently Yahweh regards Moses as a person with considerable authority.

That I may destroy them: the whole statement could be rephrased: “Step aside and let me wipe them out” or “Don’t interfere while I get rid of them.”

Blot out their name from under heaven: see similar language in 7.24.

I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they: God proposes to exterminate the Israelites and make Moses the ancestor of a people that eventually will outnumber the Israelites and be more powerful than they are. This should be spelled out clearly in translation. The contrast between them in the first sentence and you (Moses) in this sentence should be emphasized if possible; a possible model is “I will make a larger and more powerful nation out of you instead [of them].” Good News Translation “the father of a nation” may not be the best way of saying of you a nation in some languages. Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje has “Of you and your descendants I will make….”

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 .

I turned and came down: or “I got up [see verse 12] and went down….” Yahweh is the center of focus, so in many languages Moses will “go” down the mountain away from Yahweh.

The mountain was burning with fire: that is, “The mountain was in flames” or “There was fire on the mountain.” This is possibly a way of describing a volcanic eruption (see 4.11).

The two tables of the covenant: see verse 11.

It is not necessary to say literally my two hands unless that is the natural way of referring to the hands. In some languages “both hands” will be the most natural way to say this. Good News Translation expresses the meaning well: “carrying the two stone tablets on which the covenant was written.” In languages that do not use the passive voice, we may say, for example, “carrying the two stone tablets on which Yahweh had written the covenant [or, Ten Commandments].”

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 .

I looked, and behold: see verse 13.

You had sinned against the LORD your God: the verb normally translated “to sin” is used in this passage. In the Bible its basic meaning is to do something that is contrary to God’s will. It is a religious concept, not a legal one. The verbal phrase “to sin against God” means to disobey God; it is an offense that is an affront or an insult to God. So “sinned and disobeyed the LORD” will catch the meaning better.

You had made yourselves: that means “you had made for yourselves,” that is, “to bow down to,” “to worship” (as in verse 12).

A molten calf: a metal statue, or figure, in the shape of a calf. Both Good News Translation and Revised English Bible have “bull-calf.” It is not certain whether this idol is to be understood as a fertility symbol, as was true of some religions at that time. It could have been an image honoring some pagan god, or even one that was designed to honor Yahweh. Whatever the intention of those who made it, it was clearly an idol, so “they have taken metal and made an idol in the shape of a calf” may serve as a model.

You had turned aside quickly: see verse 12.

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 .

I took hold … and cast them: this sounds as though Moses had laid the stone tablets down and then picked them up again. Or else it means that he took a firm grip on the tablets and threw them violently to the ground. This was a deliberate action, not an impulsive act. If translators have a word in their language that means using great force, that term should be used here. It was a way of showing that the covenant between Yahweh and Israel was no longer in existence; by building the idol the Israelites had canceled the covenant, and Moses, representing Yahweh, breaks the tablets of the covenant. No longer is there a covenant between Yahweh and Israel.

And cast them … and broke them: that is, “I threw them down and broke them” This does not describe two separate actions but one—the act of throwing them to the ground broke them into pieces.

Before your eyes: Moses did this as a public gesture, so that all the Israelites could see that the covenant with Yahweh had been canceled. Other ways of saying this are “There right in front of you” or “right before your eyes” (Contemporary English Version). In some languages this phrase may be placed at the beginning of the verse, as in Good News Translation.

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 .

I was afraid of the anger and the hot displeasure: God’s anger is described in terms of fire and heat, a common enough way of talking about anger.

Which the LORD bore against you: to “bear anger” means to have it, to feel it, to nurture it. We may restructure the first sentence as follows: “The LORD was terribly angry with [or, his heart, or nose, burned fiercely against] you and I was afraid of him. He was so angry with you that he wanted to….”

The LORD hearkened to me that time also: this probably refers back to 5.23-28, where Moses interceded successfully with Yahweh. Good News Translation has “but once again the LORD listened to me.”

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 was so angry with Aaron: for God’s anger against Aaron see Exo 32.1-16, 21-25, 35. But nothing is said there of Moses’ intervention on Aaron’s behalf. Good News Translation is a good model.

It is possible to combine verses 18-20 as follows:

• I lay prostrate on the ground before the LORD [or, at the place of worship] and prayed to him for you [plural] as I did before. I didn’t eat or drink for forty days and nights. You had committed a terrible sin by making that idol, and I was afraid that the LORD was angry enough with you and Aaron to destroy you. So I prayed for you and Aaron as I did before, and the LORD again answered my prayers.

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 .

I took the sinful thing: the idol itself was the result of the people’s sin, and so was a sinful object. But the sinful thing will be difficult to translate in some languages. In such a case we may say, for example, “It was a sin for you to make that idol [or, metal calf],” or “You sinned against God by making that idol.”

Burned it with fire and crushed it: after throwing it in the fire and presumably melting it (see Exo 32.30), Moses took the metal that had been melted down and crushed it into pieces.

Grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust: by whatever means (the text doesn’t say how), Moses reduced the material to the smallest particles possible.

I threw the dust of it into the brook that descended out of the mountain: the account in Exo 32.20 states that Moses threw the small bits or powder into “water” and made the people drink the water. All of this took place at Mount Sinai.

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 .

On three other occasions, at Taberah (Num 11.1-3), Massah (Exo 17.1-7), and Kibroth-hattaavah (Num 11.31-34), the Israelites had provoked the LORD’s anger (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 .